New Measures to Strengthen Program Quality
On August 10, 2024, the federal Minster for Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, Randy Boissonnault, unveiled massive changes to the TFWP in Canada. All these changes sought to address fraud and labor mobility and to ensure that the program benefitted both the foreign workers and Canadian employers.
Strengthening Fraud Prevention
The following are the new measures that the Canadian government has put in place to tackle fraud and misuse in the TFWP. The reduction of election budgets is one of the significant changes with one of the policies being the 20% cap policy. This rule puts a cap on the usage of the TFW program especially to employers wanting to sponsor the foreign workers into permanent residence in the country. Tight policies will assist in minimizing abuse of the system by employers.
Enhanced Oversight and Compliance
As a measure of reinforcing checks to capture fraudsters early and to ensure authenticity in the applications, the government will step up vigilance in the specified risk zones. This involves enhanced physical assessments of workplaces and detailed LMIA evaluations. These actions appear to enhance the program’s objectives of the program on transparency and accountability.
Possible Fee Increases and Check Eligibility
Currently, the government is in the process of brainstorming ways of increasing LMIA application fees for purposes of accommodating extra inspections, and propping up program integrity. New criteria for the determination of the employers eligible for the benefits may also be determined. These criteria will look at how long the business has been in existence and whether it has history of laying of workers and the result is that only responsible employers will be allowed to hire the foreign workers.
To update and enhance the program
Also, with regard to the TFWP, it will be also modified with a new foreign labor stream for agriculture and seafood processing, new measures of which have been just introduced in Budget 2022. This update caters for the particular needs of these sectors when implementing the programs whilst at the same time ensuring that program fidelity is not comprised.
Preventing Misuse and Increasing Awareness
Measures taken to fight fraud include raising the financial penalties that may be levied as a result of a failure to conform with the necessary measures, penalties of between $500 and $100 000 per violation included. The government also publishes a list of non-compliant employers in order to increase organization transparency.
With advertising campaigns such as ‘Know the Rules Before You Apply’ and a toll-free number to report abuses and misuses and or violations in over 200 languages are provided to support workers to anonymously report mistreatment. For the current developments more information go to the Official Website of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).