Ottawa will now allow rural businesses to employ more temporary foreign workers to help supplement the local workforce, a move Restaurants Canada says will help some restaurants on P.E.I. keep their doors open.

On Friday, Ottawa announced it will allow rural employers to have a greater proportion of low-wage temporary foreign workers on their payroll on a time-limited basis.

The measures will allow these employers to have up to 15 per cent of their workforce in this category, in eligible rural regions. That’s up from a current cap of 10 per cent, the government said in a news release.

Janick Cormier, Atlantic Canada vice-president with Restaurants Canada, said it’s especially difficult to find labour in rural parts of the east coast and calls the change “a great first step.”

“The reality is that Atlantic Canada, our population is getting old, and so we are having a real hard time with labour,” she said. 

“All of the folks who live there want to have the services that they have gotten used to having — their coffee in the morning and ability to have dinners with friends and families, celebrating important milestones. But without the labour that we need to keep those businesses going, it will be difficult to keep the doors open.”

Cormier called the temporary foreign worker program “a measure of last resort” and said it is not easy to bring someone in through the program. She noted “many hoops to jump through” as well as the cost to bring in a foreign worker. 

“It’s definitely not the first choice of any restaurant owner, but it has become a key program to help fill critical roles,” she said.

Cormier said the province has not yet told her whether P.E.I. intends to take up the federal government on the changes but “we are really hoping that they will.” 

Not all industries will benefit equally

Ryan MacRae is a migrant worker program co-ordinator with the Cooper Institute, working with employees and advocating for change to federal and provincial immigration and labour laws. He said the change won’t have as much of an impact on P.E.I. as temporary foreign workers are typically found in agriculture and seafood processing sectors, which are not impacted.

“That being said, there are rural businesses. We’re seeing an increase of temporary foreign workers in the hospitality sector and restaurant service industries,” he said.

“There will be businesses that could use and increase that capacity, but it won’t have as large of an impact as it might in other provinces.”

He said P.E.I. focuses more on worker quality than quantity and the Cooper Institute has advocated for “status for all.”

“It has a huge economic surplus to communities and especially rural ones in the country and the province.”

MacRae said he’s seen “beautiful relationships” between Island residents and foreign workers, specifically noting residents down east “look forward to April” because that is when workers come and “bring vibrancy.”

“Businesses are more active, there’s more money circulating in their economy, but also just the social aspect,” he said. 

“There’s a lot of beautiful things that happen in rural P.E.I. and I think it’s just nice to touch on that.”

An aging population means fewer workers

Looking outside of P.E.I., Cormier pointed to Newfoundland and Labrador, where about a quarter of the population is older than 65, which limits its labour pool. She also said New Brunswick saw its largest population decline since the 1970s and that the province was depending on skilled workers coming to New Brunswick to fill positions.

“We’re older, we’re sparser, and we just simply don’t have enough people working to keep up with the demand of the services that people are used to.”

Between 2023 and 2024, Ottawa cut back the number of temporary foreign workers allowed to work in Canada, trying to reduce the country’s reliance on the program.

MacRae said while there are many benefits to welcoming temporary foreign workers to rural communities, there are risks and communities need to ensure there are services and accommodations available to support people once they arrive.

“I think we have to think critically about how workers come here and what conditions they exist here with,” MacRae said.

MacRae said people are at times spending tens of thousands of dollars to come to the province, being “sold a dream” of working in Canada toward permanent residency.

“The provincial government needs to get more heavily involved in regulating this.”

Province needs to opt in

The federal government said provinces and territories will need to opt in, in order for the measures to take effect in their jurisdictions. 

A statement to CBC News from the provincial government said P.E.I. is assessing what implications the federal changes to the low-wage temporary foreign worker program could have on the local labour market. It said the province is also respecting the national immigration plan for 2026, which called for temporary residents to make up less than five per cent of the country’s population by 2027.

“With this in mind, the province is currently reviewing the federal offer and will be working with Island employers impacted by the proposed changes to determine next steps.”