The front page of Radio-Canada reported on February 22 that Quebec farms are the gateway to America, because over the last two years, 900 foreign agricultural workers have left their farms during their employment contract, or approximately 450 per year. This figure indicates a strong growth in resignations of these farm workers since 2020. The article suggests that this departure takes place a few days after their arrival and is followed by illegal entry into the United States. Designated as both victims and fraudsters, these workers are said to have hatched their plan from Guatemala. We believe this is a dangerous shortcut that hides a much more complex situation.
The figure of 900 workers refers, according to FERME and the UPA (two organizations which have no authority in matters of border or migration control), to workers who unexpectedly left their employer. Did they all cross the border? In fact, this figure also refers to some of those workers with work permits tying them to a single employer who left their workplace for a multitude of reasons. They can stay in Canada or cross the border.
However, with approximately 21,000 agricultural workers per year in Quebec, and, according to the figures of these organizations, 450 who leave their workplace per year, the temporary foreign worker programs in agriculture are in fact a resounding success, with more than 98% retention! The vast majority of temporary workers respect restrictive stay conditions. But why do some people choose to leave their jobs?
Exit closed work permit
First, scientific research is unanimous on the perverse effects of closed work permits, which prevent a worker from changing employers. In fact, it is the right to resign that is denied to them! This type of permit, confirmed as a facilitator of modern slavery by the United Nations special rapporteur in his statement of September 6, 2023 on Canada, restricts workers from exercising their rights in the country, including their fundamental rights, including that of physical integrity.
However, the federal government recognized the risks of abuse created by these work permits in 2019 by deploying the open work permit program for vulnerable workers. This program evaluates on a case-by-case basis the requests of workers who are victims of abuse and wish to terminate their employment relationship with their employer. When their application is deemed admissible, they obtain an open work permit for a period of one year which allows them to look for a new employer.
Despite its many limitations, this program indicates state recognition of the situation of immobility in which workers find themselves. Thus, among the 900 cases listed by the UPA and FERME, certain workers are in fact assisted by rights defense organizations and obtain an open work permit allowing them to temporarily put an end to a situation that has become untenable.
Second, others leave without knowing their options and are quickly employed in the black market, which sometimes even recruits them from the grocery stores where they go to do their weekly shopping. Others are simply abandoned when an employer lacks work or has a surplus of workers. Some, dismissed before the end of their contract, avoid expulsion by the employer by remaining in Quebec, because it is impossible for them to return to the country before having repaid the debts contracted for having had the opportunity to come and work in Canada during their recruitment in Guatemala.
Finally, some may also want to stay in Quebec after 10 or 15 years of seasonal work during which they will have spent more time in Quebec than in their country of origin. And yes, some make connections, learn French and want to stay in Quebec, but access to permanent residence is prohibited to them.
Tip of the iceberg
However, those who leave represent only the tip of the iceberg. If there are all those who resign, there are also all the others who stay and who endure to continue to be able to support their families. Workers who leave an employer and who thus automatically lose the right to work in Canada generally do so in extreme situations: they are exhausted, traumatized, injured, sick and, no doubt sometimes, yes, in a primordial psychological need to get to the UNITED STATES.
The departure of some to the United States is certainly a reality. Family networks and the job market are undeniable pull factors. How many have actually been there? Only RCMP data on border interceptions would give an idea of some of them. For the others, it is impossible to know if they are in our neighbors to the South or in Canada. And it must be remembered that some leave their employer with full knowledge of the facts, because free illegality can be chosen over captive legality.
Employers deplore the departures from farms, because these workers cost them dearly. Such commodification of labor is not inevitable. Eliminating closed permits and associated fees would allow workers to move freely and offer their services to top employers. If Quebec wants to retain its Guatemalan temporary migrants, who have become essential for the agricultural sector, it would be time to offer them not only permanent status, but also permanent status for their spouses and children.