Overview

• In a letter to federal employment and immigration ministers, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce calls for a comprehensive assessment of the temporary foreign worker system and says the evidence linking it to high youth unemployment is generally weak.
• A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Lena Diab reports 39,150 temporary foreign workers arrived between Jan. 1 and July 31 against a 2025 target of 82,000.
• The government says temporary foreign workers account for approximately one per cent of Canada’s labour force and that restrictions have reduced low‑wage flows by about 70 per cent this year.
• The Chamber urges better tracking of the International Mobility Program, which allows some hiring without an LMIA, as the plan lowers its admissions target from just under 286,000 this year to about 129,000 next year.
• Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre continues to press for ending the program, arguing it takes jobs from young Canadians.