Mr. Speaker, our message to employers has been clear and unequivocal; Canadians must always be first in line for any available job.
Our comprehensive and balanced reforms restore the temporary foreign worker program to its original purpose, as a short-term last resort for employers when there are no qualified Canadians to fill available jobs. This comprehensive overhaul of the program will significantly reduce the number of temporary foreign workers in Canada, it will improve labour market information and correct labour market distortions caused by the previous program. It will also strengthen enforcement and penalties for employers who attempt to break the rules.
Let me list the reforms that the Minister of Employment announced just this past June. Employers must now also attest that they are aware of the rule that Canadians cannot be laid off or have their hours reduced at a work site that employs temporary foreign workers. Employers with 10 or more employees applying for a new LMIA are subject to a cap of 10% on the proportion of their workforce that can consist of low-wage temporary foreign workers. Applications for the lowest-wage, lowest-skill, entry-level occupations in the food services, accommodation, and retail trade sectors will be barred from the temporary foreign worker program in areas of high unemployment, those areas with greater than 6% unemployment.
LMIAs for low-wage temporary foreign workers will be reduced from a two-year standard duration to a one-year period, making the program truly temporary. Annex agreements with provinces and territories can no longer be used for employers to avoid labour market screening. Employers who are seeking to hire high-wage temporary foreign workers will now be required to submit transition plans that show how they will be hiring more Canadians in the future to fill their available positions.
More and better labour market information will be available for stronger screening. A new enhanced job-matching service will allow Canadians to apply directly through the Canada job bank for jobs that match their skills and experience, and provide information to program officers who are reviewing an employer's LMIA application on how many qualified Canadians have applied for specific jobs.
There will be stronger enforcement and tougher penalties for employers who break the rules. There is a massive increase in the number and scope of inspections, so that one in four businesses employing temporary foreign workers will now be inspected by the temporary foreign worker program each and every year. There will be an increase in the number of program requirements that inspectors can review when they review these applications from three to 21. We are improving and expanding the temporary foreign worker tip line, and creating a new complaints line to better detect when employers have violated this system.
Expanding the ability to publicly blacklist employers who have been suspended and are under investigation, as well as those who have had an LMIA revoked and are banned from using the program, have been put in place. Additional funding for the Canada Border Services Agency to allow for an increase in the number of criminal investigations is also in place. Improving information-sharing among departments and agencies involved in the oversight of the temporary foreign worker program, including provincial and territorial governments, has been established, and we are introducing significant monetary fines for those who violate the system of up to $100,000.
Those are some of the recent changes we have made to make sure we enshrine the principle that Canadians must always be hired for any available job, a sign of real action made by this minister last June.