The undersigned organizations are deeply concerned about the realities and violations of the human rights of temporary foreign workers in Quebec and Canada. We are sad to see that the changes proposed to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) last April by the Canadian government do not address long-standing human rights concerns.
Years of research and studies have highlighted two underlying factors that put migrant workers at risk of exploitation and other human rights violations: closed work permits, which bind them to a single employer, and a temporary and precarious migratory status, which dissuades them from denouncing the mistreatment of which they are victims for fear of being fired, losing their status and being forced to return prematurely to their country of origin. origin, often with enormous debts.
The abuses resulting from closed work permits led Professor Tomoya Obokata, UN special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, to describe this system as “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery”, in September 2023. Yet , rather than addressing these legitimate human rights concerns, the proposed changes appear intended to provide employers in the food processing sector with the same financial and administrative benefits currently enjoyed by businesses in the agricultural sector primary.
The extension of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) to other sectors of the food system, including processing, is at the heart of the changes proposed by Employment and Social Development Canada. However, the PTAS is a program known to be at the origin of flagrant violations of rights, whether these are violations of labor standards such as wage theft, breaches of health and safety standards or further failure to respect the right to adequate housing.
This program has long allowed agricultural employers to send workers back to their country without any recourse and to draw up a blacklist of people who report inadequate working and living conditions, or people who contract illnesses or hurt. It is not, far from it, a model to be reproduced.
Migrant workers and organizations that defend their rights have long called for the establishment of an open work permit, which would allow them to change employers at will so as to no longer be as vulnerable. It is high time that the government took this demand into account. Until migrant workers have the same labor market mobility as citizens and permanent residents, disparities in rights, opportunities and protections will persist.
In addition, migrant workers who occupy so-called “low-skilled” essential jobs are systematically denied the opportunity to settle permanently in Canada. These people undergo long and difficult family separations in order to come to Canada temporarily, and their precarious status makes them vulnerable to mistreatment. Any reform of the TFWP should address these systemic inequalities, ensuring on the one hand that these people have access to permanent residence and, on the other hand, that their employers no longer exercise control over their migration status.
The government’s recent announcement of the granting of status upon arrival for caregivers nevertheless constitutes some progress towards recognition of the essential contribution of certain migrant workers and their right to live with dignity in Canada.
By prioritizing the rights and well-being of migrant workers, Canada can aspire to a fairer and more equitable society for all.
* Co-signed this letter: Amnesty International Canada – English section; Association for the Rights of Home and Farm Workers (DTMF-RHFW); Central of Democratic Unions (CSD); Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ); Canadian Center to End Human Trafficking; Center for Immigrant Workers (CTTI); Citizens for Public Justice; Migrant Justice Clinic; Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN); Canadian Council for Refugees; Central Council of Metropolitan Montreal – CSN; FCJ Refugee Center (Ontario); Federation of Collective Action Unions – Centrale des syndicats du Québec (FSAC-CSQ); Quebec Federation of Workers (FTQ); Legal Assistance of Windsor, Ontario; Migrant Canada; Migrant Workers Center (British Columbia); Observatory for Migrant Justice; OCASI — Ontario Council of Immigrant Serving Agencies; RATTMAQ (Aid network for agricultural workers in Quebec); Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto; Canadian Union of Public Employees; Consultation table of organizations serving immigrants and refugees (TCRI); UNIFOR; National Farmers Union.