A three-year pilot program will begin this September to help reduce the administrative burden of accessing the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program.
The Recognized Employer Program (REP) will first be made available to agricultural workers this September before a wider rollout in January 2024. The program will be available to those companies who regularly access the TFW program and who meet the “highest standards for working and living conditions and worker protection.”
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture says it applauds the launch as it has been advocating for simplification of TFW program access for years.
“Canadian agriculture has had chronic labour issues for decades, which have only been exacerbated as labour and skills shortages have become more widespread throughout the Canadian economy. Many farmers across Canada have been unable to recruit Canadian workers for years. As a result, they are reliant on Temporary Foreign Workers to address these chronic shortages for in-demand occupations, many of them working with the same people for years, if not decades, on end,” says Keith Currie, CFA president.
Currie says the program appears to reduce the administrative burden on those farmers who can demonstrate a history of compliance and years of reliability as employers.
Visit this site for more on the program.
