January 2023
Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Temporary Foreign Workers): Are you compliant?
The Government of Canada recently adopted Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Temporary Foreign Workers). The new provisions came into force on September 26, 2022 and are aimed at reinforcing the protection of foreign workers through various new regulations, including those related to health.
Among other things, Subparagraph 209.3(1) of the Regulations has been modified to stipulate that an employer must obtain and pay for private health insurance that covers emergency medical care, for any period during which a foreign national is not covered by the applicable provincial health insurance system.
Our understanding is that this obligation applies to all employers that hire foreign workers as part of a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). Therefore, arrangements must be made to provide foreign workers with private health coverage for emergency medical care, potentially as soon as they arrive to Canada. This could also apply to specific situations, for instance, when foreign workers renew their work permits under the TFWP. It should be noted that employers are prohibited from recovering these fees from foreign workers in any way, shape, or form, including through payroll deductions or clawback clauses in work agreements.
For the time being, these amendments do not have an impact on:
- open work permit holders
- Working Holiday or Young Professionals work permit holders, as they are already required to purchase their own private health coverage
- workers under an agreement between Canada and another country concerning seasonal agricultural workers and the agreement includes health insurance
Given that the employer’s obligations depend on the immigration program under which the work permit is issued, we recommend contacting an immigration specialist for any questions on this matter.
Would you like more information on the coverage available for temporary foreign workers? Contact your Normandin Beaudry consultant or email us.