As Canadian youth continue to grapple with elevated unemployment rates, Canada’s temporary foreign worker program (TFWP) has come under fire from critics who say it has exacerbated the problem, but new research suggests those claims are unfounded.
“The TFWP has become a convenient scapegoat for a tighter job market for Canadian youth, but the argument just doesn’t hold up,” the president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), Dan Kelly, said in a statement Tuesday.
The press release detailed new CFIB research, which found that the jobs most often filled by temporary foreign workers are the ones young Canadians are least willing and likely to take.
The analysis combined data from a CFIB report released earlier this year that examined the gap between the needs of small businesses and Canadian youth looking for work, as well at the CFIB’s most recent monthly barometer that monitors business sentiment.
“Canada’s youth are not looking for overnight kitchen shifts or work in rural and remote communities,” Kelly said. “Cutting the program doesn’t hand jobs to youth, it creates staffing crises and puts even more Canadian jobs in jeopardy.”
Earlier this month, Statistics Canada reported that Canada’s unemployment rate for those aged 15 to 24 fell by 0.7 per cent to 12.7 per cent in June, which followed a 0.9 per cent decline in May, suggesting conditions for young job-seekers had improved.
“The youth unemployment rate in June was comparable to the recent low of 12.8 per cent observed in November 2025 and January 2026,” StatCan said.
“However, it remains higher than the pre-pandemic average of 10.8 per cent observed during the period from 2017 to 2019.”
Program has seen backlash
One of the most vocal opponents of the TFWP has been federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who late last year called on Prime Minister’s Mark Carney’s government to scrap the program altogether.
The CFIB argues that the program plays an important role for small businesses seeking workers to do jobs that are typically unpopular with Canadian youth, particularly in rural and remote areas of the country, where labour pools are small.
“Harvesting labourers alone account for nearly a third (32 per cent) of all temporary foreign worker positions in Canada, work that’s physically demanding, outdoor and seasonal,” the CFIB said in the release.
“The other top jobs filled by temporary foreign workers -- many of which involve irregular hours, seasonal work or rural locations -- are nursery and greenhouse labourers, food service supervisors, cooks, and livestock labourers.”
The CFIB says that according to its latest research, nine in 10 businesses relying on the TFWP say those positions simply cannot be filled with local employees.
And even when youth are open to those types of roles, most are unwilling or unable to relocate to fill vacancies, the CFIB said.
“Only 19 per cent would relocate to a different city or town for a service-sector job, just eight per cent would move to a small town or rural community, and only three per cent would consider a remote or isolated community,” the release said.
CFIB Policy Analyst Molly MacCormack wrote that “there’s no lineup of young people from urban areas applying for a 5 a.m. bakery shift in rural Saskatchewan. Pretending otherwise and limiting access to labour doesn’t get those jobs done.
“High youth unemployment does not guarantee a readily available local workforce. It’s time to recognize that the TFWP fills critical gaps that, left unfilled, would serve to dry up other jobs for Canadians.”
Future of the TFWP
In the face of criticism from Poilievre and others, Carney’s government announced changes to the TFWP last year that reduced the number of foreign worker permits issued and focused the program on specific industries with persistent labour shortages.
However, the CFIB argues in its analysis that not only should the TFWP be protected and maintained, but that many small businesses would be forced to close their doors if the program is scrapped or significantly cut, which would lead to further job losses for Canadians.
According to the CFIB’s data, 52 per cent of small businesses in Canada say the TFWP has helped them to stay open in recent years and continue employing Canadian workers. That number rose to 76 per cent for hospitality businesses, it said.
“For many firms, temporary foreign workers are not optional. They are what keep their business running… the TFWP plays an important role in enabling small businesses to support and sustain jobs for their Canadian staff,” the CFIB said.
