Two national business groups say temporary federal changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program aimed at easing severe labour shortages are a positive step for employers, particularly in rural and tourism-dependent regions.
Restaurants Canada said the federal government’s announcement on Friday of temporary changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to help employers experiencing severe labour shortages is a first step towards building a more strategic and predictable workforce that supports Canadian businesses, including the restaurant industry.
Kelly Higginson, President and CEO, said the organization has been calling for a targeted approach to immigration that includes taking into account the needs of rural, remote and tourism areas, where the pool of qualified or available workers can be insufficient or where needs may vary by time of year.
“Access to a reliable and predictable source of labour is essential to the economic and social fabric of these communities. TFWs account for just 3% of our workforce but help fill critical gaps that allow restaurants to continue operating and provide jobs for Canadians,” said Higginson.
“Across much of the country, particularly in rural and non-urban communities, unemployment remains well below the national average, and demographic pressures are intensifying labour shortages. Restaurants in these areas often struggle to find enough qualified or available workers and need to rely on the TFW program, particularly for specialized roles like chefs and cooks, or for overnight shifts.”
The organization said the restaurant and foodservice sector is Canada’s fourth largest employer, with nearly 1.2 million workers, including more than 500,000 youth representing 40% of its workforce. Dozens of other industries, from agriculture to manufacturing, technology to tourism to transportation, benefit from the success of the industry.
“While the measures announced today are only temporary, they are a step in the right direction to help some restaurants address labour shortages in the near term. Restaurants Canada urges all provinces and territories to include the foodservice industry in their priority sectors for affected regions,” added Higginson.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) also welcomed today’s announcement on temporary changes to help rural employers retain a higher percentage of foreign workers.
“Many small businesses across Canada are struggling to keep their doors open with the loss of some fantastic members of their team,” said Dan Kelly, President, CFIB.
“Any measure that prevents businesses from losing experienced, trained workers is a positive one. While unemployment rates have ticked up in Canada, over half (52%) of small business owners using the program report their Temporary Foreign Workers help protect jobs for Canadians. A restaurant struggling to find an experienced cook will not be able to protect jobs for young Canadians waiting tables.
“CFIB is seeking additional clarity on whether these new temporary measures will provide them with a pathway to extend the stay of existing Temporary Foreign Workers already in Canada. There are 1.3 million temporary work permits set to expire in 2026.
“We encourage all provinces to request these new flexibilities for employers in their jurisdictions.”
The CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 103,000 members across every industry and region.
More from Retail Insider:
Such nonsense, we shed 84,000 jobs last month, and kids who are looking for a PT job can’t find one cause the normal places they would look for a job are full of TFW’s. I have one family member who’s been looking for months and the stories in the news backs up this claim.
I recently interviewed to a business owner in Cold Lake, Alberta, who was saying he needed temporary foreign workers because of a labour shortage (of people willing to work the foodservice paygrade, military/oil pay way more). Places like Toronto and Vancouver are certainly different…
Good anecdote Craig but at what cost should we accommodate struggling businesses? If a business simply can’t recruit or retain labour, shouldn’t there be consequences? There is no guarantee of success or profit. These companies are basically zombie firms with hardly a pulse that only operate off the backs of desperate foreigners. Why should I patronize a business that refuses to employ it’s own local residents? Honestly I can’t wait for robots to replace many of the menial and entry-level jobs of today. I’d rather interact with C3PO than an exploited foreigner anyway.
Only have to go to any large city and see who is working in the stores or fast food restaurants, its FTW’s. The franchise owner of a well known coffee chain with over 10 locations under their ownership in the east end of Ottawa only seems to employ FTW’s. I can understand locations like cold lake, but the program is clearly being abused in larger cities throughout the country. Numerous stories on CTV, CBC etc about high school students, University and College students not being able to find part time work, applying upwards to 50 business to try to land a job.
This is great news that the Government are opening up the TFW file again . Its a very necessary resource in retail.
BS is it…. when High school, college and university students and others are looking for work can’t find a job in this sector it speaks volumes, that its not needed except for maybe in very remote locations in the country. And that companies will continue to exploit this program and keep people who live in the country looking for work unemployed, while we open the flood gates with foreigners.