Access to services for temporary residents

Resolution number
4
Whereas
  1. Canada relies on the labour of migrant workers including those with closed work permits under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and their family members, international students (“workers with temporary and precarious status”);
  2. The number of workers with temporary and precarious status in Canada has been increasing steadily for two decades;
  3. IRCC-funded services currently exclude workers with temporary and precarious status;
  4. Workers with temporary and precarious status are not eligible for the vast majority of government-subsidized legal services;
  5. Issues of exploitation and abuse of workers with temporary and precarious status are documented and systemic;
  6. Systemic abuse in the recruitment and migration processes creates vulnerabilities for many workers with temporary and precarious status, and lack of access to services exacerbates vulnerabilities they may experience;
  7. Workers with temporary and precarious status have limited to no access to subsidized legal services which they require when seeking recourse for abuse and exploitation;
  8. The support needs of workers with temporary and precarious status vary according to a diversity of identities, including gender and sexual identity;
  9. Economic and Social Development Canada is responsible jointly with IRCC for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and funds the Migrant Worker Support Program;
  10. IRCC is responsible for issuing work permits under Canada’s temporary migration work and study programs;
  11. CCR has long advocated for access to adequate services for refugees and migrants, including access to legal aid from competent legal professionals; (See Resolution 2 May 01 1999; Res. 1 June 01 2019).

 

Therefore be it resolved

that:

  1. All workers with temporary and precarious status in Canada have access to IRCC-funded settlement services;
  2. ESDC funding for support services for migrant workers must be renewed and increased on an ongoing basis;
  3. Federal and provincial governments fund access to legal aid services for workers with temporary and precarious status seeking access to justice;
  4. These services must be adapted to meet the intersectional needs of this population.

 

Subject
Gender
LGBT
Migrant workers
Non-status
Settlement services
Working Group
Immigration and Settlement