The Liberals are chipping away at the corners of a system that needs to be overhauled
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Liberal edits to the immigration system are somewhat like a magician’s sleight-of-hand tricks. One hand distracts the audience, while the other maintains the illusion.
The latest flashy distraction came to us Monday: Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault announced that, starting Sept. 26, low-wage temporary foreign worker (TFW) program permit approvals will not be granted in cities with more than six per cent unemployment. TFWs will be limited to one-year stays, and they will only be permitted to make up 10 per cent of their employer’s workforce (down from the 30 and 20 per cent of recent years).
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And so, with one hand, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reassured Canadians that workers from here would return to being the priority by dangling news of TFW cutbacks before their eyes, guiding their gaze away from the bigger picture. Since temporary residents accounted for nearly 60 per cent of Canada’s population growth in 2022, it might sound like a relief that the TFW program is cooling down.
But a good number of cities, you see, have sub-six per cent unemployment rates, and will therefore continue to be eligible for receiving low-wage TFWs; these include Halifax, Winnipeg and Saskatoon. And, since the bulk of temporary foreign........