Canada extends low-wage temporary foreign worker employment to two years

The federal government is extending the maximum duration of a low-wage Labour Market Impact Assessment to two years instead of one, the document an employer needs to employ a temporary foreign worker.

Restrictions on hiring temporary foreign workers in cities with unemployment rates above six per cent will remain in place. Ottawa is adding early childhood educators to the list of professions exempted from those restrictions, which also includes certain jobs in health care, construction and food processing.

Additional measures for low-wage Labour Market Impact Assessment applications are proposed to take effect on March 1, 2027, and would require provinces and territories to opt in. These measures include allowing provinces and territories to add or remove occupations from the list of jobs exempt from the six-per-cent rule, and giving them the power to allow employers to expand the share of their workforces made up of low-wage temporary foreign workers to 15 per cent, up from the current limit of 10 per cent.

Immigration Minister Lena Diab said the government intends to work more closely with the provinces and territories on tailoring the temporary worker program to regional needs. She said all jobs should be made available to Canadians first, while recognizing that some regions do not have Canadians applying.

"The percentages that you raise will be up to the provinces and territories to say yes or no," Diab said.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Friday that the temporary foreign worker program should not be an option in communities where the unemployment rate is above 5.5 per cent.

The national unemployment rate was 6.7 per cent in October, according to Statistics Canada. The unemployment rate has fluctuated month-to-month between around 6.5 per cent and seven per cent for the last two years.

Diab was in Stellarton, N.S. to announce that the Rural Community Immigration Pilot is being made into a permanent government program and a permanent residency pathway. The program involved more than 1,950 vetted employers in 14 rural communities that faced labour shortages and couldn’t fill jobs solely with local workers. About 5,500 permanent residency slots are assigned to this program in the latest immigration levels plan.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2026.

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