Temporary Foreign Workers Demand Permanent Resident Status to End Exploitation and Abuse
As Canada Slashes Over 775,000 Permits, Migrant Rights Network Calls for Rights & Protections for All Migrants
ON, BC, NB, PE, SK, – October 16, 2024 — In a powerful press conference today, migrant workers and supporters from across Canada exposed the widespread exploitation and abuse they continue to face. With the federal government set to announce new immigration levels on November 1, migrants are urgently calling for permanent resident status to be granted to all, as the only solution to ending the systemic abuse they endure.
While the federal government has drastically cut over 775,000 study and work permits, migrant workers continue to suffer. Prime Minister Trudeau has repeatedly promised rights, protections and permanent resident status for temporary foreign workers, but those reforms have been sidelined or overturned amidst a focus on the numbers of permits, as a response to migrants being scapegoated for the housing and affordability crisis.
Migrant Rights Network Call for Change
Byron Cruz, an organizer with Sanctuary Health in British Columbia, a member organization of the Migrant Rights Network, insisted, “Migrants are being scapegoated for the housing and affordability crisis despite living in some of the worst housing, being paid the lowest wages and denied most services. Migrants pay into the economy but get very little back – they are subsidizing the entire social safety net even as they are being exploited and abused. No conversation about changes to immigration policy or levels should take place without ensuring that migrants have equal rights and the power to exercise those rights, and that is only possible through permanent resident status for all.”
Migrant Workers Expose Systematic Violations
The press conference featured testimonies from migrant workers, each of whom received an Open Work Permit for Vulnerable Workers—a recognition by the federal government that they faced abuse in their workplaces.
- Stacy Plummer, a fishery worker from Jamaica, recounted her experiences of mistreatment at two different processing plants in New Brunswick starting in 2013, facing crowded housing conditions, verbal and financial abuse, and threats of deportation. “I faced constant pressure to work faster. The owner’s son threatened all of us that if we kept talking to each other, he would send everyone back home. We have to endure this abuse because the government is denying us the right to permanent residency, which is the golden key to accessing our rights in Canada. The open work permit is not the answer to the abuse we face—we need the Canadian government to value our lives, our families, and our work and grant us permanent resident status.”
- Aaron Martinez, a farm worker from Mexico, spoke about the unbearable living conditions he faced on two farms in Ontario. Workers had to walk over 50 meters outside in the dark to access the nearest bathroom, as well as drinking water, and housing was infested with bed bugs and rats. “I thought that with an open work permit for vulnerable workers I would have better housing and working conditions and have options to be able to decide about my life and not depend on employers. But I found myself tied to another employer again. I felt like a slave because for employers we are just machines that they can throw away. Our dignity is worth more than broken promises. We are fighting for equal rights, not cuts. Status for all.”
- Lucia, a migrant mushroom harvester from Mexico who obtained an open work permit for vulnerable workers after enduring abuse, exploitation, and sexual harassment at a farm in Ontario, stated, “I faced harassment at work, my health deteriorated and each time I was sick, I missed work and wasn’t paid. Returning to Mexico is no longer an option for me, as I have spent almost 4 years in Canada, building a life for myself and my daughters. We want permanent status for all, because we deserve the same rights as everyone else and the opportunity to build a secure future in Canada. Without this protection, we remain vulnerable to abuse and instability.”
- Ajay Chaudhary, a food service supervisor from India now in Saskatchewan described the harassment and abuse he faced as a chef in Ontario. “When I started working, I was paid $16 per hour and I was working 12 hours a day. But I was only paid for 8 hours. I started looking for another employer to hire me, but my employer gave bad reviews about me so that they wouldn’t hire me and she started harassing me verbally. I finally found another job in Saskatchewan, but my open work permit will expire early next year, so I will have to pay high fees again to apply for an LMIA-based work permit that will tie me to only one employer. I am not alone in my experience. There are many other migrants like me. As workers, we want our rights. And the only way to get it is with permanent residency. Justin Trudeau, give everybody permanent residency so the exploitation will stop.”
- Julian Diaz, a fishery worker in Prince Edward Island from Colombia who came to Canada through a recruitment agency, to work at a fishery plant but no job existed. He was forced to work for another employer not listed on his permit below minimum wage. He said, “I worked 14 hours a day, seven days a week, in inhumane conditions, for $8 an hour. We didn’t have a washroom, we didn’t have a place to sit and eat, I had to eat in a mountain of hay, with rats crawling at my feet. I had to put up with these conditions because I didn’t have a choice. As migrant workers, we shouldn’t have to go through all of this.”
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Visuals and Contact Information:
To receive a recording of the press conference or to schedule interviews with speakers and organizers, please contact:
- Phone: 416-453-3632
- Email: info@migrantrights.ca
The Migrant Rights Network is Canada’s largest migrant-led coalition, uniting over 40 organizations across eight provinces to advocate for immigration and worker justice.
