ESDC has announced new changes for the temporary foreign workers applying through the higher wage stream. This means the interested candidates starting from November 8 will have to earn 20% more than the median wage for their position relative to their work. This is approximately 5$ to 8$ CAD extra hourly rate (to remain in the high wage stream).
According to the Federal government, these changes may impact about 34,000 temporary foreign workers across Canada. Randy Boissonnault, the Minister of Employment, Workforce, Development, and Official Languages said on this occasion:
By raising the threshold for high-wage stream positions, we are supporting wage growth for Canadians.
The minister also announced that starting from 28 October 2024, employers in the “Temporary Foreign Worker Program” will not be able to use attestations from professional licensed accountants or lawyers to prove the legitimacy of their businesses.
What are the new high-wage stream rules?
As per the current rules, the TFWP candidates under the high-wage stream needed to earn either:
- As listed on Canada’s Job Bank, the median wage for their position in their area; or
- A wage within the wage range that current employees at the same employer earn.
Now starting from 8 November 2024, to be eligible under the new high-wage stream, the employer must be paid 20 percent higher wages than the median level derived from the two options. This means the guaranteed wages are considered to be the eligibility criteria and not the Overtime wages, tips, benefits, profit sharing, bonuses, commissions, and or other forms of compensation.
The Canadian government is already working on reducing the number of TFW in the country. For the low wage range, new rules were announced on August 26 and 28 this year. At that time, it was decided not to issue the “Labor Market Impact Assessment Report (LMIA) for the low wage stream in the metropolitan areas where the unemployment rate has reached 6 percent or above.
These new changes are part of Canada’s new policies announced back in August and September.