Employers who want to hire temporary foreign workers will now have to pay a processing fee for each application and will have to work harder to find Canadians for the jobs first.
The changes come after news reports last April that the Royal Bank of Canada was hiring foreign workers to take the jobs of Canadians who were being laid off. A public outcry ensued.
Under the new rules employers must pay $275 for each application regardless of whether it is successful or not and they may not recover the fee from the worker.
English and French are the only languages they can require except in exceptional circumstance. And they must advertise the job openings across Canada and for a minimum period of four weeks.
Opposition party members say the changes are “cosmetic” because they do little to ensure that employers comply with the rules.
The changes do not apply to on-farm primary agriculture occupations, such as those under the seasonal agricultural worker program.
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