Chamber of Commerce Brantford-Brant Introduction
The Chamber of Commerce Brantford-Brant recognizes the challenges employers face in securing a skilled workforce. There is a demographic imperative for sustainable, demand-driven immigration in Canada. With birth rates well below replacement levels and a shrinking domestic labour pool, Canada must rely on a robust, sustainable immigration system to bridge the gap and ensure prolonged economic growth. Our current immigration system is not up to this task with complex rules and rigidities, and significant processing delays. Public trust in immigration has been eroded, with subsequent cuts to immigration levels.
Our demographic challenges have put Canadian employers in a desperate situation as they look to replace workers or staff up. There were 547,800 job vacancies among Canadian employers in the fourth quarter of 2024. While this is down from a peak of almost 1 million job vacancies in the aftermath of the pandemic, employers in nearly all sectors and regions continue to face labour challenges. Canada needs workers of all skill levels, operating across all sectors of the economy and regions of the country. Historically, our immigration system has been geared towards high- skilled economic immigrants rather than low-skilled streams, but the reality is that Canada needs both. For employers looking to fill low-skilled positions, they have hobbled together an approach that uses the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to address their needs. This solution is inadequate and does not address the core needs of businesses, evidenced by the fact that 90% of all jobs on Job Bank, Canada’s job portal, are full-time permanent jobs and 45% of Temporary Foreign Workers in the non-agricultural streams become Permanent Residents.
To tackle this policy challenge, a taskforce of employer associations produced Reimagining Immigration, a policy paper focused on recreating our low-skilled immigration system in Canada to better protect foreign workers and help Canadian employers find the labour they desperately need. Its guiding principles are as follows:
- Protection of foreign workers who come to Canada
- A pathway to permanent residency for foreign workers who wish to stay in Canada permanently
- Certainty for employers who need workers from a variety of skill levels
- Confidence for Canadians regarding our immigration system
- Reputation for Canada as a viable and promising destination for immigrants of all skill levels
This page and the links and information contained is the Chamber’s effort to have an open dialogue on this very real question facing Canada:
How do we create a balanced and fair workforce and economy that best enables economic growth across Canada, and most importantly, in Brantford-Brant?
The Chamber of Commerce is a community partner with the Brantford Immigration Partnership (BIP) to support the City of Brantford in becoming an inclusive and welcoming community for everyone.
Canada faces significant demographic challenges, with decreasing birthrates and a shrinking workforce that demands a robust immigration system. Our current system, however, struggles to meet these needs due to complex ruling, rigidities and processing delays. With over 500,000 job openings in late 2024, many in low-skilled roles that Canadians and permanent residents are unwilling to fill, employers in all industries are struggling with a persistent labor shortage. Many workers eventually seek permanent status, making the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program an inadequate stopgap. The goal of the Reimagining Immigration taskforce is to restructure Canada’s immigration laws by putting up a new framework that protects workers, provides clear pathways to permanent residency for those who choose to remain, and better promotes low-skilled labor.
The committee suggests creating the Canadian International Workforce Program (CIWP) to solve these problems. This program would create two streams: one for low-skilled jobs that are available year-round and another for temporary, seasonal workers. In addition to prioritizing bilateral agreements with source countries and extending work permits to five years, this revised system would make it easier for workers in low-skilled, long-term positions to get permanent residency. Enhancing worker protections, limiting outside consultants, and guaranteeing quicker processing times are some of the main measures. The CIWP seeks to establish a demand-driven, sustainable immigration system that benefits both Canadian employers and foreign workers by solving labor shortages in both temporary and permanent streams.
March 13, 2026 Update:
Innovation in diversified cities: Evidence from Canada’s urban areas
House of Commons Committee Invites the Public to Submit Written Briefs for its Study on the Impacts of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program on the Labour Market The House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities is undertaking a study of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, including its impacts on the labour market and how well it meets needs, particularly in rural areas. The Committee invites members of the public to submit written briefs no longer than 10 pages (approximately 4,000 words) for consideration in the study. The deadline for the Committee to receive written briefs from the public is Friday, February 13, 2026. Read the Press Release here:
Committee News Release – November 25, 2025 – HUMA (45-1) – House of Commons of Canada
View the Guide for Submitting Briefs to the House of Commons Committees here:
https://www.noscommunes.ca/procedure/guides/brief-e.html
CD Howe Report
Immigration Policy Needs Fundamental Reform, Council Warns – C.D. Howe Institute
“Canada’s immigration policy continues to move in the wrong direction and requires a fundamental course correction, according to a new Communiqué from the C.D. Howe Institute’s Immigration Targets Council.”
The Communiqué highlights the need to overhaul both temporary and permanent immigration programs. Recommendations include stronger admission standards for international students, reducing reliance on low-skilled temporary workers by scaling back the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and simplifying permanent economic immigration pathways around Express Entry. A revised Comprehensive Ranking System would place greater weight on predictors of long-term success, such as the field of study for all applicants and verified earnings in Canada for those with prior Canadian experience. Members also called for more efficient asylum processes and targeted fast-track pathways to attract top-tier global talent in science, medicine, and artificial intelligence.
Abacus Data Poll: Canadians Divided on Temporary Foreign Worker Program as Generational, Regional, and Political Fault Lines Emerge – Abacus Data A new Abacus Data survey finds the country deeply divided on whether to eliminate Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), with support strongest among younger Canadians, residents of the Prairies, and Conservative voters.
But here too I see a window of opportunity because Reimagining Immigration calls for the eventual elimination of the TFW to be replaced with a more predictable and permanent CIWP.
Coletto, D. (2025, September 8). Abacus Data poll: Canadians divided on temporary foreign worker program as generational, regional, and political fault lines emerge.
As for the argument that TFW’s are taking jobs away from Canada’s youth, I think this article gives a good explanation
Are temporary foreign workers taking young Canadians’ jobs? Here’s what experts think | CBC News
Mark Holthe, an immigration lawyer based in Alberta, told CBC Radio’s The House that the temporary foreign worker program requires employers to prove there’s no Canadian available to do the job and that they’re paying the prevailing wage rate.
“It’s designed not to put downward pressure on wages,” he said. The real challenge, Holthe said, lies with international students who can obtain open work permits after graduation that can be valid for up to three years.
(2025, September 19). Recent political and public discourse has unfortunately reinforced myths and prejudices about migrant workers and their role in Canada’s economy.
The article debunks myths about Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program. It points out that TFW numbers are falling, not rising, and that migrant workers are not taking Canadian jobs—employers must show no local workers are available. It also distinguishes the TFW program from the larger International Mobility Program, which has had more issues. While worker exploitation is a concern, the article argues that scrapping the TFW program would worsen labor shortages and harm the economy, and stresses the importance of nuanced, evidence-based discussions on the topic.
There has been a lot of talk in the media about the TFW since Pierre Poilievre called for the elimination of the program. Premier Eby of BC also called for the TFW program to be cancelled or reformed.
Many employer groups have been vocal defending the need for immigration including CFIB Dan Kelly, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, called Poilievre’s proposal “absolutely ridiculous.” He told The Canadian Press it’s “completely understandable and reasonable to question” aspects of the program, such as its size and scope, and that it’s appropriate for Ottawa to limit the program. “But to shut off the instrument is foolish, and the Conservatives know better,”
Kelly said. He noted that the Conservatives are promising to end the temporary foreign worker program while creating a stand-alone program for agricultural labour. Kelly said that if the Conservatives can understand the need for those workers in agriculture, “then they should be able to understand that those challenges also exist in many rural and remote communities, also in many sectors of the economy, including the hospitality sector.”
Kelly said ending the program would “gut the labour pool” in many rural and remote communities and could shut down resort communities like Banff and Whistler.
Restaurants Canada is warning that calls to scrap the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) could hit rural and remote communities hardest—reducing hours, forcing closures, and costing local jobs across Northwestern Ontario. ” Let’s work together to ensure rural and remote communities have a supply of key labour positions,” said Kelly Higginson, Restaurants Canada CEO, urging permanent solutions that keep small businesses alive. Power & Politics September 3, 2025, Interview with Michelle Rempel Conservative Critic and Kelly Higginson (1:04 mark)
Federal government cuts to youth employment
In addition, the single largest employer in the country the federal government cut the Post-secondary recruitment program, as well as cancelled co-ops and term employees Future of youth government jobs uncertain amid austerity | Ottawa Citizen
“In 2025, youth employment in the federal public service has hit a low not seen since 2018, according to Treasury Board data. In March 2025, the number of people aged 24 and younger employed in the public service dropped to 14,076 from 17,676 in 2024. A peak of 18,561 public servants fit in that age bracket in 2023. Public servants between the ages of 25 and 29 saw the largest decrease in headcount from 2024 to 2025 of any five-year age brackets, with a reduction of 4,413 jobs. The age bracket for those aged 20 to 24 saw the second greatest loss – a decrease of 3,600 jobs.”
Canada’s unemployment rate hits 7%, highest since 2016 outside the pandemic. (2025, June 6). Financialpost. https://financialpost.com/news/economy/canada-unemployment-rate-hits-7-percent
“In the low-wage stream in particular, it’s quite an onerous process. People have to apply, there is an application fee, the job must be posted on the job bank for up to four weeks, there is a way for the impor — for ESDC, the department I’m responsible for, to track how many people have actually applied to that job, there’s an interview with the employer… So, this isn’t an easy process.” – Hon. Patty Hajdu
Canada needs a balanced immigration system
There are thousands of foreign workers who came to Canada, working alongside and complementing the work of thousands more Canadians. These essential workers came to this country via the Temporary Foreign Worker program, a strongly regulated immigration program with built in protections to ensure that they do not take a job away from a Canadian, are paid a fair wage, and are not a strain on our housing system.
Click the link below to read more about the balances needed for Canada’s temporary workers program
The Liberal government has brought forward regulatory amendments that would give Canada’s premiers increased authority over who can immigrate to their respective provinces and territories.
During the government’s red tape review process, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said it plans to reduce duplication in the immigration process by giving provinces sole control over the selection criteria used in provincial nominee programs (PNP), which are active in every jurisdiction except Quebec and Nunavut.
Established in 1998, PNPs allow provincial governments to nominate individuals for prospective immigration based on a range of factors, including education level, professional experience and language. However, under current regulations, Ottawa retains the ability to re-evaluate these nominations based on the federal government’s selection criteria.
Recently-proposed amendments would ensure the feds maintain the “final selection authority” over immigration decisions, but Ottawa would cede the ability to reassess the skills or educational background of those nominated under the program, as per IRCC’s red tape reduction initiative.
Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada: Myths vs Realities by CFIB, challenges five common misconceptions, including: Employers are addicted to TFWs; TFWs take jobs from Canadians and especially young Canadians; TFWs supress Canadian wages; TFWs strain local housing, and abuse is widespread and goes unchecked.
- Comment Sheet: https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/hubfs/lp/tfw/quotes-tfwp-en.pdf
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada’s temporary foreign worker program (TFWP) must adopt a more “focused approach” that meets the labour needs of specific sectors and regions, while easing pressure on housing, infrastructure, and social services.
Speaking to the Liberal caucus at its annual retreat in Edmonton on Wednesday, Carney emphasized the government’s broader plan to bring immigration levels to what he called “sustainable levels.” That includes reducing the number of non-permanent residents — temporary workers and international students — to below five per cent of Canada’s total population. As of April 1, they accounted for 7.1 per cent.
“Now, it’s clear that we have to work to continue to improve our overall immigration policies, and the temporary foreign worker program must have a focused approach that targets specific strategic sectors and needs in specific regions,” Carney told caucus. “We’re working on that — setting goals, adjusting, and easing the strain on housing, public infrastructure and our social services while building a strong economy.”
