Why are employers hiring foreign workers instead of Canadians?

This year, the number of foreign workers in Canada (6.8%) exceeded that of unemployed Canadians (6.4%).

Immigration is a war against the working class and the young.

To save Tom Hortons a dollar an hour, and to drive up housing prices for landlords & developers, we’ve brought in 750,000 Temporary Foreign Workers. There are 350,000 unemployed young people (15 to 24) in Canada. https://t.co/JrtoZikODM

— Ezra Levant 🍁🚛 (@ezralevant) August 5, 2024

Employers can hire foreign workers by applying for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), which maintains that they cannot find citizens or permanent residents to fill the job openings.

Those hoping to live in Canada permanently often look to LMIAs for a pathway to permanent residency or citizenship.

According to Canada’s open data portal, over 60,000 employers have been offered a positive LMIA assessment, allowing them to hire foreign workers. Businesses offered LMIAS can be visualized on this map.

Recently, LMIA abuse has been on the rise in Canada, with some employers being caught illegally selling these pathways to permanent residency to those hoping to immigrate for fees of up to $75,000, a practice that is illegal and can be punished by serious fines or imprisonment.

On Tuesday, Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault announced that the federal government would be cracking down on fraud and misuse of the Temporary Foreign Worker’s Program.

“I’ve been clear over the last year; abuse and misuse of the TFW program must end. The health and safety of temporary foreign workers in Canada is a responsibility I take very seriously. Bad actors are taking advantage of people and compromising the program for legitimate businesses. We are putting more reforms in place to stop misuse and fraud from entering the Temporary Foreign Worker Program,” said Boissonault.

Economists have reported that influxes of temporary foreign workers suppress wages, as migrants relying on a job to stay in Canada are more likely to accept low pay and poor working conditions, keeping the wages down for Canadian workers in the same field. The rise in temporary workers has also been blamed for the lack of affordable housing.

Rebel News asked Torontonians at High Park if they’ve noticed a lack of job opportunities for Canadians, why employers are choosing to fill roles with foreign workers, and whether or not they’d like to see the government reduce the number of foreign workers in Canada.