Yesterday, ministers Marc Miller and Randy Boissonnault announced that the federal government will be setting a “soft cap” on temporary foreign workers as part of immigration levels coming this fall, with an eye to reducing the number who arrive in Canada. Part of this is justified by the fact that the pandemic labour shortages have started to subside, and there isn’t the same need for as many, particularly in low-wage sectors where the valid criticism is that access to these workers keeps wages artificially low, though we have seen a great deal of wage growth over the past two years as part of the labour shortages and rising inflation, and wage growth has been outpacing headline inflation for a while now (which lends to fears of a wage-price spiral if wage growth doesn’t start moderating).
Mike Moffatt has some context for what the government announced, which is going to combine with the caps on foreign students.
https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1770916193894891796
https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1770917112007000102
On that note, The Logic takes a look at how those public-private partnership colleges are going to have to deal with the new federal rules around capped numbers, after they learned to exploit the old system, which was treated very much as a loophole by those students who knew they weren’t getting much of an education but were rather trying to get a foothold in Canada so they could get some work experience that would allow them apply for permanent residency—something else that the re-imposition of the caps on hours worked for international students is going to have even more of an impact on.
Ukraine Dispatch:
Russia launched its largest missile barrage against Kyiv in weeks, and while all of the missiles were shot down, there was still damage and injuries from the debris. As well, missile strikes damaged power supplies in Kharkiv, and a missile strike in Mykolaiv in the south killed one and injured four. Three Ukrainian-backed Russian rebel groups say they are continuing cross-border attacks following weeks of raids. Ukrainian women are talking about beatings they received at the hands of Russians during the occupation of their homes.
https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1770729801940123891
Kids in underground metro station in Kyiv this morning. Air siren alarms across the country. Massive Russian missile attack, explosions heard in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, Dnipro and other cities. Disruption in electricity supply is reported in Kharkiv #RussiaisATerroistState pic.twitter.com/JaY3hGVvdn
— Yulia Kovaliv (@kovaliv_y) March 22, 2024