Canada’s ongoing debate over the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) is heating up, with a new Abacus Data survey showing that more Canadians lean toward ending it than keeping it. Forty-four percent of respondents back Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s call to phase out the program, while only 30 percent oppose the idea. Younger Canadians and Prairie residents, in particular, seem convinced that shuttering the program could boost wages and job opportunities.
It’s easy to see why the proposal resonates. Many Canadians especially those in their 20s and 30s are struggling with high housing costs, stubborn inflation, and stagnant wages. Youth unemployment was 14.6 percent this July, more than double the national rate. In that context, Poilievre’s argument that the program allows companies to “bypass Canadian workers” by hiring lower-paid newcomers sounds appealing. Even B.C. Premier David Eby, a New Democrat, has voiced frustration, calling the system “broken” and pointing to pressures on housing, schools, and social services.
But eliminating the TFWP altogether would be a mistake. Canada’s economy depends on labour that many Canadians simply aren’t lining up to do. From agriculture to food processing to elder care, these jobs often struggle to attract domestic workers even at competitive wages. Phasing out the program risks severe labour shortages and would hit small businesses, farms, and service industries hardest. Quebec, where only 34 percent of residents support scrapping the program, understands this reality well its businesses rank access to TFWs as a top concern.
The program is far from perfect. Stories of exploitation, poor working conditions, and loopholes that allow some employers to underpay workers are real and unacceptable. Reform is essential: tighter oversight, stronger enforcement of labour standards, and pathways to permanent residency for those who want to stay should all be part of the conversation. But scrapping the TFWP would punish the very people it’s meant to protect foreign workers seeking opportunity and destabilize sectors already short on staff.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is right to aim for balance. Ottawa’s plan to gradually reduce the share of temporary residents to 5 percent of the population while reviewing the program’s operations is a more measured approach than Poilievre’s all-or-nothing stance. Canada needs a workforce strategy that protects wages and ensures fairness without gutting industries that rely on migrant labour.
Frustration over affordability and jobs is understandable, but we shouldn’t let economic anxiety push us toward drastic measures that create bigger problems. Reform the TFWP? Absolutely. Eliminate it? That’s a recipe for economic disruption Canada can’t afford.
