Canada: Regulatory Amendments Increase Foreign Workers’ Rights

August 10, 2021

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Country / Territory

At a Glance

  • Amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Temporary Foreign Workers) are now effective in Canada and are expected to protect foreign workers’ rights, improve government oversight in the Labor Market Impact Assessment process, and strengthen the government’s ability to conduct inspections.
  • Additionally, the government has launched new features on the Job Bank website, which allows temporary foreign workers to search for jobs from eligible employers through a trusted source, including updated job search tools and improved security features.

The situation

Effective August 10, 2021, new regulations have gone into effect that are expected to protect foreign workers’ rights in Canada. Additionally, new features have been launched on the government website, Job Bank, which allows workers to search for jobs.

Details of the new amendments as well as the new features of the Job Bank are as follows:

CHANGE  DETAILS  IMPACT 

Improved protections for temporary foreign workers
    • Employers must provide temporary foreign workers with an employment agreement.
    • Employers are prohibited from retaliating against whistleblowers.
    • Employers must provide reasonable access to health care services and health insurance when needed.
    • Recruiters cannot charge recruitment fees; employers will be liable for the actions of recruiters in this regard.
 The increase in workers’ protections provides a more secure work environment to foreign nationals and make Canada a more attractive destination to work.

Improved government oversight in Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process
    • Under the new rules, employers who have not previously used the LMIA program are subject to more stringent review.
    • Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) will also defer processing of an LMIA where noncompliance is suspected (such as nonpayment of wages, performing duties in a role other than the one that was approved, etc.).
    • ESDC can now gather information on noncompliance directly from third parties (including banks and payroll companies) to corroborate pay information provided by the employer.
 Increasing scrutiny on employers through additional noncompliance reviews will increase the integrity of the LMIA program and increase employee confidence in the LMIA process.

Stricter deadlines for employer action

 The new rules create shorter deadlines for document requests and corrective action for employers during government inspections. These changes will allow the government to become faster in their inspection of employers and will impose tighter deadlines for employers under inspection.
Launch new features on Job Bank 
    • Updated eligible employer library;
    • Updated job search tools; and
    • Increased data security.

These changes create a more secure environment for workers to search for jobs through a trusted site which vets employers.
  • Legislative background. The proposed regulations were published on July 10, 2021, at which time Canadian nationals, employers and stakeholders were invited to provide comments during a 30-day period.
  • Reason for amendments. According to the government, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of foreign workers and these amendments seek to rectify this situation.
  • Other programs supporting temporary workers. Other programs have been introduced in the past year to support temporary foreign workers, including Budget 2021, which supports community-based organizations providing migrant worker-centric programs and services; the increase of inspections of employers to ensure appropriate working conditions; and the Emergency On-Farm Support Fund, which supports employers who provide accommodations for farm workers to upgrade and improve living quarters for their workers.

Canada will continue to implement programs and regulations demonstrating its continued commitment to expanding immigration and supporting foreign workers. Fragomen will report on relevant updates.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].

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