Photo: screenshot X/Michelle Rempel Garner post - Calgary, Alberta Tim Hortons

A Calgary Tim Hortons posting for a temporary foreign worker at more than $35 an hour has stirred debate about hiring priorities at a time when young Canadians face some of the highest jobless rates in years. The advertisement, tied to a pending Labour Market Impact Assessment, underscores how franchisees continue to seek labour abroad even as thousands of domestic workers, particularly youth, struggle to find jobs.

Federal rules require employers to attempt to recruit locally before they can hire from overseas. Yet the Job Bank listing, flagged as pending, signals that an application to bring in a foreign worker is already underway. The case is not isolated. Mid-year figures show the federal government has already processed well over its own immigration targets despite assurances that levels would be capped.

Between January and July, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada finalized about 825,600 work permits and nearly 318,000 study permits. These numbers far exceed the government’s planned levels for 2025 and highlight how the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and International Mobility Program remain major entry points. At the same time, refugee and asylum pressures continue to grow, with Statistics Canada reporting 470,029 asylum claimants and protected persons in the country as of April 1. In June alone, 10,210 new asylum claims were filed.

The labour market context makes the surge even harder to ignore. Statistics Canada pegged the national unemployment rate at 6.9 per cent in July, but joblessness among youth reached 14.6 per cent. Alberta’s unemployment stood even higher than the national average at 7.8 per cent, adding to frustration that domestic workers are sidelined while employers recruit from overseas.

Government leaders have said immigration needs to be more carefully managed, yet the data tells another story. More permits are being issued, more asylum claims are piling up, and more Canadians — particularly young jobseekers — are left questioning why jobs are being filled by foreign labour when local unemployment is high.