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Fears of detention and deportation. Unsafe living and working conditions. Inability to access adequate health care.
These are just a few of the myriad issues migrants with precarious status in Canada are experiencing daily.
Temporary foreign workers, refugees, international students, and others without permanent resident status are among the 1.7 million people in Canada who would benefit from a plan to regularize their immigration status, according to Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.
The Canadian government has said they will welcome 465,000 permanent residents in 2023, 485,000 in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025. Migrant justice groups are concerned temporary foreign workers in the low wage steams will be excluded from more direct pathways to permanent residency.
A recent report on some of the forms of exploitation that have been experienced by temporary foreign workers in New Brunswick during the COVID-19 pandemic is serving to reiterate the need to grant permanent residency to those who want it.
As discussed in the report, “Unfree Labour: COVID-19 and Migrant Workers in the Seafood Industry in New Brunswick,” by researchers at Dalhousie University and St. Thomas University, temporary foreign workers tend to come to New Brunswick on employer-specific or closed work permits, which require them to work for the same employer. This requirement creates conditions that allow employers to treat their workers poorly.
Migrant workers often fear speaking up for themselves because it could cost them their jobs and therefore their ability to remain in Canada and be welcomed back to work the following year. As a result, employers often get away with subjecting their workers to such things as abuse and harassment, dangerous working conditions, and overly long working hours. These conditions were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The “Unfree Labour” report also discussed the inadequacy of the conditions in which temporary foreign workers are often housed while they are employed in New Brunswick.
Employment and Social Development Canada requires employers either provide their temporary foreign workers with “suitable and affordable housing” or ensure that it is available to workers. However, because affordable housing is so often not publicly available, workers tend to be relegated to accommodations provided by their employers that, due to the irregularity of inspections, are often extremely overcrowded, have overly strict rules, and lack privacy. For example, workers interviewed in the “Unfree Labour” study reported they were housed in dwellings containing up to 20 residents with whom they were required to share common spaces such as kitchens and bathrooms. They were also often prohibited from having guests and subjected to visits from their employers arbitrarily. In addition, workplace distancing and sanitization requirements were often not applied in workers’ accommodations, leaving them much more susceptible to contracting COVID-19 outside of work.
Finally, the “Unfree Labour” report discussed the lack of knowledge of temporary foreign workers about the health care coverage that they receive, and the overall inadequacy of that coverage.
In New Brunswick, temporary foreign workers must have a work permit of 12 months to be eligible to apply for the same Medicare coverage that residents of the province are afforded. However, many temporary foreign workers in the province are employed at seafood processing plants. These workers typically hold work permits that are only six to ten months in duration. These workers are therefore unable to access Medicare coverage and must instead rely on private insurance purchased for them by their employers.
Workers interviewed for the “Unfree Labour” report said they were not given information about the types of services and procedures that are covered in their health plans. In addition, employer discretion when purchasing this insurance often results in workers receiving private insurance that is much less comprehensive than Medicare coverage.
Worse still, workers often have to pay out-of-pocket for many services and procedures then wait for reimbursement. In addition, the inability to access adequate health care was of particular concern to workers worried about contracting COVID-19 during the pandemic.
The argument against affording permanent resident status to migrants with precarious status tends to be that they are not adequately contributing to the Canadian economy, they should not be afforded the same access to rights and protections as those who are adequately contributing, referring here to permanent residents and Canadian citizens. However, temporary foreign workers fill a great number of job vacancies in industries that are often deemed undesirable by locals, such as agriculture and seafood processing, and help to produce goods that are highly profitable to the Canadian economy. In addition, the goods and services purchased, and the taxes paid by temporary foreign workers, refugees, international students, and other migrants with precarious status are also a significant source of support for the Canadian economy.
These are the economic arguments for granting status to migrant workers, as outlined by economist Armine Yalnizyan recently in the Toronto Star. But, migrant workers like the rest of us are much more than one-dimensional workers for the capitalist economy. There are the humane arguments too, as noted by Yalnizyan.
Affording migrants with precarious status the opportunity to obtain permanent resident status upon their arrival in Canada would serve to eliminate many of the forms of exploitation they are currently experiencing. Affording permanent residency status would ensure migrant workers receive the same rights and protections as do others in Canada. Everyone deserves to be treated fairly at work, at school, and in their everyday lives while in Canada. #StatusForAll.
Want to find out how you can support the #StatusForAll campaign? The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change has organized a session this Thursday, April 27 at 9:00 PM (Atlantic time). Register here.
Andrew Clark, Erin Cunningham, Seiku Diakite and Rylee Hopkins are students completing their Bachelor of Social Work degrees at St. Thomas University, and a social action placement with the Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre. The Madhu Centre advocates for reforms and systemic changes aimed at protecting the rights, equality, and dignity of migrant workers in New Brunswick and beyond, and is a supporter of the #StatusForAll movement.
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