Hello,
You are receiving this message because you are taking part in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and you may have been impacted by hazardous weather conditions, including the wildfires.
Under these circumstances, we would like to provide you with information on the Program and remind you that you must continue to meet your obligations under the TFWP, including:
- follow the local evacuation procedures (e.g., know evacuation sites, maintaining contact plan with the temporary foreign workers (TFWs), be ready for an evacuation as per provincial or territorial guidelines);
- contact your regional processing centre by email to report any unreachable TFWs.
If your business cannot operate and you need to lay off TFWs, you must issue a record of employment (ROE) to allow the TFWs to apply for Employment Insurance benefits. To get help:
- visit How to complete the record of employment form
- contact the Employer Contact Centre
Program requirements and hours worked:
Employers hiring TFWs must provide them with full-time work, defined as a minimum of 30 hours per week. Of note, Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) contracts — which require annual negotiations with participating source nations — also have minimum hours of work and compensation clauses that may exceed 30 hours a week.
It is also worth noting that TFWs are subject to provincial and, when applicable, federal employment regulations. Employers can legally layoff workers should a work stoppage make it impossible for the employer to fulfill their obligations under the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). In these cases, employers remain responsible for fulfilling other obligations under the LMIA, such as providing return airfare to workers where this is a Program requirement.
Employers who make a decision to keep workers over longer work stoppages will be expected to make up any income gaps where situations prevent a worker from averaging 30 hours per week over the entire employment duration.
In addition, depending on the timing and duration of a work stoppage, employers may also be responsible for topping up TFWs’ pay to meet the average of 30 hours per week over the employment duration, excluding weeks where workers were receiving income supports (e.g., Employment Insurance).
Service Canada may be in contact with employers to ensure the health and safety of TFWs.
Other information:
For more information about the TFWP visit Hire a temporary foreign worker with a Labour Market Impact Assessment, or contact the Employer Contact Centre if you have questions about your LMIA application in the area affected by hazardous weather conditions.
If you believe that you have not been complying with the conditions of the Program, you can tell us about the compliance issues by using the voluntary disclosure.
For more information on the SAWP contracts visit Contract for the employment in Canada of seasonal agricultural workers from Mexico – 2023, or Contract for the employment in Canada of commonwealth Caribbean seasonal agricultural workers – 2023
You are encouraged to share this communication throughout your respective networks and with any colleagues or peers who may need to be aware of this information.
Temporary Foreign Worker Program
Service Canada / Government of Canada
