Liberal MP tells recent grad: ‘at least you’re employed’ amid foreign worker plight
“Are you working now?” asked MP Peter Fragiskatos. “Yes,” replied Ethan Miranda, the recent graduate. “Though, I’m not working as a software engineer.”
Author: Alex Dhaliwal
A young Canadian software engineering graduate told Parliamentarians on Thursday that he still can’t find an entry-level job in his field, prompting Liberal MP Peter Fragiskatos to tell him: “At least you’re employed.”
“Are you working now?” asked MP Fragiskatos. “Yes,” replied Ethan Miranda, the recent graduate. “Though, I’m not working as a software engineer.”
“I understand that, but at least with the time that you’ve devoted to your studies… I’m glad to hear that you are employed,” the MP concluded.
The exchange at the committee comes amid concerns from economists and Opposition MPs that past Liberal immigration policies have contributed to rising youth unemployment.
Last year, Conservative MP Jamil Jivani launched a petition calling for an end to the temporary foreign worker program, citing concerns about immigration levels, job displacement and wage suppression.
A 2023 Immigration Department questionnaire, the only federal study on the issue, found there were 1,040,985 international students in Canada, with 81 per cent participating in the workforce. Among those employed, 38 per cent worked more than 30 hours per week off campus despite federal limits.
On May 26, Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Nicolas Vincent said immigration is partly contributing to elevated youth unemployment, noting young workers now account for nearly a quarter of the long-term unemployed — more than during the early 1990s or 2008 crisis.
“Not only are young people over-represented in the ranks of the unemployed, they also make up almost a quarter of the long-term unemployed, a share that has more than doubled since 2022,” Vincent told academics in Montreal.
From 2019 to 2023, approved temporary foreign workers in food and retail rose 211 per cent, according to a Bloomberg analysis of government data, with many entry-level roles traditionally filled by young Canadian first-time workers.
“Young people tend to work in sectors that are sensitive to swings in the economy such as retail or culture and recreation,” Vincent said, amid pressure from “a large influx of young [foreign] workers” in entry-level jobs.
Hiring for workers under 24 has fallen 5.5 per cent since 2022, while hiring has risen among workers over 55, he added.
A 2025 Abacus Data poll found majority support for ending the program among 30–44-year-olds (more than 50 per cent) and 48 per cent of 18–29-year-olds, with lower support among those 60+ (37 per cent). Support is highest in the Prairies and lowest in Quebec and Atlantic Canada, and is split among Liberals.
That aligns with recent youth unemployment rates among those under 24, which peaked at 16 per cent in Alberta, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador, followed by New Brunswick (15 per cent), B.C. and Nova Scotia (13 per cent), Manitoba (12 per cent), Saskatchewan (11 per cent), and Quebec and P.E.I. (10 per cent).
A committee report urged Cabinet to ensure immigration plans include labour-market impacts on young workers, entry-level job availability, wages, and housing pressures.
The latest Immigration Levels Plan vowed to reduce Canada’s temporary population to less than five per cent of the total population by the end of 2027. Targets for new temporary resident arrivals are set at 385,000 in 2026 and 370,000 in 2027 and 2028.
Foreign nationals in Canada on temporary permits, including students and workers, are estimated at 2,069,477 this year, down from 3,049,277 in 2025, including an estimated 129,000 with expired permits.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada rules previously capped international student work at 20 hours per week, until then-minister Sean Fraser suspended the limit in 2022, calling it “a great day for the economy.”
At the time, postsecondary-aged jobseekers saw unemployment reach as high as 17 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador and 16 per cent in Alberta, Ontario, and New Brunswick, according to Statistics Canada Labour Force data.
In 2024, Cabinet reinstated a 24-hour weekly winter-only cap on international student work hours, while Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said youth unemployment is driven by “many factors” and not linked to the policy change.