Foreign resident cap could harm hospitality, tourism sectors, economists say

The Financial Post’s Naimul Karim reports that the federal government’s plan to reduce the number of temporary foreign residents could help ease the housing shortage, but some economists warn it could also hurt some industries that are dealing with labour shortages. Right now there are about 600,000 job vacancies in the restaurant, agriculture, tourism and manufacturing sectors, and the labour shortage is most acute in rural areas. But some economists say the cap may help improve productivity by removing incentives to hire foreign workers for low-wage jobs in Canada.