How Recent Government Immigration Targets Will Impact the Canadian Technology Industry

The Federal Government has recently unveiled sweeping target reductions to Canadian Immigration. A move that is widely perceived as a political decision in preparation for the upcoming election. The primary objective of these changes is to decrease the percentage of temporary residents in Canada from 6.5% to 5% of the total population.

Inadequate program management has led to unsustainable growth in programs such as Study Permits and Post Grad Work Permits and instances of abuses by both individuals and companies. Despite immigration being a driver for our economy and playing an important role in Canada skirting a post-pandemic recession, this mismanagement has pulled immigration into political debates on hot topics such as the housing crisis, pressures on healthcare services, and joblessness, and an overall drop in public opinion.

The silver lining is that immigration will continue to play a critical role in Canada’s continued economic success. As a result, the announced targets reflect the importance of allowing top talent to join the Canadian workforce. Let’s explore some of the changes from the perspective of Employers in the Tech sector. 

Hiring Foreign Employees on Work Permits

Based on the information released by the Government to date, most companies recruiting temporary foreign workers for technology-based occupations will not be heavily impacted. That said, to determine how much an employer will be impacted is dependent on the programs and strategies they have leveraged to bring in foreign workers. 

Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)

What is the TFWP: The TFWP includes programs led by Service Canada whereby an employer must first obtain a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)  through proving to the Government that there were no qualified candidates that were Canadian Citizens or PRs prior to offering the role to a foreign worker and bringing an employee to Canada on a Closed Work Permit. 

Changes to Targets: The target number of Work Permits admitted through the TFWP (Work Permits requiring LMIA applications) will stay relatively stable at 82,000 in each of the next few years. Although this number isn’t increasing overall, we anticipate that many LMIAs will be shifting from programs Tech companies don’t leverage to programs that they do use due to new policy changes. Therefore, this can be seen as a positive announcement for the tech industry.  

GTS LMIA: Currently there has been no announced changes to the Global Talent Stream LMIA (GTS LMIA) program. This program is designed to cater to the rapid nature of the technology sector through its streamlined LMIA process.

High-Wage LMIAs: Most technology positions that do not qualify for GTS LMIA program qualify under the High-Wage LMIA program due to the hourly wages these roles typically receive (e.g., over $34.62 in BC). The High-Wage LMIA program has not been changed.

Low-Wage LMIAs: There have been significant changes to this program as well as eligibility rules that will most likely result in lowered usage. As most Technology based roles qualify for the High-Wage LMIA program we won’t go into detail here.   

International Mobility Programs (IMPs)

What are the IMPs: These programs provide individuals with a work permit in Canada without the need for an LMIA. These are excellent options for companies to leverage in order to hire temporary foreign workers quickly.

For reference, the following are examples of programs that fall into this category:

·       Free Trade Agreements

·       International Experience Canada

·       Intra-company Transferees

·       Post Graduate Work Permits

·       Spouses of Students & Post Grad Work Permits

·       Spouses of Temporary Foreign Workers

These programs run independent of each other. 

Changes to Targets: Mismanagement of some of the programs listed under the IMP umbrella are seen as the main cause for runaway immigration numbers over the past few years. As a result, we will see a significant reduction in how many Work Permits that will be obtained through IMPs. What we don’t know yet is which IMP programs are going to incur the largest reductions.

Spousal Open Work Permits: As mentioned above, mismanagement and exploitation of this program are seen as being at the heart of the recent immigration boom over the past few years. It is expected that most permit reductions will be through cuts to Study Permits and changes to Post Grad Work Permits, which will indirectly reduce the number of Spousal Open Work Permits. 

Additionally, there will be further changes that will limit the eligibility of spousal open work permits to spouses of workers in Managerial and Professional occupations, and for workers in sectors experiencing labour shortages.

Again, with Technology occupations being considered Professional these changes will not have a significant impact for Technology based employers or employees.   

Free Trade Agreements: It remains to be seen how the Government intends to adjust the numbers of Work Permits obtained through Free Trade Agreements. This may be done through limiting the types of Occupations eligible. 

Supporting Your Employees’ Permanent Residence (PR) Applications

The Government has emphasized a focus on reducing temporary residents by prioritizing invitations for in-Canada temporary residents to apply for their Permanent Resident Status (PR). 

Overall, this is good news for those employers who have employees applying for PR as once this is obtained you can say good-bye to work permits. 

Express Entry

What is Express Entry: This is the program used by most high skilled individuals looking to apply for the Permanent Resident Status. 

The Government announced a target of ~83,000 PRs to be received in 2025 by individuals already in Canada. Together with an additional ~41,000 PRs targeted under the Federal Economic Priorities category, there has been an increase to the number of PRs that will be received through these Economic streams that are leveraged by most of the Technology based employees. 

This appears to be more overall good news for technology workers; however, the Federal Economic Priorities category may not include technology roles. This has not been formally announced and we will have to wait and see once these categories are unveiled. Recent years we have seen a focus on Technology, Healthcare, Skilled Trades, and French Proficiency.

Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP)

What is the Provincial Nominee Program: PNPs allow provinces to nominate individuals who have the skills and experience that are in demand within that province. It can be used to hire temporary foreign workers to come to Canada to work without the employer requiring an LMIA, and/or to provide an employee with points needed to guarantee an invitation to apply for their PR through the Express Entry program mentioned above.   

Changes to Targets: In a surprise announcement, the Federal Government reduced the total number of Provincial Nominations available nationwide to pre-pandemic numbers; from 110,000 to 55,000. 

We cannot be certain how this will impact employers yet. It can be assumed though that there will be a negative impact to employers and their employees who planned to leverage this program in 2025. Important details have not yet been shared such as;

• The allocation of the 55,000 nominations across the provinces. 

• How each province will allocate their nominations once they know how many they will have in 2025

BC continues to have strong demand in the technology, healthcare and construction occupations, so it can be anticipated that these areas may continue to be a focus of the nominations. 

In Summary

The announcements last week were made using broad strokes covering a multitude of immigration programs. As such, it is not yet clear exactly how Employers and Employees in the Technology sector will be impacted. However, based on the rhetoric we have heard and the numbers we have seen, the Technology industry is in an enviable position to most other industries in Canada. 

That said, there will be winners and losers that come from these changes. Some industries will be significantly impacted. Some companies who need to hire foreign workers in lower paying occupations may find that they can no longer do so resulting in forced changes to business plans and/or closures. 

Unfortunately, there will be unintended victims of these decisions. These announcements have far reaching impacts to individuals and their families. Be curious. If you have questions from your temporary foreign workers or are considering utilizing them in the coming year to achieve your company goals, feel free to contact Pacific Rim Immigration Inc.