The TFWP is the smaller of the two programs that admits foreign workers to Canada. It exists to address the immediate labour market needs of Canadian employers who are unable to find Canadian workers to fill a job vacancy. Its main use in recent years has been to admit seasonal agricultural workers into Canada, although it is also used by employers who have job vacancies in various other sectors and occupations.
The IMP exists to meet Canada’s broad economic and social needs. The majority of TFWs obtain a work permit under an IMP stream.
Between January and April of 2020, Canada issued just over 33,000 work permits under the TFWP. The top 5 source countries were Mexico, Jamaica, India, Guatemala, and the Philippines. Mexicans accounted for 41 per cent of all these TFWs.
Some 66 per cent of the 33,000 work permits were issued to agricultural workers.
Total TFWP arrivals are down 18 per cent compared with the same period last year which is almost certainly a function of the COVID-19 pandemic.
IMP: Down 16 per cent
Over 76,000 work permits were issued under the IMP, with 27,000 (36 per cent) going to Indian nationals. Rounding out the top 5 source countries are France, China, the U.S., and the U.K.. Brazil and South Korea ranked closely behind.
The Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) remains the leading stream of work permits obtained under the IMP. It accounted for some 35 per cent of all IMP work permits issued at the start of 2020. This figure is even larger when you account for the work permits issued to the spouses of PGWP holders.
The PGWP is highly coveted among international students because they can gain professional work experience in Canada, and use that experience to strengthen their immigration applications. Given that Indians are the leading source of Canada’s international students, it comes as no surprise they are also the leading source of work permit holders under the IMP.
Overall, total work permits issued under the IMP are down 16 per cent compared with the first four months of 2019.
Outlook for the rest of 2020
COVID-19 will continue to impact Canada’s permanent and temporary resident numbers over the foreseeable future. Nonetheless, Canada’s TFW numbers will be less impacted by the pandemic than permanent residents. Reasons for this include that TFWs are largely exempt from Canada’s travel restrictions, and many of the individuals who will eventually obtain new work permits in 2020 are already in Canada (e.g., international students who will get a PGWP).
IRCC continues to stress they are processing new work permit applications submitted by TFWs and employers. TFWs currently outside of Canada will be able to enter the country as long as they are travelling to Canada for non-optional reasons.
Need assistance with a temporary visa application process? Contact wp@canadavisa.com
OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a bid by the Prince Edward Island Potato Board to overturn a 2021 decision by the federal agriculture minister to declare the entire province as “a place infested with potato wart.”
That order prohibited the export of seed potatoes from the Island to prevent the spread of the soil-borne fungus, which deforms potatoes and makes them impossible to sell.
The board had argued in Federal Court that the decision was unreasonable because there was insufficient evidence to establish that P.E.I. was infested with the fungus.
In April 2023, the Federal Court dismissed the board’s application for a judicial review, saying the order was reasonable because the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said regulatory measures had failed to prevent the transmission of potato wart to unregulated fields.
On Tuesday, the Appeal Court dismissed the board’s appeal, saying the lower court had selected the correct reasonableness standard to review the minister’s order.
As well, it found the lower court was correct in accepting the minister’s view that the province was “infested” because the department had detected potato wart on 35 occasions in P.E.I.’s three counties since 2000.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick health officials are urging parents to get their children vaccinated against measles after the number of cases of the disease in a recent outbreak has more than doubled since Friday.
Sean Hatchard, spokesman for the Health Department, says measles cases in the Fredericton and the upper Saint John River Valley area have risen from five on Friday to 12 as of Tuesday morning.
Hatchard says other suspected cases are under investigation, but he did not say how and where the outbreak of the disease began.
He says data from the 2023-24 school year show that about 10 per cent of students were not completely immunized against the disease.
In response to the outbreak, Horizon Health Network is hosting measles vaccine clinics on Wednesday and Friday.
The measles virus is transmitted through the air or by direct contact with nasal or throat secretions of an infected person, and can be more severe in adults and infants.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump is refusing to say how he voted on Florida’s abortion measure — and getting testy about it.
The former president was asked twice after casting his ballot in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday about a question that the state’s voters are considering. If approved, it would prevent state lawmakers from passing any law that penalizes, prohibits, delays or restricts abortion until fetal viability — which doctors say is sometime after 21 weeks.
If it’s rejected, the state’s restrictive six-week abortion law would stand.
The first time he was asked, Trump avoided answering. He said instead of the issue that he did “a great job bringing it back to the states.” That was a reference to the former president having appointed three conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who helped overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 2022.
Pressed a second time, Trump snapped at a reporter, saying “you should stop talking about it.”
Trump had previously indicated that he would back the measure — but then changed his mind and said he would vote against it.
In August, Trump said he thought Florida’s ban was a mistake, saying on Fox News Channel, “I think six weeks, you need more time.” But then he said, “at the same time, the Democrats are radical” while repeating false claims he has frequently made about late-term abortions.
In addition to Florida, voters in eight other states are deciding whether their state constitutions should guarantee a right to abortion, weighing ballot measures that are expected to spur turnout for a range of crucial races.
Passing certain amendments in Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota likely would lead to undoing bans or restrictions that currently block varying levels of abortion access to more than 7 million women of childbearing age who live in those states.
New statistics provided by 
