Program directory · Employment and Social Development Canada

Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Department

Employment and Social Development Canada

Program code

BGO14 (HRSD)

Core responsibility

Learning, Skills Development and Employment

In Departmental Plans

2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan

What it does

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program allows Canadian employers to fill short term, temporary labour market gaps when Canadians and permanent residents are not available. While in Canada, temporary foreign workers have the same workplace rights and protections under applicable federal, provincial and territorial employment laws as Canadians and permanent residents, and the Government of Canada has tools in place to protect temporary foreign workers’ rights. The Program is managed by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and jointly administered with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency. The TFW Program operates under the authority of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and its regulations. In Quebec, it is administered in consultation with the ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration. Service Canada assesses Labour Market Impact Assessments for employers applying to hire temporary foreign workers based on factors such as: the genuineness of the job offers; whether the employer made sufficient efforts to hire and train Canadians; and whether the employer meets Program requirements related to wages and working conditions. Some streams of the Program impose additional working conditions and requirements on employers including, paying for the worker’s round-trip transportation to Canada, and providing housing or ensuring that suitable and affordable housing is available. The Program has an employer compliance regime designed to verify whether employers are adhering to program conditions and requirements. Employers who are found non-compliant face significant consequences, including administrative monetary penalties and temporary or permanent bans from participating in the Program. ESDC also uses enhanced tools such as a confidential Tip Line and an online reporting tool that allows individuals to report potential situations of wrongdoing and/or misuse of the Program.

Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.

History and lineage

First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).

No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.

Significant changes in scope and budget

Success criteria

The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.

Spending and employees: planned against actual

Spending

Employees (FTEs)

Planned spending, plan by plan

Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans

Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.