A united front of BC politicians is calling on Ottawa to drastically reform the program that welcomes thousands of migrant workers to Canada every year.

BC Conservative MLA Gavin Dew said it’s time BC has more control over the program as it feeds the province’s workforce, especially the Okanagan’s agriculture sector.

“There are places in the province and the country where it’s virtually impossible to get workers and we need to acknowledge that,” he said. “There are also places where the system is being abused and, as a result, we are seeing record-high youth unemployment because our young people are missing out on those entry-level job opportunities.”

Though the Liberal government in Ottawa has announced measures to cap incoming foreign workers and clamp down on employers who break the rules, Premier David Eby and opposition leaders have voiced recent criticism of the program, claiming it’s hurting domestic workers.

“We need an immigration system that ensures that predatory employers are not able to use the temporary foreign worker program to depress wages or to deny opportunities to other workers, who insist on their rights, that have the opportunity to go somewhere else,” Eby said earlier this month.

Dew said its “crucial” for foreign workers to continue filling the workforce at farms, but high unemployment, particularly among young people, and employers “abusing” the system have him calling for Ottawa to hand over the reins.

Employers are required to show that hiring a temporary foreign worker would benefit the local labour market, if it impacts the market at all, before they can outsource the job. Businesses can be fined for breaking the rules, but the federal government won’t release those assessments or its rationale publicly.

“This is a complex and controversial policy, and the worst thing we can do is hide behind secrecy when what we need to do is develop evidence-based policy that is going to strike the right balance of supporting the labour market, supporting small businesses and creating opportunities for our young people,” Dew said.

Recent criticism has seen federal and BC Conservatives, along with the BC NDP, unite in calling for reform.

It comes a little over a year after the federal government announced more stringent rules and enforcement over employers, done in an effort to reduce hiring of temporary foreign workers in favour of Canadians, according to a statement issued last August.

Between 2017 and 2024, the number of work permits has more than doubled in Canada and BC in particular.

Fines handed to businesses caught breaking the rules has remained largely consistent for the past several years with around 40 in BC annually.

This year is on track to see more fines than in previous years and businesses have already faced more financial penalties than in previous years. On average, employers who broke the rules were handed a less than $9,000 penalty in the past five years, but the average in 2025 is more than $27,000.

Although recent criticism against the program is directed at foreign workers’ impact on the domestic labour force, the vast majority of fines against employers are related to worker conditions.

RAMA Okanagan, an advocacy group for foreign workers, said politicians are “scapegoating” temporary workers and said they are not responsible for “systemic issues” like housing and youth unemployment.

The group issued the statement to its website this week, defending temporary workers and calling for policy changes that would reduce barriers to immigration and to their employment options.

— With files from The Canadian Press