The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is coming under fire, but the Canadian Federation of Independent Business feels growing resistance to the program is based on myths.

They include that temporary foreign workers take jobs from Canadians, suppress Canadian wages, and strain local housing.

Christina Santini, Director of National Affairs at the CFIB says the program is strictly regulated. She offers details here.

“For an employer to be able to bring in a foreign worker under The Temporary Foreign Worker Program, they must pay $1000 just for an anaylsis of the impacts of bringing in that foreign worker on the local labour market. As part of that assessment, the importer has to demonstate what it needs to have a foreign worker as part of their business but also what they tried to do to hire locally first and why it was that no qualified labour was available.”

A report by the CFIB indicated 52 per cent of small business owners said the TFW program enabled them to continue employing Canadians.

A similar survey by Employment and Social Development Canada said employers found that hiring TFWs improved their ability to hire more Canadians.

Hear the full interview with Santini at 12:40 and 5:10 on Thompson Today.