Ottawa, ON – Today, the Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner, Shadow Minister for Immigration, released the following statement in response to new data showing that the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program has cost the federal government, in net terms, more than half a billion dollars over the last five years:
“New data released in an Order Paper Question submitted by my colleague, Brad Vis, Shadow Minister for Small Business Recovery and Growth, shows that the Liberals have spent an unconscionable $1.6 billion (net $509 million) in the past five years to run the TFW program.
“Conservatives have been calling for the TFW program to be abolished because it suppresses wage growth, fosters poor working conditions, stifles productivity, and eliminates entry-level job opportunities for Canadians. It has masked structural economic weakness for years, a point that is particularly acute with Canada now firmly in the grip of recession. All of those problems that the program has created have had a massive negative impact on the Canadian economy and come at a high economic price.
“These newly released figures show the Liberals have added insult to economic injury: they have spent more than half a billion dollars of taxpayer money to subsidize companies with what amounts to indentured labour in the past five years alone.
“There are many reasons to abolish this program. As of April, there are 442,000 unemployed youth in Canada, further proof that youth unemployment continues to rise well past critical levels. Major abuses of the program are rampant. Frankly, it’s immoral that the Liberals would underwrite its operation to the tune of half a billion dollars over the past five years alone. Conservatives would introduce a standalone program for legitimately hard-to-fill seasonal agri-food and fisheries jobs.
“With Canada’s economy slipping into a recession and social divisions deepening, the federal government must act decisively to restore a fair deal for Canadian workers. Instead of issuing 215,000 new foreign work permits this year, a strong first step would be the immediate elimination of the Temporary Foreign Worker program, which has spread deep economic and social rot across the country, and a refocus of government policy on labour mobility and skills training of unemployed and underemployed Canadian workers to match available jobs in regions of ultra-low employment with Canadian workers.”