Trucking and Construction Industries Anticipate ‘Labor Crisis’ Due to New Temporary Worker Regulations

Dominique Lamothe expressed concerns regarding the impact of new regulations for high-wage temporary foreign workers on the trucking company she works for. These rules are set to take effect on Friday.

Groupe Nadeau, a Quebec-based trucking company, operates a fleet of approximately 200 trucks and 1,400 trailers, managed by 70 full-time heavy mechanics. Lamothe, the human resources director, mentioned that half of these mechanics are temporary foreign workers.

Most of these workers were initially hired through the high-wage stream of the program, which previously required jobs to pay above the median income in the respective province.

On October 22, Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault announced an increase in the high-wage stream income cap to 20 percent above a province’s median income. This equates to a pay raise of $5 to $8 per hour depending on the province.

With the national unemployment rate rising to 6.5 percent, it is estimated that around 34,000 jobs will transition from the high-wage stream to the stricter rules of the low-wage stream. This includes halting application processing in regions where the unemployment rate exceeds six percent.

Lamothe stated that Groupe Nadeau would struggle to afford the wage hike required to maintain the permits of their 35 temporary workers in the high-wage stream upon renewal.

She further noted the challenge in recruiting local mechanics due to a skills gap in the applications received by the company.

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