'Not addicted to cheap labour' — Businesses feel unfairly targeted by foreign worker cuts

Businesses in remote areas and those in certain sectors feel unfairly targeted by the federal government.

The government’s goal is to reduce the total number of temporary residents by about 900,000 people to around five per cent of the overall population by 2026 .

The number of job applications the resort receives from Canadians looking to work for more than a couple of months is “very few,” an assistant general manager at a resort in Ucluelet , B.C. , said.

Culinary school graduates in Canada prefer working in “bigger, corporate” restaurants where they have a chance to move up the ladder.

Restaurant owner: “The government tells us to invest in Canadians . How am I going to teach knife skills, cooking skills, temperature? That’s not my job. My job is to look for experienced people to do the job”.

The government and some economists say that Canadian businesses have become addicted to cheap labour.

Businesses say that businesses would rather hire Canadians instead of spending thousands of dollars to bring foreign workers into the country.

With restrictions on foreign workers, McLorie said her resort has decided to double down on trying to hire from within Canada .