Dear future neighbour,
On Thursday, March 21, 2024, the Immigration Minister, Marc Miller and Employment Minister, Randy Boissonnault announced an update on Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) as well as other reforms IRCC plans on implementing.
Canada’s temporary resident population has increased, reaching up to 2.5 million (6.2% of the overall Canadian population in 2023). IRCC aims to reduce the temporary resident population to 5% over the next three years.
See below Temporary Residents according to Province as of September, 2023
Ontario, the largest province, has the most of all the categories, followed by Quebec and British Columbia.
| Province | Total Temporary Residents | Asylum Claimants | Work Permit Holders | Study Permit Holders | Both Work and Study Permit Holders | Others (mainly refers to family members living with permit holders) |
| Ontario | 986,863 | 90,793 | 419,475 | 284,739 | 159,806 | 32,050 |
| Quebec | 470,976 | 146,723 | 200,522 | 63,799 | 38,858 | 21,074 |
| British Columbia | 400,964 | 11,384 | 196,259 | 138,434 | 38,848 | 16,039 |
| Alberta | 150,320 | 5,766 | 89,575 | 36,576 | 11,013 | 7,390 |
| Manitoba | 60,615 | 1,434 | 32,608 | 18,068 | 6,652 | 1,853 |
| Nova Scotia | 45,794 | 325 | 20,712 | 13,619 | 9,056 | 2,082 |
| Saskatchewan | 30,704 | 236 | 15,512 | 10,512 | 2,957 | 1,487 |
| New Brunswick | 27,458 | 188 | 13,864 | 7,476 | 4,626 | 1,304 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 12,911 | 73 | 6,063 | 5,017 | 1,186 | 572 |
| Prince Edward Island | 9,953 | 26 | 5,192 | 3,702 | 745 | 288 |
| Yukon | 1,446 | 0 | 1,120 | 217 | 80 | 29 |
| Northwest Territories | 567 | 7 | 490 | 38 | 20 | 12 |
| Nunavut | 108 | 3 | 87 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
Canada has set an annual target for all economic immigration programs of 266,210 for 2023, with a goal of exceeding 301,000 by 2025.
In order to put a cap on the number of temporary foreign workers allowed into Canada as the gap between unemployment and job vacancies is gradually closing up. The validity of the LMIA program was extended to 12 months during the pandemic to help ease labour market conditions. However, from May 1, 2024, the validity period for LMIA will return to 6 months. This change will not affect employers part of the Recognised Employer Pilot program.
All the employers identified in the 2022 workforce solution roadmap will have a reduction from 30% to 20% of their workforce coming through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program under the low wage stream of TFWP.
The healthcare and construction sectors are exempted from the above-mentioned new TFWP measure until August 31, 2024. Employers in the agriculture sector are also not affected by the new TFWP measures.
Currently, the number of Canadian Permanent Residency spots available through economic immigration is limited compared to the Temporary Residents in Canada. Canadian immigration is now very competitive as it targets people with expertise in occupations with labour shortage, Francophones and those with 3-4 years of experience with a high level of education.
Need help obtaining a visitor visa to visit Canada, or professional help putting in a study visa application, work permit application, Expression of Interest, creating an express entry or provincial nomination profile, preparing your application after receiving an invitation to apply or even just reviewing an application you prepared yourself? Book a consultation or send us an email on info@eseumohimmigration.com