VICTORIA — British Columbia Premier David Eby said the temporary foreign worker program should "be cancelled or significantly reformed" because the province can't have an immigration system that takes young people's jobs, while filling up homeless shelters and food banks.
Eby said Thursday that one reason the province is facing "significant fiscal headwinds" is because of "very high unemployment rates" among young people, linked to both the temporary foreign worker program and the international student program.
"We can't have an immigration system that outpaces our ability to build schools, and housing, and we can't have an immigration program that results in high unemployment," Eby said after making an announcement on an addition to a school in Surrey, B.C.
Statistics Canada said B.C.'s youth unemployment, for those aged 15 to 24, in July was 12.1 per cent, below the Canadian rate of 14.6 per cent.
The premier said B.C. is willing to "convene provinces that are interested in this issue" to have a "serious, grown-up" conversation about immigration in Canada and its impact on critical infrastructure, such as housing and schools.
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has also said Canada should cancel the program with exceptions for difficult-to-fill agricultural jobs, and Eby says it's a "very timely issue" for the federal government to consider.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday that his government would review the program but also added that it "has a role to play."
Eby said Carney's government has taken "some good steps to rein in the excesses" of the program but Ottawa needs to do more.
Employment and Social Development Canada says the temporary foreign worker program allows Canadian employers to hire foreign workers to fill temporary jobs when qualified Canadians are not available.
Statistics Canada says temporary foreign workers have been coming to Canada since the early 1970s, and their numbers have risen from 356,000 in 2011 to 845,000 in 2021.
Canada announced measures last year to cut those numbers under the 2025-2027 immigration plan.
The country's temporary foreign population is expected to decline by 445,901 in 2025, and 445,662 in 2026.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Sept. 4, 2025.
Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press
