RECOMMENDATION 1

That Employment and Social Development Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada take immediate steps to extend work permits for caregivers in the low-wage stream from one to two years.

RECOMMENDATION 2

That Employment and Social Development Canada review the Labour Market Impact Assessment application process, with a view to increasing speed and efficiency; and that such a review take into consideration the National Occupation Codes as well as the adequate allocation of resources towards training and meeting service standards.

RECOMMENDATION 3

That Employment and Social Development Canada implement a Trusted Employer Program with the objective of reducing Labour Market Impact Assessment processing timelines for employers who have demonstrated trustworthiness in their use of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

RECOMMENDATION 4

That Employment and Social Development Canada review the policy with respect to foreign faculty members currently employed or seeking employment with a recognized Canadian academic institution, whose employment is currently dependent upon a Labour Market Impact Assessment, with a view to providing exemptions or accommodations for this class of foreign nationals.

RECOMMENDATION 5

That the Temporary Foreign Worker Program permit minor modifications to contracts between employers and employees with regards to the nature of the work and increases in wages if both parties consent, the changes do not disadvantage the worker, and Employment and Social Development Canada is adequately informed of any changes in short order. The changes must not violate the spirit of the job description.

RECOMMENDATION 6

That Employment and Social Development Canada appropriately restructure the Temporary Foreign Worker Program such that it achieves better overall economic and social benefit for Canadians and program participants. That Employment and Social Development Canada re-establish the Temporary Foreign Worker Program into more specific program areas and streams that adequately reflect the realities of labour market needs in Canada.

RECOMMENDATION 7

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada study the impacts of expanding the definition of primary agriculture as found in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulation.

RECOMMENDATION 8

That Employment and Social Development Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada seek to review and improve mechanisms in which migrant workers are brought into Canada to fill both temporary and permanent positions, preventing the use of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to satisfy permanent labour needs.

RECOMMENDATION 9

That Employment and Social Development Canada provide an exemption on the Transition Plan requirement for 5% of the business’ workforce that consists of high-wage temporary foreign workers.

RECOMMENDATION 10

That Employment and Social Development Canada work to implement measures to ensure appropriate training and education resources are allocated in those fields most likely to present labour and skills shortages. Also, that appropriate apprenticeship targets be included as a requirement of the Transition Plan for employers to ensure they meet their recruitment and training obligations for Canadians.

RECOMMENDATION 11

That Employment and Social Development Canada, businesses, and stakeholders continue to monitor labour market needs as to ensure skills, training, and educational output match Canada’s current and future employment needs such that our reliance on foreign labour diminishes, and invest in better collection and retention of labour market information in Canada to adequately assess labour market needs.

RECOMMENDATION 12

That Employment and Social Development Canada ensure the cap on the percentage of temporary foreign workers a business can employ at a given time, be set at a minimum of 20%, and further review sector and geographic considerations.

RECOMMENDATION 13

That Employment and Social Development Canada take immediate steps to improve the collection of labour market data and review the geographic zones used for determining unemployment rates, with a view to aligning the labour market conditions of more localized economies with the requirements of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

RECOMMENDATION 14

That Employment and Social Development Canada take immediate steps to eliminate the requirement for an employer-specific work permit; provided that it implement appropriate measures to ensure temporary foreign labour is only utilized within the existing provisions of the Labour Market Impact Assessment process, including sector and geographic restrictions.

RECOMMENDATION 15

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada provide multiple entry work visas for temporary foreign workers employed in seasonal work, with the objective of allowing these individuals greater mobility during off-seasons; that when a work visa is extended, the multiple entry visa must also be extended so workers can continue to enter and leave Canada.

RECOMMENDATION 16

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada review the current pathways to permanent residency for all temporary foreign workers, with a view to facilitating access to permanent residency for migrant workers who have integrated into Canadian society and are filling a permanent labour market need.

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada allocate adequate resources to allow for the timely processing of permanent residency applications for those migrant workers that are hired under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

RECOMMENDATION 17

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada work with provinces, territories and other government departments to increase information sharing that will create more harmonization with immigration and nominee programs to function in collaboration with one another. That these efforts aim to reduce duplication of work benefiting both the government and applicants.

RECOMMENDATION 18

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations to remove the relevant provisions with respect to the “cumulative duration” rule.

RECOMMENDATION 19

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada reform the Express Entry program to allow for fixed-term employment contracts to be allocated the same number of points as permanent work contracts, where there is a strong likelihood of continued employment.

RECOMMENDATION 20

That Employment and Social Development Canada, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, review current monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, with the objective of addressing gaps in employer compliance and the protection of migrant workers’ rights. In addition, an effort shall be made to move away from a complaint-driven model of program enforcement. The review shall take into consideration the following specific measures:

• increasing resource and information sharing with provinces and territories;
• increasing the frequency of on-site inspections and ensuring that they be conducted while temporary foreign labour is being used;
• creating an accreditation system for recruiters, which requires compliance with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program rules and from which employers could exclusively select;
• establishing a dispute resolution mechanism for migrant workers when conflict with an employer arises;
• ensuring, through on-site inspections, that labour laws and regulations are properly enforced where migrant workers operate; and
• guaranteeing that any workplace injuries that require immediate attention be granted emergency care where deemed necessary in Canada.

RECOMMENDATION 21

That Employment and Social Development Canada, in collaboration with stakeholders, establish measures to ensure that incoming migrant workers and their employers are informed of their rights and responsibilities under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, including dispute resolution and abuse reporting procedures, as well as information on wages, benefits, accommodations and working conditions; and that the Department undertake best efforts to provide this information in the language of preference of the migrant worker.