British Columbia Premier David Eby said the temporary foreign worker program should \u201cbe cancelled or significantly reformed\u201d because the province can\u2019t have an immigration system that takes young people\u2019s jobs, while filling up homeless shelters and food banks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eby said Thursday that one reason the province is facing \u201csignificant fiscal headwinds\u201d is because of \u201cvery high unemployment rates\u201d among young people, linked to both the temporary foreign worker program and the international student program.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t have an immigration system that outpaces our ability to build schools, and housing, and we can\u2019t have an immigration program that results in high unemployment,\u201d Eby said after making an announcement on an addition to a school in Surrey, B.C.<\/p>\n
Statistics Canada said B.C.\u2019s youth unemployment, for those aged 15 to 24, in July was 12.1 per cent, below the Canadian rate of 14.6 per cent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The premier said B.C. is willing to \u201cconvene provinces that are interested in this issue\u201d to have a \u201cserious, grown-up\u201d conversation about immigration in Canada and its impact on critical infrastructure, such as housing and schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has also said Canada should cancel the program with exceptions for difficult-to-fill agricultural jobs, and Eby says it\u2019s a \u201cvery timely issue\u201d for the federal government to consider.\u00a0<\/p>\n