Temporary foreign workers in health care: Characteristics, transition to permanent residency and industry retention

Temporary foreign workers (TFWs) are playing an increasingly important role in addressing labour shortages in Canada’s health care sector. This study uses an integrated longitudinal administrative database and examines the number and characteristics of TFWs employed in the health care sector since 2000. It also tracks their transition to permanent residency (PR) and analyzes the percentage of individuals who remain in the sector after gaining PR. The number of TFWs in the health care sector grew significantly from 3,200 in 2000 to 57,500 in 2022. In the early 2000s, most TFWs held health-occupation-specific work permits and were primarily employed in ambulatory health care services or hospitals. Since 2010, other work permit holders (with non-health occupations or open work permits) have become more prevalent among TFWs in the health care sector, with a growing share employed in nursing and residential care facilities. Since 2017, India has surpassed the Philippines as the top source country for TFWs in the health care sector. Additionally, TFWs have become more concentrated in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. More recent TFW cohorts have shown higher rates of transition to PR. Five years after starting work in the health care sector, 54.5% of the 2000-to-2004 cohort obtained PR, compared with 59.6% of the 2010-to-2014 cohort. One year after transitioning to PR, nearly two-thirds of TFWs remained working in the health care sector. Moreover, industrial retention rates were higher among those who previously held health-occupation-specific work permits compared with other permit holders.