Effective July 31, 2013, the following changes will be implemented to the program in an effort to essentially put the onus on employers to abide by the rules of the program.

• English and French are now the only languages that can be identified as a job requirement, although exceptions can be made in rare cases.
• Employers are required to advertise their positions for a minimum period of four weeks instead of two before they can apply to hire temporary foreign workers.
• Employers will have to use two additional methods of recruitment beyond the national job bank, and one of those methods will have to be national in scope.
• Employers are required to “actively” seek qualified Canadians from the time they submit the LMO application until the time it’s approved.
• Employers will have to answer additional questions to ensure that temporary foreign workers are not used to outsourcing Canadian jobs.

As part of the federal government’s ongoing reform to the temporary foreign worker’s program, the federal government is also working on introducing further changes such as:

• Increasing the government’s authority to revoke work permits.
• Suspend, revoke and refuse to process LMOs.
• Ensure employers who rely on temporary foreign workers have a firm plan in place to transition to a Canadian workforce.

The current changes do not apply to on-farm primary agriculture occupations, such as those under the seasonal agricultural worker program.