Remaining Competitive in the Global Economy Through Temporary Migrant Labour? One "Short-term" Step Forward and two "Long-term" Steps Backward in Canadian Immigration

In the last 10 years, the creation and expansion of the Low Skill Pilot Project (LSPP) has substantially increased the scope of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, ultimately eclipsing permanent immigration into Canada. The consequences, while positive for employers in the short-term, are perverse for Canada’s principles of social justice and equity in the long-term. It is also not clear whether the Project serves Canada’s immigration goals and national interests in the long term. This paper examines the LSPP’s creation and development, and analyzes short and long-term implications for Canadian society and the “Canada brand” of immigration, which refers to Canada’s image as a “destination of choice” for would-be immigrants the world over. This paper draws attention to the dichotomy of labour rights, wages and benefits of skilled and unskilled temporary foreign workers. A juxtaposition of two foreign worker categories within a dual labour segmentation framework illustrates this phenomenon.