Hiring Foreign Workers in Canada in 2025: Is It Still Viable?

Changes to the rules for hiring foreign workers in Canada have already been implemented and are currently in effect. In this post, we discuss the outcomes for Canadian employers - who can still rely on foreign talent and for whom the door has closed for valid reasons. We now have sufficient data to explain what the process of hiring temporary foreign workers will look like for Canadian employers in the coming years.

Changes to the Foreign Worker Hiring Process: The Reasons

The extent to which some abused the practice of hiring foreign workers reached a boiling point in Canada. 

It came to the government's attention that some charged temporary foreign workers fees for job offers, created workplaces solely to bring in foreign workers and charge fees, used foreign workers merely to pay lower wages, or otherwise established exploitative working conditions. All these practices are illegal and constitute fraud. 

Fraud in the hiring of foreign workers has negatively impacted the unemployment rates for Canadians and permanent residents. In times of extreme difficulty finding a job in Canada due to economic reasons, this has exacerbated the unemployment rates for Canadians to unbearable levels.

Thus, the changes to the process of hiring temporary foreign workers were introduced to combat fraud associated with hiring foreign workers and to remind that priority should always be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents qualified for the job.

What Are the Changes that Affect the Process of Hiring Foreign Workers

For the reasons outlined above, the following changes to the rules governing the hiring of foreign workers have been implemented:

• Raising the wage threshold to qualify for high-wage positions.
• Reducing the cap on hiring for low-wage positions, with certain exemptions.
• Refusing to hire foreign workers for low-wage positions in regions with unemployment rates of 6% or higher, with some exemptions.
• Removing any points for permanent job offers.
• Eliminating attestations from lawyers and accountants that confirm business legitimacy; only attestations from Canadian banks are now acceptable.

Is It Still Viable to Hire Foreign Workers With All the Changes to the Immigration Process and Rules?

When Canadians or permanent residents of Canada are not available for a job, employers can hire foreign workers. This has always been imperative, and it remains so. This means that employers can hire foreign workers and should do so to meet their business needs when there are genuine skill or labour shortages. The changes to the rules aim to prevent any instances of circumventing the laws. We describe below the rationale behind the changes, as we understand them, to demonstrate that genuine cases have not been affected. In justified circumstances, Canadian employers can still hire temporary foreign workers.

Higher Wages for High-Skilled Foreign Workers

Indeed, increasing the wage threshold for high-wage positions restricts the hiring of foreign workers for high-skilled roles at lower wages compared to what Canadians are willing to accept.

Reduction of TFW Proportion for Low-Wage Positions

Restrictions on the number/proportion of foreign workers that can be hired in low-wage positions address the trend of overusing low-skilled foreign labour. Low-skilled positions can be trained and don’t require much education or specialization. In some industries, with the reported shortage, the cap remains higher or non-existent, including positions in primary agriculture, construction, food manufacturing, hospitals, nursing and residential care facilities, in-home caregivers, and short-duration or seasonal positions.

Addressing High Unemployment

Refusing to process low-wage applications in areas with an unemployment rate of 6% helps address high unemployment and prioritizes training for Canadians and permanent residents. Certain positions in specific industries are reasonably exempt from this restriction, such as roles in primary agriculture, construction, food manufacturing, hospitals, nursing and residential care facilities, in-home caregiving, and short-term or seasonal positions.

Eliminating Points for Permanent Job Offers

Removing 50 or 200 points for permanent job offers ultimately equalizes candidates with and without job offers in the Express Entry pool. This eliminates the incentive for fraud associated with buying and selling job offers. Notably, employers can still provide a foreign national with a permanent job offer, which qualifies them under specific immigration programs.

Requirement for Canadian Bank Attestations

The substitution of lawyer and accountant business attestation letters with a requirement that only Canadian banks provide attestations can be justified. Firstly, attestations were primarily used by businesses whose net income or retained earnings indicated balances below the proposed wage. For this reason, banks may be better positioned to attest to the business's financial capacity to hire foreign workers.

It is Viable to Hire Temporary Foreign Workers if the Need is Genuine

Concluding, the changes to Canada's immigration process for hiring foreign workers are reasonable. These changes do not prevent employers facing skills or labour shortages from addressing them through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or the International Mobility Program. However, these changes reduce the likelihood of fraud and have already contributed to a decrease in unemployment rates. Contact us if you have any questions or want to discover more about Canadian programs for hiring foreign workers.