Total work-permit holders
298,980
2015–2026
HowSoonIsNow.ca
Data Explorer
Public Data Analytics
Temporary Foreign Workers Report
Professional Analytical Report
British Columbia • All programs • 2015–2026
Prepared September 24, 2026 8:27 AM
Report parameters
Destination
British Columbia
Program
All programs
Coverage period
2015–2026
Executive summary
Work-permit-holder summary
Change over selected period
+3,515
2015–2026
Percentage change
+25.2%
2015–2026
Largest program category
Other Temporary Foreign Workers with LMIA
159,245 work-permit holders
This report summarizes Temporary Foreign Worker Program work-permit-holder records for British Columbia, All programs, over the period 2015–2026.
Trend analysis
Annual work-permit-holder trend
Annual Temporary Foreign Worker Program work-permit-holder totals for British Columbia and All programs.
Key insights
What the data shows
- 1 Overall movement Work-permit-holder totals increased — 25.2% from 2015 to 2026
- 2 Latest annual total 17,445 work-permit holders — 2026 published total
- 3 Leading province or territory British Columbia — 298,980 work-permit holders
- 4 Largest program category Other Temporary Foreign Workers with LMIA — 159,245 work-permit holders
Detailed records
Annual work-permit-holder totals
| Year | Work-permit holders | Annual change | Annual percentage change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 13,930 | — | — |
| 2016 | 16,035 | +2,105 | +15.1% |
| 2017 | 17,265 | +1,230 | +7.7% |
| 2018 | 20,890 | +3,625 | +21.0% |
| 2019 | 24,770 | +3,880 | +18.6% |
| 2020 | 20,105 | -4,665 | -18.8% |
| 2021 | 23,860 | +3,755 | +18.7% |
| 2022 | 32,515 | +8,655 | +36.3% |
| 2023 | 39,000 | +6,485 | +19.9% |
| 2024 | 37,300 | -1,700 | -4.4% |
| 2025 | 35,865 | -1,435 | -3.8% |
| 2026 | 17,445 | -18,420 | -51.4% |
Dataset information
About this report
Source, selection, coverage, and generation details for this analytical report.
- Dataset
- Temporary Foreign Worker Program work-permit holders by province or territory, program and year
- Publisher
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
- Destination
- British Columbia
- Program
- All programs
- Coverage period
- 2015–2026
- Records included
- 655
- Report generated
- September 24, 2026, 8:27 a.m.
Methodology
How this report was prepared
This report uses Temporary Foreign Worker Program work-permit-holder data published by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Records are filtered by intended destination, published program category, and year.
Annual totals, year-over-year changes, provincial rankings, program distributions, summary statistics, and analytical highlights are calculated automatically from the normalized monthly source records.
Important note
The figures represent work-permit holders whose permits became effective during the selected period. They do not represent positive Labour Market Impact Assessments, jobs filled, or the number of people currently present in Canada.
About Data Explorer
Public data, made easier to explore
Data Explorer is a collection of interactive tools that transform official public datasets into searchable charts, summaries, analytical reports, and downloadable documents.
The information presented in this report is derived from published source data. Charts, calculated values, and analytical highlights are generated automatically from normalized records while preserving the meaning of the original dataset.
End of report