Canada Temporary Foreign Worker Program - Key Changes for Employers and Migrants

Nationwide Visas
[Published 12 Sep, 2025 | 12:58 PM]
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Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney announced significant changes to the temporary foreign worker program (TFWP) on 10th September, 2025. This news is related to the employers of Canada and the immigrants who wish to migrate in Canada. He stated that the Canadian government is actively focusing on specific sectors and regions, including work permits, wage thresholds, and spousal open work permits.

They are aiming to reduce permit issuances by 50% in early 2025. This is the only information given by Carney, and he didn’t mention anything about the same.

However, these changes are aimed at improving the specific economic needs and regional labour market conditions for the better alignment of the program. The Conservative Party leader also claimed that these revisions in the TFWP reduce in-demand occupations in Canada.

Background of the Announcement

• Many groups of foreign nationals can work without work permits. The group includes foreign diplomats, business visitors, emergency service providers, performing artists, participants, and many more.

• Those who work under the Canadian work permit fall under the two programs: Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and International Mobility Program (IMP).

• The high-wage and low-wage streams, the seasonal agricultural worker program, the primary cultural stream and the global talent stream come under the TFWP program.

• The international mobility program (IMP) offers many LMIA options, including Post-Graduation Work Permits, youth mobility, international agreements, reciprocal employment, intra-company transfers, and academic exchanges. It also helps the immigrant responses to global crises. Eligible groups include spouses of high-skilled workers, some students, and applicants who wish to apply for Canada PR.

• In 2024, the ratio of issued work permits was 8:2, meaning 20% for TFWP and 80% for IMP.

• TFWP issued the work permits that are employer-specific.

• IMP may be an open or employer-specific work permit. In the last year, 12% were employer-specific and 88% were open work permits.

Latest Announcement

The Canadian government has made some changes to scale back on the TFWP in the last year. That includes:

• For 2025, they are setting a target to admit 82,000 new TFWP workers.

• Implementing low-wage positions to address the unemployment rate of 6% or higher in census metropolitan areas, specifically for processing LMIAs.

• The high-wage stream increased by 20%, which is above the provincial median hourly wage.

• They reduce the percentage of an employer’s workforce by 20% to 10% with the help of TFWP. And this reduction is only for the private sectors, such as construction, healthcare, and food.

• Restricting spousal open work permits (SOWPs) to spouses of TFWP holders employed in TEER 0 or 1 occupations, or in select in-demand TEER 2 or 3 roles, and requiring the principal worker to have at least 16 months remaining on their work permit.

As per the government official data, the number of work permits issued between January 2025 to June 2025 has dropped by 50% compared to the previous year. While over the same period, TFWP were issued work permits only 33,722 net.