British Columbia and New Brunswick expand access to work permits for employers in select regions
British Columbia and New Brunswick have opted into the federal government's temporary policy, giving rural employers more flexibility to hire low-wage temporary foreign workers.
The two provinces join Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and Quebec, which announced that they would be participating in the program earlier this month.
Some provinces are expected to share details of their participation in the near future, while others have declined to participate
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What are the new measures?
Ottawa's temporary measures, in effect from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, give eligible rural employers under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) in participating provinces the option to:
- Retain their current proportion of low-wage positions filled by temporary foreign workers, even if it exceeds the usual 10% cap; and/or
- Benefit from a 15% cap — instead of the usual 10% cap — on the proportion of temporary foreign workers in low-wage positions.
"Rural" refers to areas outside census metropolitan areas (CMAs), as defined by Statistics Canada.
Provinces choose whether to participate and which of the two measures to adopt.
British Columbia and New Brunswick have each adopted one of the two measures.
British Columbia
British Columbia will implement only one of the two measures across all sectors beginning May 4, 2026.
Eligible rural employers in the province will be able to retain their current proportion of low-wage positions filled by temporary foreign workers at a given worksite, even if it exceeds the cap.
British Columbia has not adopted the increased 15% cap at this time.
New Brunswick
New Brunswick implemented one of the two measures on April 23, 2026, across all sectors.
Eligible rural employers in the province will be able to use the 15% cap instead of the usual 10% cap on the proportion of temporary foreign workers in low-wage positions.
New Brunswick has not adopted the retained proportion of measures at this time.
Not all employers will qualify automatically
Apart from being located in a rural area, employers must also meet all regular TFWP requirements to access the new flexibility.
That includes showing they made efforts to recruit Canadian citizens and permanent residents for available positions first.
The measures will only apply to Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) submitted after the measures come into effect in a given province. LMIAs submitted before the implementation date won't be eligible.
Low-wage positions under the permanent resident dual-intent stream are also excluded from these measures.
Exemptions
Some sectors already operate under a 20% cap — rather than the standard 10% — and will continue to do so, regardless of the new measures.
These are:
- NAICS 23 – Positions in construction
- NAICS 311 – Positions in food manufacturing
- NAICS 622 – Positions in hospitals
- NAICS 623 – Positions in nursing and residential care facilities
- Specific in-home caregiver positions in a private household under:
- NOC* 31301 – Registered nurse or registered psychiatric nurse
- NOC 32101 – Licensed practical nurse
- NOC 44100 – Home childcare providers
- NOC 44101 – Attendant for persons with disabilities, home support worker, live-in caregiver, personal care attendant
*NOC stands for National Occupation Classification, and is the Canadian government's system of describing and categories occupations in the country for official purposes.
As of the time of writing, Alberta and Nunavut have declined to participate in these temporary measures.
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