Approvals for temporary foreign workers continue to rise – will new restrictions finally slow the hiring?

Author(s): Alsharif, G.

Date: 2025

Resource: Toronto Star.

Demand for temporary foreign workers across Canada continued to rise last year, and experts don’t expect that to stop anytime soon – despite restrictions to the program introduced in September.

Third-quarter numbers from 2024, the most recent data available, show Canada approved 50,971 temporary foreign worker (TFW) positions July through September, up from 50,059 during the same period in 2023, according to figures from Employment and Social Development Canada.

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Catherine Connelly, a professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business, and an expert on the temporary foreign worker program, also doesn’t expect to see any big changes in the near future.

“I don’t think these changes will make a big difference,” she said. Much of the growth in the TFW program has been through the low-wage stream, and some sectors under this category are “not really affected by these changes.”

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Related Research Areas: Temporary and Gig Workers