Liberals allowing 1 million foreign students costly to Canadians: Report

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Bank of Canada research shows that the federal Liberals’ decision to allow one million foreign students into the country had a “significant” impact in some employment sectors and cost Canadians job and wages.

The latest study confirmed a 2022 employment department report that foreign labour led to Canadian workers being replaced, per Blacklock’s Reporter.

“They accounted for a larger share of workers in low-skilled occupations, replacing Canadian-born workers who moved out of these jobs,” said the Bank report ‘The Shift In Canadian Immigration Composition and its Effects On Wages.’

Many were foreign students typically from India, the report said.

“Since 2015, non-permanent residents have become a primary driver of Canadian immigration inflows, reversing previous trends where this group was small and permanent residents played a predominant role,” the report added. “Public data suggest this surge in temporary immigration mostly reflects a sharp rise in the international mobility program work permits which are generally granted without any requirement for labour market impact assessments and a pick-up in international study permits.”

There were 2.3 million foreigners in Canada in 2023, according to the Department of Immigration. Figures included 1,040,985 foreign students, 766,250 migrant workers and 471,550 landed immigrants.

“Between 2015 and 2024, temporary foreign workers have become younger, less experienced and more likely to migrate from lower-income countries,” the report said. “As well, shares of temporary workers in skilled occupations have declined moderately.”

“The number of new immigrants to Canada increased substantially over 2023 and 2024,” it added. “The composition of newcomers has changed such that non-permanent residents have replaced permanent residents as the main contributor to population growth.”

“In 2024, the share of non-permanent resident workers studying either part time or full time reached 16.4%, an increase of 6.6 percentage points from 2014,” researchers wrote. Their wages were typically 22.6% lower than Canadian-born workers.

The report said that the impact was notable in certain workplaces.

“Reliance on temporary workers has increased across all sectors in line with the larger share of non-permanent residents in aggregate employment,” it said. “However, this gain has been particularly acute for certain industries such as accommodation and food services, business, building and other support services and retail trade.”

The Bank of Canada report followed Department of Employment research three years ago that determined the impact of foreign labour “may be significant” in some sectors.

“Wage suppression might be occurring in specific sectors and situations,” said the Evaluation Of The Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

Research pointed to foreign labour costing Canadians jobs and wages in sectors such as construction, trucking, beauty salons, restaurants and fish processing “where foreign workers are willing to work for lower wages than what a Canadian or permanent resident would consider acceptable,” the report said.

“This points to some risk of job displacement or wage suppression in some specific sectors, occupations and regions,” it said.

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