Who are Canada’s temporary foreign workers? Policy evolution and a pandemic reality
| Published date | 01 August 2022 |
| Author | Marshia Akbar |
| Date | 01 August 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12976 |
48
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International Migration. 2022;60:48–60.
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/imig
INTRODCUTION
The historical Can adian emphasis on welcoming immigrants as perma nent residents who will contribute to nation-
building has recently shif ted to include growing numbers of temporar y residents. The total number of tempor ary
foreign workers in Canad a has tripled since the early 2010s to more than 50 0,000 who comprise a diver se group
of highly skilled manager s and technici ans, and low- and semi- skilled agricultural an d domestic wo rkers (Keung,
2017). Since 2007, more tem porary foreign workers than landed economic immigrants have entered Canad a in-
dicating the country's increasing dependency on temporary migrant labour (Siemiatycki, 2010). O nce started as a
temporar y solution to labou r shortage, the temporary forei gn worker streams h ave become a perman ent source
for the supply of la bour in Canada.
Received: 26 Febr uary 2021
|
Revised: 20 Novemb er 2021
|
Accepted: 8 Decem ber 2021
DOI: 10.1111/imig.12976
SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE
Who are Canada’s temporary foreign workers?
Policy evolution and a pandemic reality
Marshia Akbar
© 2022 The Auth ors. Internation al Migration © 2022 IO M.
Canada Exce llence Research Ch air in
Migration an d Integration Progr am, Ryerson
Universit y, Toronto, Canada
Correspondence
Marshia Akb ar, Canada Excellen ce Research
Chair in Migrat ion and Integratio n Program,
Ryerson Uni versity, 350 Victor ia St,
Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Can ada.
Email: marshia.akbar@ryerson.ca
Abstract
Since the late- 2000s, Canada has admitted an increasing
number of foreign workers with a wide range of tempor ary
work permits to meet local labour shortages and grow-
ing labour mar ket demands. Unlike permanent residents,
temporary residents are subjected to rest ricted work au-
thorizations and social citizenship rights. Besides , Canadian
policies distinguish dif ferent groups of temporary foreign
workers based on their skill level and work pe rmit type to
determine their eligibilit y for employment , social rights and
permanent residency. Reviewing secondary sources, this
paper contributes to analyzing the key policies t hat have
shaped the diverse s treams with in the Canadian tempo-
rary migration pr ogram. The analysis also highlights the in-
equalities ex perienced by various categories of temporar y
foreign workers in Canada and assesses these in equalities
within the context of th e COVID-19 pandemic.
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