Quebec company could lose 7 employees to deportation because of new immigration rules

Several employees facing deportation are pleading with Ottawa to ease the rules on the temporary foreign workers program.

The work permits of seven employees at a pollution control equipment company in Laval will soon expire, and the company is urging Ottawa to reconsider easing new rules of the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program.

Fabian Molano, originally from Colombia, is one of those employees.

“I’m stressed,” Molano told CTV News. He is currently in Canada on a closed work permit.

The president of Airex Industries, Tony Vasilakos, stressed the crucial role these workers play in the business.

“Losing seven qualified CWB welders would create a significant gap in both production and our capacity output,” he said.

Established in 1975, the company employs about 90 people.

Employers are required to submit a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to hire foreign workers. However, new changes to the program were introduced in November 2024.

Companies in regions with an unemployment rate of six per cent or higher must now increase the minimum wage for temporary foreign workers by 20 per cent. LMIA applications that don’t meet these new criteria will be refused.

This shift is meant to encourage Canadian hiring. But Vasilakos argues that qualified workers, particularly welders, are hard to find in the area.

“Even though Drummondville, where we manufacture, has a high unemployment rate, it’s not like I can just find welders here,” he noted.

As a result of the new rules, the company is now required to pay its workers $33 per hour.

Vasilakos expressed frustration, pointing out that the company had adhered to the federal program’s guidelines, but the process is more complex than when he first hired his workers.

“It just feels like we’ve gotten the rug pulled out from under us,” he said.

A spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said on Friday that the responsibility falls on the employer.

“Employers in Canada have a responsibility to invest in the full range of workers available in this country, such as young people, newcomers, and persons with disabilities,” they said in a statement.

“They must also invest in retraining or upskilling to ensure that those they currently employ can adapt to the economy of the future. The Government of Canada will continue to work with business and organizations to help them find the workers they need.”