Canadian Design and Construction Report staff writer
Construction employers operating multiple small work locations can now hire more temporary foreign workers in positions classified under the federal government’s low-wage stream following a change to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
Employment and Social Development Canada updated its program requirements on Aug. 18, allowing employers with work locations employing fewer than 10 people to use an alternative calculation when determining how many workers they can hire through the low-wage stream.
The change is particularly significant for construction, one of three sectors eligible for a higher workforce cap under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
Construction employers can generally hire workers through the low-wage stream equal to up to 20 per cent of their workforce. Under the revised rules, an employer with fewer than 10 employees at an individual work location can hire up to two temporary foreign workers at that location.
Previously, the alternative calculation applied only to employers with fewer than 10 employees across their entire Canadian workforce.
The change means a construction company operating several small locations may now be able to hire more temporary foreign workers by applying the calculation at each individual location rather than across the company as a whole.
The new rule applies when the standard 20 per cent workforce cap would result in an employer being eligible to hire fewer than two workers at a work location.
Employment and Social Development Canada outlines the change in the section of its program requirements dealing with employers with fewer than 10 employees at a given work location.
A position is classified under the low-wage stream when it pays less than 120 per cent of the regional median wage established through the federal Job Bank. Positions paying at or above that threshold are processed through the program’s high-wage stream and are not subject to the workforce cap.
In Ontario, the current threshold is $36.92 an hour.
Employers seeking to hire workers through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program must generally obtain a positive or neutral Labour Market Impact Assessment from Employment and Social Development Canada. The assessment is intended to show that no qualified Canadian citizen or permanent resident is available to fill the position.
For the purposes of calculating the workforce cap, an employer’s workforce includes full- and part-time employees, temporary foreign workers with approved Labour Market Impact Assessments who have not yet started work and vacant positions included in the employer’s application.
Employees working fewer than 30 hours a week are counted as half an employee.
The change follows another move earlier this year aimed at expanding access to foreign workers in rural areas. Since March 13, provinces have been able to increase the low-wage workforce cap to 15 per cent for eligible employers in rural communities.
Construction employers using the low-wage stream must also meet additional requirements, including paying for workers’ transportation to and from Canada, ensuring access to suitable housing costing less than 30 per cent of a worker’s pre-tax income and providing private health insurance where provincial or territorial coverage is unavailable.
At the same time, restrictions remain in place for employers in some urban areas. Since September 2024, the federal government has generally stopped processing low-wage.
Labour Market Impact Assessments in census metropolitan areas where the unemployment rate is above six per cent.
The new calculation gives construction employers with smaller, geographically dispersed operations additional flexibility in accessing temporary foreign workers, while the sector continues to face persistent labour shortages.
