Many aspects of the temporary foreign worker program exist to solve problems that are not present in our industry and, even worse, they create real obstacles to steady growth. These aspects include the labour market impact assessment, LMIA, transition plans, the four-year limit on the cumulative duration of work permits, and the restriction on low-wage salaries impacting junior talent.
The LMIA and transition plans generate unpredictable processing delays from two to four months on average but sometimes much longer. They create uncertainties about being able to recruit the talent on time to start production. They're also repetitive and, as previously mentioned, the labour shortage will remain in our industry for the foreseeable future.
The four-year limit on cumulative duration of the work permit is very detrimental to the industry. Four years go by quickly, and many of our experienced talents are forced to leave because they reached their limit, frequently over discontinuous periods.
With regard to the restriction on low-wage temporary foreign workers, when students graduate and are hired as a junior talent, their wage is below the prevailing provincial wage until they reach three years of experience. It's impossible to hire and keep a junior temporary foreign worker except for U.S. juniors, thanks to NAFTA. We need about 30% to 40% juniors in a studio, which means we need about 15% to 18% junior temporary foreign workers. In addition, the 10% low-wage temporary foreign worker head count limit per site comes into force in July. This restriction prevents the growth of the studios that rely on having juniors. For example, with our existing 1,600 seats across Canada, Technicolor needs to recruit 180 graduates per year and employ altogether about 560 juniors. It's not possible to find them in Canada alone.