A fresh Order Paper response shows that Canada has brought in over 2,100 temporary foreign worker (TFW) hairstylists since 2015 with demand accelerating sharply in recent years, despite plenty of unemployed or underemployed workers already in the country.

Nearly 300 hairstylists have been approved so far this year alone, more than triple the number approved a decade ago. In 2015, just 90 foreign hairstylists entered Canada under the TFW program. Now, Ottawa is rubber-stamping them at record levels.

And no province appears more dependent on imported hair-cutters than British Columbia, which accounts for roughly half of all TFW hairstylists brought into Canada. B.C. has quadrupled its intake compared to 2015 rising from 50 to 215.

Go Ad Free

The other provinces aren’t far behind:

• Alberta has quintupled its numbers, jumping from 30 to 150 last year.

• Ontario has increased its intake sevenfold, from 10 to 75.

The data raises obvious questions: How did Canada, a country with tens of thousands of trained stylists, widespread underemployment, and stagnant wages in the service sector, become so reliant on importing barbers and hairstylists to keep salons staffed? 

And why are governments allowing employers to use the TFW program to fill roles that Canadians have traditionally done, and still can do?