(Montreal) Quebec’s labor minister says an investigation is underway into allegations that a private seniors’ residence (RPA) in Lévis, Que., paid only $70 a week to workers workers from Africa to be orderlies for several months while promising work permits.
Posted at 6:35 p.m.
The allegations against Villa mon Domaine were reported in an investigation published in The duty Thursday, prompting Labor Minister Jean Boulet to ask the Workers’ Health and Safety Board to investigate.
Christine Orain du Tremplin, a community organization that works with immigrants in the city south of Quebec, said Friday that a first complaint came in January 2021 when an employee came to her organization to say that the residence was refusing access to his pay stub. It was then discovered that the workers were not receiving their COVID-19 bonuses.
Subsequently, other employees came forward. Among them were people who did not have valid work permits and were told they would be helped to get one while ‘volunteering’ at the residence in exchange for $50-$70 prepaid credit cards. per week, a situation that lasted up to 11 months in some cases.
They worked as “volunteers” for 35 hours a week while waiting for their permits and lived at the residence, Ms.me Orain. Some of them said they received allegedly threatening text messages or emails from management about their status and jobs.
“After having a second person, a third and when we arrived at six of the same residence, obviously we had a problem, explained Mme Orain. We noted all the information and referred it to various groups that protect workers. »
She said they contacted worker health and safety, the provincial human rights commission, Service Canada, the Quebec immigration department and the local health authority, but the matter did not has not been resolved.
Mme Orain said he eventually made contact with the Montreal-based Immigrant Workers Center, which helped with permits. Some of the workers had been recruited abroad with permits while others had been approached in Quebec after arriving as visitors. “It was a long procedure, but they finally got open work permits and were able to find another job,” Ms.me Orain.
Villa mon Domaine management did not return phone calls seeking comment on Friday. Addressing the Homework and to Radio-Canada separately this week, the owners of the residence denied the allegations.
Minister Boulet said in a statement Friday that he was “appalled” by the report, stressing that temporary foreign workers have the same rights as Quebec workers and deserve to be treated with dignity.
Three inspectors visited the nursing home on Thursday and will also meet with workers and community agencies. Mr Boulet said that if the allegations are true, further investigations could follow.
Mme Orain described the situation as exceptional. “These people were from African countries, they didn’t know, they thought ‘this is how it is in Canada’ and above all, they wanted to stay here,” she said.
“I think for a lot of them, they were happy to see that someone was finally hearing them, someone was acknowledging that what they were going through wasn’t acceptable and wasn’t normal,” he said. she concluded.