March 13, 2026 Gatineau, Quebec Employment and Social Development Canada
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.
