Sure, I'll just back up to the French section here.
Temporary foreign workers are a significant portion of Canada's labour supply.
For the most part, it is a demand-driven area in that employer demand to hire workers on temporary work permits fluctuates and drives the numbers. Last year, 405,000 temporary work permits were issued, across a broad range of occupations.
There are two broad streams of temporary worker programs. One is the international mobility program, which is administered by IRCC, and the other is the temporary foreign worker program, administered by Employment and Social Development Canada, and that one involves a labour market test. The seasonal agricultural workers the committee has signalled an interest in are the ones in this latter category.
As members of the committee are aware, travel restrictions on persons seeking to enter Canada from overseas were put in place on March 18. On March 26, temporary foreign workers—that is, those holding a valid work permit or those who had been issued an approval letter—were added to the list of persons exempted from the travel ban. These bans and exemptions are pursuant to orders issued under the authorities of the Quarantine Act and the Aeronautics Act.
These temporary workers, as all others entering Canada from overseas, are subject to another order under the Quarantine Act, which requires all persons to isolate for 14 days from the day upon which they enter Canada. There are some limited exceptions to this requirement—for example, emergency workers and medical personnel—but seasonal agricultural workers will all need to abide by this 14-day quarantine period.
Temporary workers entering Canada are subjected to a broad statutory and regulatory regime under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that governs selection, admissibility, and compliance, both in respect of the workers themselves and their employers.
I will say just a word on the new draft regulations. In the context of the new orders under the Quarantine Act and with a view to managing the health and safety of workers and Canadians alike, new draft regulations were tabled in Parliament this past Saturday to provide some specific additional tools.
For the workers themselves, these draft regulations import the requirements of complying with the Quarantine Act and public health orders, including that they quarantine or isolate themselves upon entry into the country for the 14 days. Failure to comply could result in a finding of inadmissibility and an issuance of a removal order.
For employers of temporary foreign workers, the proposed rules will require that they not do anything that prevents the worker from complying with the order to quarantine or isolate themselves as workers for 14 days upon entering Canada.
They will also require that employers provide wages and benefits during the 14-day period—that is, that the quarantine period forms part of the period of employment.
Additionally, for employers under the temporary foreign worker program who are required to provide accommodations—not all are, but if we're talking about seasonal agricultural workers, they are—there are additional specific requirements in the proposed rules. I will leave it to my colleagues from Employment and Social Development Canada to describe these new rules and the guidance related to them and to the seasonal agricultural workers. I will, however, just add for now that employers found not to be complying with these new requirements will be subject to the compliance regime and system of administrative monetary penalties already built into the immigration and refugee protection regulations.
I will now turn it over to Philippe Massé, but I will look forward to your questions after our presentations.
Thank you very much.