The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) is a system that gives Canadian employers the ability to temporarily hire foreign workers to fill jobs that are left vacant by qualified Canadian workers. The TFWP is regulated through the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, as well as Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. It is administered in partnership with Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Canada and Border Services Agency (CBSA). In order to participate in the TFWP, Canadian employers must submit applications that are then assessed by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), before a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is conducted to determine the effect that the hiring of temporary foreign workers would have on the Canadian labour market. Although at first glance the TFWP may appear to be a pragmatic solution to both the Canadian labour shortage and the lack of employment in the global south, in reality it is rife with problematic policies that leave the door open to exploitation of foreign workers.
The TFWP was implemented in January of 1973, and was initially targeted towards specific highly specialized skill groups that were not amply available in Canada, including academics, business executives, and engineers. In 2002, employer demand for lower-skilled workers – referring to those who complete routine tasks with little prior training or experience – reached such a level that the federal government introduced the Pilot Project for Hiring Foreign Workers in Occupations that Require Lower Levels of Formal Training. From 2007 to 2008, the Pilot Project was expanded to extend work permits from 12 months to 24 months, expedite the application process, and broaden the scope to include over 20 new industries, including construction, hospitality, food and beverage service, and residential cleaning. Intake through the TFWP has grown by almost 50 percent in recent years, leading to a seven times increase from a total of 111,000 temporary workers in 2000 to 777,000 in 2021. The TFWP is particularly important for the agriculture industry, with temporary foreign workers coming primarily from Mexico, Guatemala, and Jamaica comprising 15 percent of the Canadian agriculture workforce.
Despite an increase in temporary workers contributing to various Canadian industries, the TFWP has been the host of much criticism. In September, Tomoya Obokata, a UN special rapporteur, denounced the TFWP as a “breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery,” saying he was “disturbed by the fact that many migrant workers are exploited and abused in this country”. Canadian Auditor General Karen Hogan also criticized the program in 2021, arguing that the federal government did not provide adequate support to ensure worker protection.
The main issues lie in the fact that, firstly, TFWP provides workers with closed work permits, where their ability to remain in Canada under the program is directly tied to their employer. Secondly, is the lack of permanent resident status afforded to workers – or even a clear path through which to get there – which facilitates employers in depriving workers of the labour rights afforded to Canadian citizens. Although on paper, temporary foreign workers are technically entitled to equal breaks, overtime pay, and working conditions as Canadian citizens, workers have reported being forced to work excessive hours without any overtime pay, denied access to health care, and live in unsanitary and inadequate living conditions. Further, if an employee is fired, quits, is injured, or is unable to work for other reasons, they are at risk of deportation. In 2019, the federal government established the Open Work Permit for Vulnerable Workers program, which allows temporary foreign workers who are being abused to apply for an open work permit which will allow them to seek alternative opportunities. However long wait times, language barriers, and stringent proof requirements make the process of application to this program difficult and intimidating.
Many of these issues have risen as a result of the Canadian government’s increasing focus on short-term labour migration, which is both unfair to temporary foreign workers and an inadequate solution to Canada’s long-term employment needs. Canada’s treatment of highly skilled workers compared to those who enter the country under the TFWP is markedly different, and results in a discrepancy between policy and practice for temporary foreign workers. Canadian indifference towards temporary foreign workers and their rights is contrasted by their commitment to integrating highly skilled workers, allowing their spouses to acquire open work permits and providing avenues through which to acquire permanent residency.
There have been two major exposures of human and worker rights abuses under the TFWP, the first coming from Jamaican farm workers in the Niagara region of Ontario. On August 14, 2022, Garvin Yapp, a 57-year-old temporary foreign worker from St. James, Jamaica, was killed in an accident with a tobacco harvester at Berlo’s Best Farm in Norfolk County. Just days before this tragic event, other workers in the region had penned an open letter to the Jamaican Ministry of Labour requesting additional support in the face of what they called “systematic slavery”. The letter references housing conditions that are “so poor that rats eat their food”, crowded rooms in which they are surveilled with cameras, verbal and physical abuse if they are not productive enough, and deficient protective materials when handling dangerous pesticides. Workers reported feeling like they were in prison, and were “treated like mules”. Moreover, earlier this year, both the Canadian and Jamaican governments launched investigations into allegations that a farm in Ontario had expelled Jamaican migrant workers following a one-day strike they held to protest abhorrent living conditions, including living quarters that were filled with sewage from overflowing toilets.
Further issues in the lobster processing industry in New Brunswick recently, due to a lack of work caused by a low catch and weather-shortened season, shed light to the instability of work TFWP employees face. For local Canadian workers access to employment insurance, savings, and the ability to find other work mitigates some of the consequences stemming from a slow lobster season. However, for temporary foreign workers, they have no option other than to wait for more work or go home without pay. This summer, Lebreton Fisheries in New Brunswick hired 80 Mexican and Filipino workers, who signed contracts guaranteeing an average of 30 hours a week of work. By the end of August, TWFP workers hired by Lebreton Fisheries admitted to not being able to work since the 5th of July, and had lost the ability to pay their bills, feed themselves, and take care of their families. The current structure of the TFWP prevents workers from being able to find any other work in situations such as these, forcing them to choose between staying in Canada and suffering through a slow season with limited pay, or returning to their home countries early and potentially jeopardizing future employment.
Ultimately, the Canadian government must reexamine and restructure the TFWP to prevent the continued exploitation and abuse of foreign workers. A possible first step towards this is making union representation a mandatory condition of TFWP permits. According to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, “With a union, these workers could exercise their labour and human rights”, which would help provide workers with “better representation, better work permits, and a path to residency”. Moreover, the TFWP should be subject to the same labour laws as Canadian workers and permanent residents. The government should also aid in providing a clear and accessible path for temporary foreign workers to become permanent residents in Canada, or at least improve the current Open Work Permit for Vulnerable Workers program. Currently, there is “a revolving door system where people are coming into the country, and they’re becoming either undocumented or they’re being kicked out”. Without a solution, “you’re going to have a continuous pool of exploitable people who are being brought in, chewed like gum and spit out when the country’s done with them”.
Edited by Mayah Esmail
Liliana Mason is in her fourth and final year at McGill University, currently pursuing a B.A. in Political Science with a double minor in African Studies and Canadian Studies. She is particularly interested in African politics, the African diaspora, and the effects of climate change on human migration.