At Totem Resorts, a fishing destination tucked deep in northwestern Ontario鈥檚 Sioux Narrows, the challenge hasn鈥檛 been attracting guests聽鈥 it鈥檚 finding enough workers to keep the place running.
The summer season brings thousands of visitors to the expansive lodges of the resort, but in a town of only a few hundred people, recruiting locally for seasonal jobs is nearly impossible these days, said reservation manager Stephanie Brown.
Since the pandemic, she said, it鈥檚 as though Canadian applicants have 鈥渄isappeared.鈥
鈥淭hey鈥檙e not applying, and people aren鈥檛 willing to relocate especially because it鈥檚 seasonal.鈥
Now, the resort relies heavily on the federal temporary foreign worker program to fill labour shortages, with temporary foreign workers making up as much as half of its entire staff, including key roles in the kitchen, at the front desk, in housekeeping and among fishing guides.
But with recent cuts to the number of temporary foreign workers businesses can hire, the more than four-decade-old operation fears it may have to shorten hours and scale back services.
鈥淏ecause of how rural we are, we heavily rely on folks willing to relocate here,鈥 Brown said. 鈥淚f we can’t hire the foreign workers we need, we worry about how we are going to be able to fill those positions.鈥
Nearly a year after Ottawa unveiled plans to tighten the temporary foreign worker (TFW) program 鈥 alongside sharp reductions in international student numbers 鈥 businesses say they are feeling the strain, particularly in service-heavy industries still struggling to recover from pandemic disruptions,听as many workers left聽for higher earnings and job security.
While unemployment remains high, labour shortages persist in these sectors, industry groups say, especially in rural areas of Canada where aging populations, declining birth rates and limited local labour pools make hiring increasingly difficult.
They warn that cuts to the foreign worker program could force business closures by making it harder to fill labour gaps.
But as some businesses and industries like retail, hospitality and food service grow increasingly reliant on foreign workers, economists and advocates say this highlights Canada鈥檚 troubling dependence on labour that is temporary and can be exploitable, rather than implementing changes to business models like better wages and working conditions.
Vulnerable Worker Open Work Permit lets those whose status in Canada is tied to a single
The caps on hiring foreign workers 鈥渉ave been disastrous in a lot of areas, particularly acute in rural and remote parts of the country that have had very few other options in their local labour markets,鈥 said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Many businesses 鈥渁re not expanding their operations or are having to do sudden closures because they ran out of staff or are reducing their hours as a result,鈥 Kelly said.
Restaurants Canada聽鈥 the industry鈥檚 largest lobby group, representing nearly 30,000 members across the country聽鈥 said that while TFWs make up only three per cent of their workforce, they have been vital in keeping many businesses operational in difficult times.
Cuts to the program combined with the reduction in international students, many of whom work in the industry to pay tuition, will have significant ripple effects, said the association’s CEO, Kelly Higginson.
There are currently 73,000 job vacancies in the food service industry, according to Restaurants Canada鈥檚 website. The sector could face a shortfall of up to 50,000 additional workers by 2027, according to Higginson.
At present, 鈥66 per cent of operators in rural and tourism areas have had to close or move a restaurant location due to staffing shortages,鈥 Higginson said, citing preliminary results from a survey of Restaurants Canada members.
She stressed the challenge is in filling key positions. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 have cooks and chefs at a restaurant, you don鈥檛 have a restaurant.鈥
The Retail Council of Canada聽鈥 which represents 54,000 storefronts聽including Canada鈥檚 largest grocers聽鈥 said the foreign labour cap is making it harder to fill positions in grocery stores and warehouse staff especially in rural areas.
Quick-service restaurants in remote communities and on highways are also struggling to find staff, said spokesperson Matt Poirier.
聽鈥淪lowly but surely, these challenges are mounting and could mean more closures of outlets people use on a daily basis.”
Economists and worker advocates say the call for more foreign labour by employers points to a deeper problem.
鈥淭his whole idea of a labour shortage is an employer-driven narrative,鈥 said Katherine Scott, a senior researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Many employers have grown accustomed to the聽ceaseless supply of temporary foreign labour and international students to fill low-wage jobs聽in fast-food restaurants, retail, warehouses, factories and gig work.
The number of foreign workers in聽Canada鈥檚 $100-billion food service sector shot up by more than 4,000 per cent between 2016 and 2023.
Scott argued that while some businesses in rural areas are indeed struggling to find staff, many employers seeking to hire temporary foreign workers are multimillion-dollar corporations like McDonald鈥檚 and Tim Hortons.
鈥These employers have not changed up their business model to offer higher wages, better working conditions and more training.鈥
The workers鈥 temporary work permits tie the employee to a single employer, making it challenging for the worker to switch jobs or speak out against abuse in the case of exploitation as it could cost the worker their job and status in Canada.
Chris Ramsaroop, an activist with Justicia for Migrant Workers, said without permanent status, the threat of deportation still hangs over any worker who complains about abusive conditions, making workers vulnerable.
Both Kelly from CFIB and Higginson from Restaurants Canada agree that clearer and faster pathways to permanent status for temporary foreign workers are essential to ensure they receive the same protections as other Canadian workers and to retain much-needed labour.
“We’ve been calling on the fact that we need to look at faster, more efficient ways to issue permanent residency to people that are brought in on a temporary basis because we want them to stay,” Higginson said.
Ramsaroop argues employers must address labour needs by improving wages and conditions for all workers.
鈥淧recarious immigration and precarious workers should never be the solution or the business model of any employer, of any boss.”
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