The Government of Canada announced on December 2 a new measure that would allow temporary foreign workers to obtain work permits for their family members.
In an effort to alleviate labour shortages and “improve the emotional well-being, physical health and financial stability of workers by keeping families together,” the temporary two-year measure would be effective as of January 2023, according to a news release from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
The measure, which affects spouses and working-age children of temporary workers in all Training, Education, Experience and Responsibility categories, will be implemented in three stages. The first will allow family members of workers coming to Canada under the high wage component of the International Mobility Program and the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program to apply for an open permit. The second will extend the measure to family members of workers in the low wage stream of the TFW program following consultations. Finally, the last phase will involve consultations with stakeholders in the agricultural community to assess the operational feasibility of extending this measure to the families of agricultural workers.
At this time, the exact dates when the different stages of the measure will be launched according to the worker’s profile are not known, nor are the modalities regarding the employer’s duties with respect to housing and transportation of farm TFW families, for example. The government’s goal is to grant 200,000 permits to family members of workers already in Canada.
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