Controversial MP Demands End to Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Jamil Jivani reignites debate over immigration and labour policy with bold proposal.

Jamil Jivani smiles proudly after swearing allegiance and signing the Test Roll on April 9, 2024. Image credit: @JamilJivani on X

Fresh off his re-election in Bowmanville—Oshawa North, Conservative MP Jamil Jivani wasted no time making his priorities known. Sworn in for a second term, his first order of business is a petition calling for the total abolition of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

Published on his official website, Jivani’s petition paints the TFWP as a central pillar of “unsustainable immigration levels,” claiming the program is “taking jobs away from Canadians and holding down the wages of Canadian workers.” He cites a sharp rise in foreign work permits, growing youth unemployment, and support from Local 97 of the Ironworkers Union to justify the call for a full stop.

Petition from Jamil Jivani urges the government to end the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, aiming to protect Canadian jobs and reduce youth unemployment rates. Image credit: Jamil Jivani’s website

The petition states that:

• Over 160,000 new work permits were issued from January to October 2024.

• Canadian economists argue that the TFWP allows businesses to suppress wages and working conditions.

• Youth unemployment jumped from 9% in 2022 to over 14% in 2024, with Toronto’s jobless youth surpassing 120,000.

• In Ontario alone, Tim Hortons hired 714 temporary foreign workers in 2023, up from just 58 in 2019.

• Even the agriculture industry, which legitimately relies on seasonal foreign labour, is being dragged down by being “lumped in” with the broader TFWP.

On paper, it’s a fiery populist message: protect Canadian youth, shield wages, and restore local labour power. But like most populist messages, it’s light on solutions—and even lighter on nuance.

Jivani isn't wrong to say the number of TFWs has ballooned—1.57 million international workers now make up roughly 7% of Canada’s entire workforce. And yes, many employers have leaned on them to cut costs, especially in hard-to-fill sectors. But ending the program altogether, cold turkey, is a gamble with massive economic consequences. The industries affected aren’t niche. They’re foundational: elder care, construction, restaurants, agriculture, warehouses, and delivery services. The same roles Canadians depend on day-to-day. Pulling that labour force out overnight would grind parts of the economy to a halt. And Jivani offers no serious alternative.

Worse, this kind of rhetoric plays dangerously close to the xenophobic line. “Unsustainable immigration levels” is the same kind of vague panic phrase used by anti-immigrant campaigns across the Western world. By tying Canada’s economic woes exclusively to the presence of foreign workers instead of corporate underinvestment in wages, Jivani deflects attention away from employers and toward the people doing the jobs Canadians won’t or can’t fill.

It's telling that his petition doesn’t distinguish between multinational chains abusing the system and struggling farms in rural Ontario. Nor does it offer a transition plan for the businesses that have come to rely on these workers. Jivani may be trying to frame this as a pro-worker stance, but what he’s really doing is echoing a growing trend in right-wing circles: turn economic anxieties into immigration backlash. Instead of asking why wages are stagnant or why job opportunities feel out of reach, the blame gets pointed squarely at the people least responsible—and most vulnerable.

For now, the petition is just that—a petition. But it sets a tone. It signals what kind of MP Jivani intends to be: one who grabs headlines, skips over complexity, and leans hard into a narrative where immigration is always the problem. Whether that wins him favour in the riding—or alienates voters who see through it—remains to be seen.