Ottawa to charge firms $275 fee on temporary foreign worker applications

OTTAWA – The Harper government says it is tightening rules on its controversial temporary foreign worker program.

Employment and Social Development Minister Jason Kenney says employers must pay a new $275 processing fee for each request to import a foreign worker.

As well, employers can only request proficiency in languages other than French and English when they can show another language is essential for the job.

Employers must also make greater efforts to hire Canadians by expanding their advertising of job openings.

The government says in a release that the objective of the program must be that Canadians have the first crack at any available job.

The changes took effect on July 31, the release says.

The government pledged to reform the program in the March budget amid complaints that employers were not doing enough to find qualified Canadians.

According to some figures, the number of temporary workers in Canada doubled in seven years to about 340,000 as of December 2012, even as more Canadians were losing their jobs.

In the spring, Royal Bank chief executive Gord Nixon issued a public apology after it was revealed some of the bank’s Canadian information technology workers were being replaced with foreign workers.