IRCC extended work permits to family members of temporary foreign workers
On December 2, 2022, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced new instructions for employers and temporary workers. Canada is expanding its work permit program to include family members of temporary foreign workers. This will help address labour shortages by making it easier for employers to find the needed workers.
Effective January 2023, Canada will temporarily expand work eligibility to spouses and dependent children of all ages for two years. It is estimated that this will offer working opportunities to the family members of more than 200,000 foreign workers. This initiative provides a greater chance for foreign workers who want to come to Canada and employers seeking labour solutions.
Statements of the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Sean Fraser, Minister of immigration, refugees and Citizenship about Labour shortages in Canada:
The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, and the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism, introduced the policy on December 2nd. It aims to enhance the mental health of employees. The Ministers believe that extending family members’ eligibility for work permits will also contribute to addressing the labour shortage.
“Employers all around the country continue to identify a labour shortage as their main challenge everywhere I go. By allowing family members of over 200,000 foreign employees to work in Canada, today’s announcement will assist employers in filling their labour shortages by making work permits available to family members of all skill levels.”
“As we plan for post-pandemic growth, the number one concern facing Canada’s tourism industry is labour. Today, our government is implementing innovative, family-oriented solutions to address this problem and support the growth of our tourism partners to meet the growing demand for Canadian experiences worldwide.”
3 phase of Work Permits Eligibility
The program will be implemented over the duration of three phases at the beginning of 2023 as a temporary two-year measure:
Phase 1: Family members of workers entering Canada via the high-wage stream of the TFWP or the IMP will be permitted to apply for an open work permit during Phase 1 of the programme.
Phase 2: Following consultations, Phase 2 plans to extend the policy to relatives of employees from the Temporary Foreign Worker Program’s low-wage stream.
Phase 3: will involve discussions with stakeholders and partners in agriculture to determine whether it is practical to extend the policy to agricultural employees’ families.
The government of Canada will continue to establish policies geared at assisting employers with their staffing needs across all skill levels, and immigration will continue to play a key role in solving Canada’s labour shortages. Between January and October 2022, Canada issued almost 645,000 work permits, more than four times the 163,000 issued at the same time in 2021.
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