Eby says temporary foreign worker program should be scrapped or reformed

VICTORIA — British Columbia Premier David Eby said the temporary foreign worker program should “be cancelled or significantly reformed” because the province can’t have an immigration system that’s linked to high youth unemployment, while putting pressure on homeless shelters and food banks.

Eby said Thursday that one reason the province is facing “significant fiscal headwinds” is because of “very high unemployment rates” among young people, which he linked to both the temporary foreign worker program and the international student program.

“We can’t have an immigration system that outpaces our ability to build schools, and housing, and we can’t have an immigration program that results in high unemployment,” Eby said Thursday after making an unrelated announcement at a school in Surrey, B.C.

His remarks came a day after similar comments from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who blamed the program for an employment crisis among young Canadians and called for it to be scrapped.

The premier said B.C. was willing to “convene provinces that are interested in this issue” to have a “serious, grown-up” conversation about immigration in Canada and its impact on critical infrastructure, such as housing and schools.

Employment and Social Development Canada says the temporary foreign worker program allows Canadian employers to hire foreign workers to fill temporary jobs when qualified Canadians are not available.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses said the calls to scrap the program are “deeply misguided,” and instead of putting Canadians in jobs, they could put the jobs of Canadians at risk.

Ryan Mitton, the federation’s director of legislative affairs for B.C., said in a statement that the temporary foreign worker program was the “last resort that keeps the doors open” for many small businesses in the province, especially in rural and remote areas.

“Without the program, many B.C. restaurants, farms and care providers would shut down, which would displace Canadian workers as well,” Mitton said.

He said adjustments to the program could be made, “but cancelling it altogether puts politics ahead of sensible policy.”

B.C.’s youth unemployment rate for people aged 15 to 24 was 12.1 per cent in July, below the Canadian rate of 14.6 per cent, Statistics Canada figures show.

A 2024 report by Food Banks BC, which represents more than 100 food relief organizations in the province, found a “significant increase” in the number of immigrant or refugee clients to the food banks, as well as women and those in racialized communities.

The report said 26 per cent of food bank users identified as immigrants or refugees with the figure rising to 39 per cent in the Vancouver coastal region. The report did not identify whether users were temporary foreign workers.

Poilievre said Wednesday that cancellation of the temporary foreign worker program should include exceptions for difficult-to-fill agricultural jobs, while Eby said the government must address the “concerns of farmers and others” that “legitimately” need temporary labour.

He called it a “very timely issue” for the federal government to consider.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday that his government would review the program but also added that it “has a role to play.”

Eby said Carney’s government has taken “some good steps to rein in the excesses” of the program but Ottawa needs to do more.

Statistics Canada says there were 356,000 temporary foreign workers in Canada in 2011, rising to 845,000 in 2021.

Canada set a target to admit 82,000 new temporary foreign workers this year.

Conservative Party of BC Leader John Rustad said sectors like agriculture and tourist destinations like Whistler are in “desperate need” of temporary foreign workers. “However, it is clear in my mind that the immigration system is broken, and has been broken for a number of years by Ottawa,” he said.

British Columbia, like Quebec, should take control of immigration to develop a “made-in-BC solution,” he added.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Sept. 4, 2025.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press