Age of Relying on ‘Unlimited Supply of Cheap Foreign Labour’ Is Over: Immigration Minister

Marc Miller, minister of Immigration, refugees and citizenship, speaks in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 6, 2024. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says the era of an “unlimited supply” of cheap foreign labour has come to an end, and employers might need to increase wages to recruit more Canadian workers.

Addressing the often “disproportionate relationship” between businesses and their employees is key when it comes to low-cost temporary foreign workers, Miller said during a Nov. 13 press conference following his speech at the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.

“There are exploitative relationships that exist, and we need to crack down on them,” Miller said. “That includes a proper wage in some of the low wage categories” such as agriculture and food processing.

Dealing with the issue means balancing the number of foreign workers with actual demand, he said, adding that Ottawa can’t cut off all supply to a sector like agriculture when the country is grappling with food inflation and insecurity.

“The answers aren’t simple,” he said. “It starts with making sure that everyone is treated with dignity as they work in Canada, regardless of whether they are temporary or a Canadian citizen.”

It will be up to Ottawa to deal with abuses of the country’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and determine how many permits are necessary for different regions and sectors, Miller said.

“Permits are something we’re looking at as we continue to reform the system,” he said. “It’s clear that the age of unlimited supply of cheap foreign labour is over, and I think that is a good thing.”

The Liberal government has been criticized by the Opposition Conservatives for increasing the number of temporary residents allowed into Canada, which they have linked to housing shortages and a higher cost of living. A recent Angus Reid poll found that Canadians increasingly support scaling back the TFWP as concerns about housing and employment opportunities continue.

Changes announced last week to the TFWP attempts to address concerns about the program and encourage employers to hire more Canadian workers.

Canada is now imposing restrictions on the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers across most industries and has raised the minimum wage. The change, which came into force on Nov. 8, requires an employer to pay 20 percent above the median income in their province to qualify for a foreign worker permit.

Miller said the changes will come with some growing pains, but said the government would consult with industries and employees to ensure “we get the policy package right.”

Border Security

Immigration reform may also extend beyond the country’s permit system, Miller said.

He emphasized the importance of jointly enforcing the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States and said the government needs to tackle the problem of illegal immigrants who remain in Canada.

To that end, Ottawa is looking at beefing up enforcement resources to deal with the record numbers of temporary visa and work permit holders who choose to remain in Canada illegally, Miller said, although he declined to comment on what that increased enforcement would look like.

“In the context of enforcement, generally, broadly speaking, we absolutely need to look at the enforcement mechanisms that we employ to make sure people that don’t want to leave after due process actually do leave,” he said.

“I’m not going to share publicly the plans that we have on enforcement, but more enforcement means more resources.”

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland also declined to share specifics about the government’s plans to ramp up border security at a Nov. 13 press conference in Ottawa.

She said she wouldn’t discuss “hypothetical” border scenarios and didn’t directly answer reporter questions about staffing needs at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

“We absolutely are working very, very hard to ensure our border is secure,” she said. “Of course it means we need to have the appropriate resources to do that, and we will.”

In Canada, border security and integrity is a shared mandate between the CBSA and the RCMP. The RCMP is responsible for enforcing Canadian legislation between ports of entry while the CBSA is responsible for enforcing the law at Canada’s designated ports of entry.

The border agency told The Epoch Times in an email that it collaborates closely with the United States “to protect and secure our borders” but would not confirm whether it has allocated additional resources to deal with the growth in illegal crossings.

One of the main issues faced by the border agency is a staffing shortage.

A Canada Border Services report earlier this year identified inadequate staffing as a major issue at ports of entry across the country.

Customs and Immigration Union president Mark Weber told the Commons public safety committee in February that the CBSA is short between 2,000 and 3,000 officers.

“We have ports operating with half the number of officers they had 10 years ago,” Weber testified. “We’re having a really hard time. When I say we’re desperately understaffed, we are desperately understaffed.”

The CBSA conducted 18,893 removals between the fiscal years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, according to government stats. Newer figures have yet to be released.