Zak Vescera for The Tyee writes, “B.C. businesses are hiring a record number of temporary foreign workers as they struggle to fill jobs. The latest federal data show there were more than 32,200 people in B.C. under the federal government’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program at the end of 2022, more than Ontario, which has more than twice B.C.’s population. It’s a sign that companies — especially restaurants, farms, construction firms and retailers — are increasingly reliant on importing workers. They point to a tight labour market, with B.C.’s unemployment rate at 4.2 per cent in December.”
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