Is the Temporary Foreign Worker Program Hurting Young People?

When a business faces a labour shortage, the free market says they should raise wages. So why is Canada’s government stepping in to make labour cheaper instead?In this episode of The Missing Middle, Cara Stern and Mike Moffatt dive into how Canada's low-wage Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program and the explosion of international student work caps have completely disrupted the laws of supply and demand. As Canadian youth face historic unemployment rates, we break down how corporate lobbying and government policy created a cheat code that insulates businesses from capitalism, while pushing young workers off the first rung of the career ladder.From the housing crisis in Alberta's mountain tourist towns to Tim Hortons' recent PR scramble, we expose the loop of corporate reliance on exploitable temporary labor and ask: how do we let the market actually fix itself?Topics covered:Canada's rising youth unemployment rateThe Temporary Foreign Worker Program explainedHow international student work rules affect the job marketWhy labour shortages don't always mean there aren't enough workersSeasonal jobs, tourism, and staff housingThe economics of wages, supply, and demandTim Hortons and the TFW controversyPolicy solutions to improve opportunities for young Canadians#Canada #YouthUnemployment #TemporaryForeignWorkers #Jobs #CanadianEconomy #LabourMarket #Economics #Immigration #PublicPolicy #MissingMiddleChapters:00:00 - The Free Market Myth in Canada01:24 - Gen Z vs. Gen X: The Youth Unemployment Crisis02:12 - Why Student Jobs Suddenly Vanished03:32 - How the TFW Program Ballooned Over 50 Years05:39 - The Corporate Lobbying Flipping Immigration Rules07:11 - Debunking the Alberta "Labour Shortage"09:47 - Why Canada Insulates Businesses From Capitalism11:11 - What "Dirty Dancing" Teaches Us About Seasonal Housing14:06 - The Dark Side of Temporary Work Regulations16:02 - Exposing Tim Hortons' "Local Hiring" PR Spin18:57 - How to Break the TFW Doom LoopResearch/links:Tourist towns ‘desperate’ for workers in Albertahttps://www.cp24.com/news/2026/03/28/i-have-to-find-at-least-35-people-before-june-1-worker-shortages-in-albertas-tourist-towns/Tim Hortons says it will hire locals, scale back temporary foreign workershttps://globalnews.ca/news/11863474/tim-hortons-temporary-foreign-workers/Tim Hortons is Committed to Local Hiring Launching National Campaign to Hire 10,000 Local Team Members https://www.news.timhortons.ca/en/articles/tim-hortons-is-committed-to-local-hiring-launching-national-campYouth unemployment in Canada jumped 57% in 3 years, hitting levels previously unseen outside a recessionhttps://thehub.ca/2026/05/07/canadas-youth-unemployment-jumped-57-in-3-years-hit-unprecedented-jobless-levels-outside-recession-by-2025/Youth unemployment in Canada near record highs since 2022; unprecedented levels outside of a recessionhttps://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/extraordinary-increase-youth-unemployment-canadahttps://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/2026-04/extraordinary-increase-of-youth-unemployment-in-canada.pdfTemporary ForeignWorkers in Canada:Are They Really Filling Labour Shortages?https://cdhowe.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/commentary_407.pdfStatsCan: Drayton Valley statistical area sees lowest unemployment in Alberta at 4.9 per centhttps://www.bigwestcountry.ca/2026/06/05/statscan-drayton-valley-statistical-area-sees-lowest-unemployment-in-alberta-at-4-9-per-cent/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20latest%20Labour,5.3%20per%20cent%20in%20AprilCanada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Programs - The Canadian Encyclopediahttps://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadas-temporary-foreign-worker-programsBusinesses face new limits on temporary foreign worker programhttps://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tfw-program-new-limits-1.73337773 problems with the temporary foreign worker program and 3 possible fixes, according to expertshttps://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/temporary-foreign-worker-program-fixes-1.7633045Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina MaddeauxProduced by Meredith MartinFunded by the Neptis Foundation https://neptis.org/