Government of Canada taking action to support rural employers under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

GATINEAU, QC, March 13, 2026 /CNW/ - Strong local businesses and a reliable workforce are essential to keeping rural economies growing and communities thriving across Canada. Canadians must always be first in line for available jobs. However, in regions experiencing severe labour shortages, the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program allows employers to hire foreign workers to address critical, short-term workforce gaps when qualified Canadians or permanent residents are not available.

Employers who use the TFW Program must meet strict requirements to ensure jobs are offered to Canadians first. Employers must demonstrate that genuine efforts to recruit Canadian workers were unsuccessful and must continue domestic recruitment while their application is under review.

Workers hired through the TFW Program represent approximately 1% of Canada's workforce and help support key sectors such as agriculture, food processing, construction and health care.

In response to evolving labour market conditions, several measures were implemented between October 2023 and November 2024 to reduce reliance on the TFW Program and ensure Canadians continue to have first access to available jobs.

While these changes have reduced overall reliance on the program, some rural communities continue to face acute labour shortages due to low unemployment rates, and ongoing difficulties attracting, recruiting, and retaining workers. In these regions, employers are struggling to find the workers needed to keep essential businesses operating and local economies moving.

Today, in recognition of these conditions, the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario announced targeted, time-limited measures to help rural employers address these workforce challenges while maintaining strong safeguards to ensure Canadians remain first in line for available jobs.

At the request of provinces or territories, the Government of Canada will permit rural employers to retain their current number of low-wage temporary foreign workers and temporarily increase the allowable share of low-wage temporary foreign workers from 10% to 15% of their workforce in eligible rural regions.

These measures can be implemented within two weeks of a positive request from a province or territory and could begin as early as April 1, 2026. The measures will remain in place until March 31, 2027.

Sector-specific exemptions from the cap will remain in place. Employers in the health care, construction and food processing sectors will continue to be subject to a 20% cap on their low-wage temporary foreign workforce. Seasonal sectors such as fish and seafood processing and tourism will continue to benefit from the existing TFW Program cap exemption for seasonal positions.

The Government of Canada will continue to monitor labour market conditions and work closely with provinces and territories, industry stakeholders and labour organizations to protect the integrity of the program and ensure Canadians continue to have access to available jobs across the country.

Quotes 

"Strong rural economies depend on local employers being able to find the workers they need to keep businesses operating and communities thriving. Canadians must always be first in line for available jobs, but in some rural regions employers are facing persistent labour shortages. At the request of provinces and territories, these targeted, time-limited measures will help address urgent workforce gaps while continuing to prioritize Canadian workers and support the industries that sustain rural communities."

– The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario

"As we continue to prioritize Canadian workers first, these vital new measures recognize those distinct challenges and will help rural employers keep their businesses running and their communities strong. Rural communities need an approach that respects their unique realities. In many parts of rural Canada, employers are dealing with tight labour markets, smaller local workforces, and fewer people able to move where the jobs are. This announcement is good news, addressing those concerns for rural economies across the country."

– The Honourable Buckley Belanger, Secretary of State for Rural Development 

Quick Facts

• The TFW Program is designed as an extraordinary temporary measure to be used in response to evolving labour market needs, when qualified Canadians and permanent residents are not able to fill job vacancies.
• TFW Program policies are reviewed and adjusted regularly to respond to evolving labour market conditions and realities. This includes a focused approach that targets strategic sectors and needs in specific regions.
• TFW Program tightening measures introduced between October 2023 and November 2024 included:
  • a refusal to process policy for low-wage positions in census metropolitan areas of 6% unemployment rate or higher;
  • a decrease of the cap on the percentage of low-wage foreign workers an employer can hire relative to their total workforce from 20% to 10%; and
  • a reduction in the maximum employment duration of work permits for low-wage workers to one year.
• Workers under the TFW Program account for approximately 1% of Canada's overall workforce, and approximately 10% of all non-permanent residents in Canada.

Associated links

• Government of Canada announces approval of provincial request for temporary freeze of low-wage occupations in Montréal under Temporary Foreign Worker Program
• Hire a temporary foreign worker in a high-wage or low-wage position
• Regular Labour Market Impact Assessment process for employers from Quebec

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SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada

Contacts: For media enquiries, please contact: Jennifer Kozelj, Senior Communications Advisor and Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario, [email protected]; Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]