Thank you for the questions. I can answer some of them.
The question about the use of and increasing reliance on a temporary foreign worker program to solve long-term labour market needs is a good one, and I think that's where we find ourselves today. I haven't seen any projections that suggest long-term labour shortages in lower-skilled categories. In fact, it's the opposite. There's the suggestion there will be labour surpluses in many of those positions in the lower-skilled categories because of the changing knowledge-intensive nature of work and occupations in Canada. If the goal is to fill positions at the low end through access to international workers, then we would advocate shifting away from a temporary foreign worker program arrangement with all of its flaws and shifting towards increasing pathways to permanent status and expanding the economic immigration opportunities for workers with lower levels of formal training.
If people are good enough to work in Canada, they're good enough to live here. We should be giving lower-skilled workers many more opportunities to become permanent residents. The provincial nominee programs don't do that adequately, especially in Ontario where unskilled and semi-skilled workers don't have access to permanent residency through the PNP. Those pathways are reserved for higher-skilled workers.
Very quickly, on the issue of the government's role in monitoring and surveilling compliance with the process, the CLC advocates for a migrant workers commission, which would be an independently staffed and resourced authority to provide exactly that role in working with employers and working with all stakeholders. This would ensure that migrant workers' rights are protected and that the program is fulfilling the objectives that it was originally intended to.