Despite public scrutiny, the inhumane conditions of migrant workers in New Brunswick’s seafood processing industry continue

Migrant workers in New Brunswick are arriving for a new season of work in seafood processing. Two years ago, researchers from Dalhousie University, St. Thomas University and Cooper Institute released a report that revealed the harsh reality of migrant workers in the industry. They made a series of recommendations to protect the lives and rights of migrant workers. These recommendations have largely not been implemented by federal and provincial governments.

The seafood industry is a significant pillar of the Atlantic region’s economy and workforce, adding nearly $2 billion in economic activity and almost 25,300 jobs in 2021. The industry’s seasonality and conditions of work make it extremely difficult for employers to attract and retain workers. As a result, employers turn to temporary foreign workers during the season. In New Brunswick, 65 percent of temporary foreign workers are hired in seafood processing plants, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship data.

The researchers found migrant workers living in unsuitable, expensive and overcrowded housing during the onset of COVID-19, paying upwards of $300 for lodging in houses with 10 to 20 workers. Who benefits from all of that? Not the workers, of course, but the landlord, often being their employers as well. Landlords can make thousands of dollars more a month for one dwelling housing dozens of workers.

Migrant workers also reported being victims of abuse and harassment, having unprofessional supervision and favouritism, working long hours without breaks and in unsafe environments, with minimal training. Migrant workers also say they experience xenophobia and racism, not only at work but in the community.

UN Special Rapporteur Tomoya Obokata met with migrant workers employed in seafood processing in New Brunswick in 2023. He noted the above concerns in his 2024 report, calling the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in Canada a “breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.”

A new report from Amnesty International, released in early 2025, shows that New Brunswick is not an exception when it comes to the awful treatment experienced by migrant workers. The report identified similar results to the New Brunswick study, showing unacceptable working and living conditions in different industries that employ migrant workers across Canada. It shows that the problem doesn’t stem from a specific province or industry, but the program itself, with a lack of protective policies that open the doors for employers to abuse their temporary foreign workers for higher profits.

The federal government did announce changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in 2024 to reduce the number of workers, saying it didn’t want the program to be used to prevent hiring qualifying Canadians. New Brunswick, where the majority of migrant workers are seafood plant workers, is largely not affected by the targeted reduction, as food and fish processing are one of the industries exempt from the changes. This, again, strongly encourages New Brunswick to continue relying on migrant workers as low-wage seafood plant workers. Where is the incentive for the industry to clean up its practices?

Last year, LeBreton Fisheries in Grand-Anse was fined more than $365,000 and banned from hiring temporary foreign workers for two years. This fine came after a $30,000 fine against the company in 2023. Both fines stem from the employer not providing a work environment free of harassment and reprisal. The second fine, the largest ever against an New Brunswick employer of temporary foreign workers, is related to pay or working conditions not matching the workers’ contracts, the breaking of federal or provincial hiring and recruiting laws, the lack of information about workers’ rights being available in both official languages, and not keeping documents for the required amount of time.

The fact that more employers have not been fined or banned from the program is telling based on what researchers and advocates such as the Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre and Migrant Workers Alliance for Change have and continue to uncover at workplaces that employ migrant workers.

They say the inspection system needs to involve proactive, unannounced inspections of workplaces and housing to catch and prevent abuses. Furthermore, they say the burden should not be put on the worker to make a complaint as it comes with the risk of being fired, deported or not invited back to work the next season. Even if the fine were to be a result of complaints from migrant workers, there is no way for them to get any information about the investigation or any compensation or reparation from the employer, according to Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.

In March, Premier Susan Holt attended the Seafood Expo North America in Boston with 60 New Brunswick seafood companies. She expressed her strong support for the industry concerned about the repercussions of Trump’s tariffs.

While the seafood industry may be too vital for the Atlantic region to operate insufficiently and underperform economically, is this a good reason to keep treating temporary foreign workers as machines? Or are we forgetting they’re still humans who deserve basic human rights?

Joël Richardson is a social worker and a strong advocate for human rights who obtained his Bachelor of Social Work at the Université de Moncton and is currently a student in the Master of Social Work program at Dalhousie University.

Disclosure: The NB Media Co-op coordinating editor Tracy Glynn is a member of the board of directors of the Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre.