Sharan Kaur: Poilievre pushing a toxic narrative on Canada’s foreign worker policy

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the program should be abolished, citing unemployment concerns for Canadians. Rachel Aiello reports.

Sharan Kaur served as the deputy chief of staff for former Liberal finance minister Bill Morneau and is currently a principal at Navigator.

Pierre Poilievre recently proposed cancelling Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program. Why? His rationale: Young Canadians are struggling to find stable employment, and their chances are being further compromised by the ongoing influx of foreign workers.

It’s a clear-cut attempt to swing more youthful voters to the Conservative Party, pick up secondary support from the friends and family members of young Canadians who are out of work, and align Poilievre’s party with a nativist trend we can see in many countries.

Whether or not this approach is effective politics remains to be seen. In the U.K., for example, Nigel Farage’s new Reform Party is polling well on a one-issue anti-immigrant platform. However, with the next election still some time away, public opinion could shift dramatically—especially if voters are reminded of the economic turmoil caused by Brexit, Farage’s previous campaign.

What is particularly concerning is that Poilievre’s latest dog-whistle, much like Brexit, has been deployed with little consideration for its economic consequences, especially at a time when the nation is particularly vulnerable.

Here’s the problem. The TFW program focuses on sectors facing new or longstanding labour shortages. Currently there are approximately 191,000 work permit holders constituting less than one per cent of Canada’s total workforce.

When Poilievre frames the TFW program as a direct threat to youth employment, he ignores the fact that many Canadian businesses have pressed for growth in TFW intake, given their challenges in filling positions with Canadian citizens. If those businesses struggle, there will be even fewer opportunities for Canadian youth.

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Reforming the TFW program to prevent employer misuse is a legitimate concern; however, an absolutist approach tends to prioritize political agendas over genuinely supporting Canadian youth.

Poilievre also creates a bogus causal connection. The tragedy of high youth unemployment rates reflects factors such as labour market changes in a post-pandemic era, the growing impact of AI, a job market increasingly favouring experience over entry-level positions, and, of course, employer uncertainty and retrenchment created by ongoing conflicts over tariffs and trade.

There is little justification for dismantling an entire system that supports crucial sectors of the economy grappling with labour shortages. A more sensible approach for the Opposition would be to advocate for a thorough review of the TFW program, coupled with initiatives that incentivize employers to hire young Canadians and decrease reliance on TFWs.

Tapping into a toxic narrative

Given its harmful economic impacts, Poilievre’s call, as noted above, reads as a clear attempt to tap into broader political currents. There’s no question that criticism of mass immigration has gained credibility at a time when housing and healthcare resources are stretched thin. In that context, it’s all too easy – but seriously off-base – to scapegoat TFWs as also posing a domestic threat.

Such “us vs. them” framing plays into a toxic narrative that more generally casts immigrants as outsiders taking advantage of hard-working Canadians, further feeding a toxic trend of racism that we so frequently see on social media platforms.

• CTV’s Power Play: Front Bench analysis of Poilievre’s TFW comments

This latest position is hard to square with the fact that, in the Harper government, Poilievre oversaw the TFW program. We heard nothing about cancellation then. In fact, in 2015, as then minister of employment and social development, he was quoted stating:

“Every time we can help a newcomer to Canada plug their skills and experience into the Canadian workforce, everyone wins. It’s a source of pride and provision to the individual and their family, which in turn benefits local communities and strengthens our national economy. All levels of government need to adopt more common-sense approaches that help newcomers take on meaningful work more quickly.”

Today, if Poilievre is serious about helping Canadian youth, he should focus on crafting a strategy that empowers them, rather than demonizing and barring temporary foreign workers who come here to fill essential roles in our economy.

More from Sharan Kaur:

• The world has moved, and Canada must move with it.