Representatives from the Huron Chamber of Commerce made a presentation to council about the impact to local employment from changes in immigration policies.
Executive Director Colin Carmichael shared that with recent changes to the federal government’s immigration policies, local businesses are seeing issues with finding local workers.
In August 2024, the federal government reduced the proportion of low-wage temporary foreign workers that Canadian employers were able to hire, from 20 per cent down to 10.
In October of 2024, there was a substantial reduction for the country’s immigration targets for permanent residents, and a reduced eligibility for open work permits.
This means that within Huron County, industries such as farming and hospitality have seen a reduction in the labour pool to hire from, thus reducing their productivity. That includes reduced hours because workers who are not able to stay in Canada are not easily replaceable to compensate for higher turnover.
The Chamber was looking for the county to also bring these issues to the Western Ontario Wardens Caucus, AMO, and ROMA.
They also requested the county’s support to formally request that the Ontario Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training & Skills Development re-open the REDO program to more communities, so that Huron County has a better opportunity to retain trained employees, as well as to send a letter to Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson, who is also the Minister of Rural Affairs.
