Unemployment and The Temporary Foreign Workers Program in Canada

Over five years after the 2008 economic crisis, the Canadian economy is still in rough waters. Annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has been lagging below 2% and falling short of economists’ predictions (Hodgson, 2014), with no small part due to the stunted American and European recoveries. Tied into this is the country’s unemployment rate, which has hovered around 7% for over a year, while the rate for those aged 15-24 is nearly double, at 13.6% (Statistics Canada, 2014). Clearly, there is a need for more jobs in the country. At the same time, however, Canadian companies have been bringing in Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) to fill what they call a “jobs gap”: that there are places in the country where the labour supply is nonexistent, and outside help is needed to fill certain roles. This has set off a firestorm of controversy, both in the commercial and political realms, with accusations of corporate greed and government apathy abounding, as unemployed Canadians are seemingly passed-over for available jobs. This paper will explore how TFWs are filling a necessary role in the economy, and are not “taking jobs” from Canadians, and will then analyze what governments and businesses can do to change the program, how immigration reform can play a role in filling jobs and lowering unemployment, and what risks a focus on a “skills gap” instead of a “jobs gap” can have on the economy.

In order to understand the need for TFWs, it is important to determine just where the workers are being placed and what roles they are filling. A total of 202,510 temporary foreign worker positions existed in 2012, up by about 50,000 from the previous year (Economic and Social Development Canada, 2013). Of those workers, nearly 100,000, or half of th...

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... a field that most Canadians would try to avoid.

Ultimately, temporary foreign workers and unemployment are two interweaving issues that Canadian businesses and government officials will have to deal with as the economy seeks to be restarted and refreshed. Though TFWs do not have a strong effect on unemployment—due to their need for unappealing jobs in inaccessible locations—they still spring open a debate on what the government should do in regards to foreign workers and immigrants, how to ensure that Canadians are always considered first for jobs, and what sort of “skills gap” really exists in the country and how it can be dealt with. Canada’s wide and vast geography and numerous natural resources are both a blessing and a curse for its economy and employment. If politicians and business leaders can effectively manage both, it will make the country all the better.