OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the federal government to shut down the temporary foreign worker program, arguing it’s partly responsible for the growing number of young Canadians out of work.

Standing in Mississauga with Calgary MP Michelle Rempel Garner – his party’s immigration critic, who has recently been publicly naming companies that post jobs for temporary foreign workers – Poilievre said jobs like those should be going to Canadian youth. “Canadian jobs for Canadian workers,” he said, pointing to Statistics Canada figures showing youth unemployment (ages 15–24) climbed to 14.6 per cent in July – the highest since 2010 outside the worst months of the pandemic. Men in that age group fared slightly worse (16.2 per cent) than women (12.8 per cent). Among visible-minority groups, the unemployment rate for Arab youth was notably high at 26.4 per cent. Nationally, Canada’s overall jobless rate was 6.9 per cent.

Poilievre accused the Liberals of “shutting our own youth out of jobs and replacing them with low-wage temporary foreign workers from poor countries who are ultimately being exploited.”

Not everyone agrees with scrapping the program altogether. Tim Hortons, singled out by Poilievre during his remarks, told the National Post that fewer than five per cent of its workers are temporary foreign workers and that they generally hire through the program only in small towns where no local candidates are available. The company said temporary foreign workers are not a cheaper alternative – owners pay competitive wages and often cover extra costs like travel.

Dan Kelly, CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said he is open to reforms but warned that calling for a wholesale cancellation of the program risks making politics trump sensible policy. He argued many small businesses need a reliable “core staff” to cover shifts Canadians will not take, and that temporary workers can help keep businesses open and protect other Canadian jobs.

How the program works (briefly): employers seeking temporary foreign labour must apply to Employment and Social Development Canada and show they tried to hire Canadians first. Last year, the Liberal government limited how much employers could rely on the low-wage stream of the program, after concerns about fraud and abuse and amid broader debates over immigration’s effects on housing and local services.

The federal government says the temporary foreign worker program is only one part of Canada’s immigration system and that reform – not abolition – may be the way forward. A government spokesperson argued that the program needs to be “focused” and framed it as one piece of a broader immigration strategy that the government plans to update this fall.

Labour groups say any review must protect wages and fair treatment. Sean Strickland of Canada’s Building Trades Union welcomed a review, urging officials to make sure reforms prioritize local hiring and maintain job quality.

Poilievre has been pressing immigration issues more since the spring election. His office says that if the temporary foreign worker program is ended, it should be replaced by a separate program devoted to agriculture (which depends heavily on seasonal workers). He also proposes five-year transition periods for regions with low unemployment.

The government has signalled it will discuss the program as it prepares its fall agenda. For now, the debate highlights a difficult balancing act: businesses seeking workers, rising youth unemployment, protections for temporary workers, and broader questions about the scale and shape of Canada’s immigration system.