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Canada has made a policy shift to promoting temporary migration rather than permanent migration. This means that Canada is bringing in more and more workers on only a temporary basis, with fewer rights, limited access to services, and – in all provinces but one – no access to settlement services. Migrant workers are particularly vulnerable since there is no mandatory monitoring to ensure their rights are protected. Many are economically exploited, being charged illegal recruitement fees or paid lower wages than permanent residents or citizens, and their visa conditions often make them dependent on their employers for such things as housing, access to healthcare, and access to basic information about their rights. Some workers who come to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program even become victims of human trafficking.

Rights without enforcement are no rights at all                                          

There have been numerous documented cases of exploitation and abuse of migrant workers, with little recourse for the workers.  In fact, they are often penalized for making complaints by being deported or fired. Currently the only monitoring conducted is voluntary for employers. A voluntary monitoring system is not an effective one – employers who are violating rights have no incentive to participate and can thereby avoid detection!

We therefore call for mandatory external monitoring of workplaces hiring “low-skill” temporary migrant workers.

Access to permanent residence

Many temporary migrant workers, especially those designated as “lower skilled,” have no access to permanent residence.This contrasts with the Live-in Caregivers Program and with those designated as “highly skilled”, who have access to permanent residency under the Canadian Experience Class program. Federal temporary migrant worker programs thus discriminate on the basis of “skill” category. Because most so-called “lower skilled” migrant workers are from the Global South and have few options other than to leave their homes to find work to feed their families, they are willing to accept working conditions that Canadians will not. By offering them access only to temporary migration, Canada marginalizes these mostly racialized workers.Canada is moving from being a country that considers immigration as a strategy for nation-building to a country that uses “low-skilled” temporary migrants as a source of cheap and disposable labour, rather than recognizing the contributions of all types of work to the Canadian economy and society.

We therefore call for the migrant workers from all skill categories to have the right to apply for permanent residence.

Access to services

Temporary migrant workers are denied access to settlement services in all provinces except Alberta. They often lack adequate access to health services, and information about medical and community services they are entitled to, as well as important information on their legal rights. Migrant workers pay taxes and pay into social benefits programs that they will never be able to claim.

We therefore call for temporary migrant workers to be included in the eligibility for federally-funded settlement services.

Migrant workers are being used to address a labour demand that is not temporary. It is permanent. Using temporary workers who enjoy fewer rights than permanent residents to fill long-term jobs is exploitative. It is not good for the workers, and it is not good for Canada.

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