A UN special rapporteur persists and signs in his description of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program. It is a measure that “fuels contemporary forms of slavery.” The observation is brutal, although it is in line with the initial observations made nearly a year ago by the rapporteur, Tomoya Obokata. The question remains what the federal and provincial governments are prepared to do to correct the “imbalance of power” between temporary workers and their employers.
The UN rapporteur highlights many risk factors in the federal program, managed in partnership with the provinces, under which employers bring in cheap labour, mostly in the agricultural sector at harvest time. Harvest time is taking on the appearance of a rather uninspiring chore for local populations in a context of labour shortages and the transformation of the job market towards a knowledge economy. We can say the same for other sectors that are critical to our comfort or our discounted consumption habits, such as food processing, kitchen help, and elder care. Without temporary foreign workers, many production chains would grind to a halt.
The UN rapporteur’s concerns relate to the great precariousness in which foreign workers find themselves since they stay in Canada on the basis of a “closed” permit tying them to an exclusive employer. If the working and accommodation conditions do not meet their expectations or the minimum of decency, it is almost impossible for them to find another job, at the risk of being expelled. This situation of dependency is the mother of all the potential abuses noted by the special rapporteur: mistreatment, salary deductions, excessive hours, deficiencies in security, food and accommodation, and even physical or sexual violence in the worst cases.
The issue, which extends beyond Quebec’s borders, remains relatively contained. The Special Rapporteur notes with satisfaction that the majority of employers (94%) respect the rules and act in good faith toward their temporary foreign workers. In recent years, employers and governments have increased initiatives to protect the rights of this vulnerable workforce and guarantee their access to health care.
The fact remains that the inspection process is incomplete, to say the least. According to federal government data, nearly seven out of ten inspections were conducted online in 2023 and 2024. Less than one in ten inspections were conducted impromptu. Furthermore, barriers to access to health care, union councils and appropriate accommodation sites remain major concerns.
The UN rapporteur is not mistaken. The situation described in his report is consistent with numerous investigative reports, including in The Dutyand to the observations of community groups that assist temporary foreign workers.
One of the solutions discussed in the public debate, granting “open” or sectoral permits to foreign workers (permits that are not linked to a particular employer), does not go far enough in the eyes of the Special Rapporteur. Tomoya Obokata suggests instead facilitating the transition to permanent residence, in order to put an end to the “structural precariousness” of this particular workforce. This would mark the end of closed or even open permits.
The Special Rapporteur justifies his approach by highlighting the contradiction between the theoretically temporary nature of jobs and the permanent nature of the demand for labour. Temporary foreign worker programmes have also passed the fifty-year mark, further proof of their indispensable contribution to the labour market. However, there is no indication that speeding up the process leading to permanent residence would produce the expected effects, both in terms of meeting temporary labour needs and ensuring respectful treatment of the rights and dignity of workers. Not to mention that this is an explosive issue in these times in intergovernmental relations.
Questions of law and dignity should still prompt governments to do more in terms of prevention, inspection and sanctions for offending employers, and to wean employers off closed permits where they are still in vogue. We cannot turn a blind eye to a situation unworthy of a State that is used to looking at itself in the mirror of success in terms of respect for fundamental rights and freedoms. Contemporary slavery should not be part of the concerns of UN bodies when it comes to examining our practices with regard to precarious and vulnerable nationals.