Jean-Philippe Brunet<\/a> et Marc-Alexis Laroche<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our lawyers frequently collaborate with publications in the legal and human resources fields. This article was originally published by cphr.ca<\/a>. Its format has been slightly altered to meet the formatting requirements of the Galileo Partners<\/a> website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The authors provide insight into the current rules regarding the compensation of temporary foreign workers, as well as best practices that HR professionals can implement in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *The information contained in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When a Canadian employer supports a foreign worker\u2019s Canadian work permit application, it is normally required to report the wages that it will pay the foreign worker concerned by the application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the application process is officially started, the employer should always check the specific criteria of the immigration program that will issue the temporary foreign worker\u2019s Canadian work permit, including the criteria for the wages that will be paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In both the processing of Canadian immigration applications and the compliance inspections performed by certain government authorities, the wages paid to temporary foreign workers is an essential detail that employers must take into very careful consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When an employer supports a temporary foreign worker\u2019s Canadian work permit application, it must be thorough in its wage determination analysis to make sure that it meets the government\u2019s requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To do so, it must determine the temporary foreign worker’s future base pay on the basis of the hourly rate that will appear on their pay stubs once they are authorized to work in Canada. In other words, the wages must be determinable and quantifiable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Accordingly, the basic wages paid to temporary foreign workers will not include the following items:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the position that will be held by a temporary foreign worker is unionized, it is important for the employer to ensure that the temporary foreign worker is paid according to the collective agreement in force for that position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here again, the goal is to ensure that the temporary foreign worker is not at a disadvantage compared to Canadian workers who hold a similar position at the same workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why it is essential for the temporary foreign worker’s wages to be in line with the pay scale specified in the current collective agreement. This scale will be the employer\u2019s reference, even if the immigration program has its own specific rules. It is worth mentioning that the competent authorities may require a copy of the collective agreement when the application is being processed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), the wage requirements will be specifically determined based on the location of the job offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a temporary foreign worker holds a job in a Canadian province other than Quebec, their wages are determined using the wage comparison tool on the Job Bank<\/a> website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This tool uses the National Occupational Classification (NOC) code for the position being offered. By performing a search in the Job Bank, an employer can obtain a comparison of the wages normally paid to Canadian workers for the same occupation and the region concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the TFWP, the employer must pay at least the hourly median rate listed for the occupation related to the position offered and for the region where the temporary foreign worker will be working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the event that the wage comparison tool does not specify the hourly median rate for the region where the foreign worker will be working, the employer must refer to the hourly median rate for the province concerned, and then refer to the national hourly median wage if no hourly median rate is listed for the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the job offered is located in Quebec, the wage requirements are determined by a tool developed by Emploi Qu\u00e9bec, known as the Guide des salaires<\/em><\/a>, which is based on data collected by Statistics Canada for the Quebec labour market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Guide des salaires<\/em> provides details on the wages that should normally be paid for each of the occupations listed in the Nat<\/a>ional Occupational Classification<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To determine the wages that a temporary foreign worker should be paid, the employer must check the specific requirements for the particular occupation based on the number of years of experience required to hold the position offered, which are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It should be noted that the employer, and not the authorities concerned, determines the number of years of experience required for the position offered. As a result, even if a temporary foreign worker has more than 3 years of work experience in a related field, the employer may require only 2 years of work experience, which means that the first quartile of the Guide des salaires<\/a><\/em> would serve as the reference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For all applications submitted on or after January 1, 2024, and regardless of the province in which the job is located, Canadian employers are required to ensure that the wages paid to temporary foreign workers are at least reviewed once a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To meet this new requirement, employers will have to conduct a yearly review of the wages paid to temporary foreign workers with work permits issued under the TFWP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of this review, employers will need to make sure that their foreign workers are paid wages in line with the Guide des salaires<\/a><\/em> or the hourly median rate specified on the Job Bank website, depending on where their workplace is located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, positions covered by a collective agreement are still the exception to the rule. In their case, as mentioned above, the collective agreement will always determine the wages paid to temporary foreign workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the International Mobility Program <\/a>(IMP), wages are also determined using the wage comparison tool on the Job Bank<\/a> website. Once again, employers must pay at least the hourly median rate specified for the occupation and region where their temporary foreign workers will be working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note that this requirement applies in all Canadian provinces, including Quebec.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If a temporary foreign worker eventually obtains a Canadian work permit under the TFWP or IMP, the employer may at any time be subject to a compliance inspection by the government authorities concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During this inspection, one of the items that the authorities will carefully check is the wages paid to the temporary foreign worker. More specifically, the government\u2019s investigators may request a copy of the pay stubs issued to the temporary foreign workers covered by the inspection request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, employers must ensure that the wages paid to temporary foreign workers are always in line with the amount specified on their previously submitted immigration applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, and as mentioned above, it is also important for employers to carry out an annual wage review whenever the regulations in force dictate such a requirement for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For human resources professionals, managing compensation is an inherent part of their profession and work. However, it can quickly become a complicated and gruelling task if they do not have reliable tools and working methods to support them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To effectively manage temporary foreign workers’ pay, we strongly recommend that human resources professionals keep an updated table of current employees that includes detailed information on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the end of the calendar year, employers should also find time in their schedules to meet with their managers or team members concerned in order to ensure that the wages paid to currently employed temporary foreign workers are reviewed using the abovementioned tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, we strongly recommend that human resources professionals be able to communicate the potential significance of a change in the terms and conditions of employment for currently employed temporary foreign workers. Ideally, any change to these conditions should be reviewed by the human resources team to ensure that it does not impact the employer’s compliance or any temporary foreign worker\u2019s status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An earlier versio<\/a>n<\/a> of this article was published on Carrefour RH (Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines du Qu\u00e9bec).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This article provides an overview of the current rules regarding the compensation of temporary foreign workers, as well as best practices that HR professionals can implement in this regard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":1582,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-immigration"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEditor’s Note<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
General rules<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Unionized positions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Hiring anywhere in Canada except Quebec<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Hiring in Quebec<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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New requirement for annual reviews<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
International Mobility Program (IMP)<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Compliance inspections and changes to working conditions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Best practices for human resources professionals<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Further reading:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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