Overview
- Eby reiterated his call to cancel or significantly reform the Temporary Foreign Worker program, linking it to high youth unemployment and pressure on shelters and food banks.
- He cited applications by a Vancouver Starbucks café and a Richmond Boston Pizza to hire managers through the program, arguing those roles could be filled by promoting local staff; Starbucks said the café is operated by Sheraton.
- Federal figures show about 11,000 TFW positions were approved in B.C. in Q1 2025, down roughly 37% year over year, compared with a 20.5% decline elsewhere and more than 51,000 approvals nationally.
- Criticism mounted from within the NDP and labour and community groups, including former minister Katrina Chen and the BC Federation of Labour, even as the B.C. ministry flagged ongoing abuses such as LMIA trafficking, overcrowded housing and sub-minimum wages.
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office declined to say whether the program should end, and public reaction in B.C. remains split between concerns over exploitation and warnings of harm to sectors that rely on temporary labour.