Hundreds of migrants converge on Ottawa to call for Full and Permanent Immigration Status

Ottawa – As Canada recovers from COVID-19, the migrants who grow food, care for loved ones and provided essential services to our communities during the pandemic are being left behind. On Sunday, they took their message to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demanding equal rights and protections that are only possible through permanent resident status for all. 

“We came here because of promises for peace and a better future, yet, what the majority of us experience is exploitation, mistreatment and racism,” said Abdoul, undocumented migrant from West Africa and member of Solidarity Across Borders who travelled to Ottawa from Montreal, and camped overnight outside the city. “We are coming to express our disappointment with Canada’s immigration policies. We are coming to call for fair treatment, but most of all we are coming to demand status for all.”

Without permanent immigration status, migrants are unable to access basic labour rights or essential services, including healthcare during COVID-19. Many are unable to speak up against abuse and exploitation because of fear of reprisals that can lead to deportation. Carrying photos of migrant farm workers that have died this year, large banners and balloons, the march of hundred of migrants, which included undocumented people, farm workers, care workers, students and refguees, snaked through Ottawa. 

Omar Walcott, a Jamaican migrant farm worker and member of migrant group Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, and father of two, traveled to Ottawa from Niagara. “We migrants feed this country and still we live and die in slavery conditions of crowded housing, mistreated by bosses, and separated from our families”, he said. “Even this year alone, 14 of our brothers on the farms have died. So we keep up the fight for equal rights and justice – not only for ourselves but for future generations. We migrants are not afraid, we know we have the power because we are united. Prime Minister Trudeau, we want status for all now!”

Prime Minister Trudeau has repeatedly promised to build a fair society post-pandemic that benefits all people in the country. But while some piece-meal and time-limited programs have been established, most migrants, 1.6 million people (1 in 23 residents), continue to be denied permanent resident status and therefore access to the same rights that protect others in Canada.

“Action on migrants’ demands for full and permanent immigration status is a litmus test of Prime Minister’s Trudeau’s sincerity,” added Sarom Rho, a migrant leader from Migrant Students United based in Toronto. “Canadians are preparing to go to elections but migrants cannot wait, even one day longer of inequality and exploitation is simply not acceptable. 

Jhoey Cruz, a Filipino migrant care worker and member of Caregivers Action Centre, was one of dozens of careworkers at the march from across Ontario. “Me and care workers like me are caught between our employers and the immigration system. We work hard everyday, and are desperately missing our families. But we refuse to be stuck anymore. Care workers and migrants are uniting to demand our rights – no more waiting for PR, no more family separation – we want status for all now!” 

In 2020, Canada saw a historic shortfall in permanent immigration due to COVID-19 related border closures. As a result, Prime Minister Trudeau’s government turned to short-term, piecemeal programs including the Temporary to Permanent Resident program, and the so-called Guardian Angels healthcare worker program to grant permanent residence to migrants in the country. Less than a 100,000 people will be able to access these “pathways”, which exclude primarily racialized and low-waged migrants. 

Migrant Rights Network – Canada’s only cross-country migrant led coalition – is calling for full and permanent immigration status for all migrants now and in the future. 

Hady, refugee, father from Mauritania and member of Solidarity Across Borders insists a comprehensive change is needed, “Equal opportunity is a right not a privilege. This is about living with dignity. It is what is owed to us. Status for all is justice for all.”

BACKGROUND

• There are over 1.6 million migrants (residents without permanent resident status) in Canada, equivalent to 1 in 23 residents. 
• As a result many are excluded from healthcare and social services and cannot unite with their families. Lack of permanent resident status makes it difficult, and often impossible, for migrants to speak up for their rights or access services, including those they may be eligible for, because of a well-founded fear of reprisals, termination, eviction and deportation.
• Permanent resident status for all is about equal rights, which is necessary in a fair society. 
• Migrant Rights Network is calling for full and permanent immiigration status for all migrants including:
  • Undocumented residents: Despite the border being closed, Canada deported more people in 2020 than any of the previous 5 years. Canada also doubled the rejections of Humanitarian and Compassionate applications in 2020, which is the only opportunity for most undocumented residents to access permanent resident status. See: https://migrantrights.ca/hc202rejections/
  • Migrant food and farm workers: At least 14 farm workers have died in 2021. COVID-19 outbreaks on farms have revealed the intense labour exploitation, inhumane housing conditions and health and safety risks that farm workers face. See more: https://twitter.com/MWACCanada/status/1399130840928505861 
  • Migrant care workers: 1 in 3 migrant care workers lost their jobs during COVID-19, and many were not able to access income support. Immigration pathways for migrant childcare workers have been closed arbitrarily for the rest of the year, while over 12,000 care workers with pending applications are stuck in the backlog, in some cases for over 5 years. See: https://migrantrights.ca/bcdrelease/. 
  • Refugees: Canada closed its borders to refugees in 2020, and significantly reduced processing of asylum applications in the country. See more: https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2021/06/20/2249890/0/en/Migrants-call-on-PM-Trudeau-to-Unite-Families-Welcome-Migrants-Refugees-on-World-Refugee-Day-Fathers-Day.html 
  • Migrant students and workers: Migrant students have seen their tuition fees increase dramatically which, accompanied by high unemployment, has caused immense stress and at least six suicides this year, and is resulting in students losing their status in the country.  
• The July 25th action follows a week of protests in Montreal led by Solidarity Across Borders. 
• Every migrant-led organization in Canada, as well as over 400 civil society organizations, are jointly calling for full and permanent immigration status for all migrants in the country, as well as permanent resident status for all on arrival. 

MEDIA CONTACT
Syed Hussan
Migrant Rights Network Secretariat, Toronto
416-453-3632 | hussan@migrantworkersalliance.org 

Full and permanent immigration status for all migrants will ensure equal rights and protections.

Ottawa – As a federal election looms, hundreds of migrants are converging in Ottawa to demand equal rights and fair treatment from the Trudeau government. While Canada recovers from COVID-19, the migrants who grow food, care for loved ones and provided essential services to our communities during the pandemic are being left behind. Without permanent resident status, 1.6 million people (1 in 23 residents) are denied access to the same rights that protect others in Canada. Migrants are marching to the Prime Minister’s Office to challenge Trudeau to end unfair treatment and exploitation. At the start of his time in office, Trudeau promised to welcome migrants and refugees. As Canadians prepare to go to the polls, the demand for status for all from migrants is a litmus test of Trudeau’s sincerity in building a fair post-pandemic society that benefits all people in the country. 

Starting at 2pm on Sunday, July 25, 2021, hundreds of migrants from Montreal, Toronto and beyond will be marching through downtown Ottawa. They will be carrying photographs of 14 farmworkers who have died in Canada this year, and a massive Humanitarian and Compassionate application. Migrants – including undocumented people, farm workers, refugees, international students, and care workers – will call on Prime Minister Trudeau to create a comprehensive regularization program for non-status residents, and re-open and expand the Essential Workers stream of the Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident program to include everyone by removing unfair language, immigration status, and work exclusions. 

• WHEN: 2pm, Sunday, July 25, 2021
• WHERE: Rally will begin at Major’s Hill Park in Ottawa, and migrants will march to the Prime Minister’s Office and Parliament. 
• WHO: Migrant spokespeople including undocumented people, farm workers, care workers, students, and refugees will be available to speak to media. 
• VISUALS: Photos of farm workers that have died this year, a massive “Humanitarian and Compassionate” application, colorful flags and balloons in front of PMO and Parliament Hill. 

BACKGROUND

• There are over 1.6 million migrants (residents without permanent resident status) in Canada, equivalent to 1 in 23 residents. 
• As a result many are excluded from healthcare and social services and cannot unite with their families. Lack of permanent resident status makes it difficult, and often impossible, for migrants to speak up for their rights or access services, including those they may be eligible for, because of a well-founded fear of reprisals, termination, eviction and deportation.
• Permanent resident status for all is about equal rights, which is necessary in a fair society. 
• In 2020, Canada saw a historic shortfall in permanent immigration due to COVID-19 related border closures. As a result, Prime Minister Trudeau’s government has turned to short-term, piecemeal programs including the Temporary to Permanent Resident program, and the so-called Guardian Angels healthcare worker program. Less than a 100,000 people will be able to access these “pathways”, which exclude primarily racialized and low-waged migrants. The Essential Workers stream of the TR to PR program closed last week. See more: https://migrantrights.ca/prclosed/. 
• Migrant Rights Network is calling for full and permanent immiigration status for all migrants including:
  • Undocumented residents: Despite the border being closed, Canada deported more people in 2020 than any of the previous 5 years. Canada also doubled the rejections of Humanitarian and Compassionate applications in 2020, which is the only opportunity for most undocumented residents to access permanent resident status. See: https://migrantrights.ca/hc202rejections/
  • Migrant food and farm workers: At least 14 farm workers have died in 2021. COVID-19 outbreaks on farms have revealed the intense labour exploitation, inhumane housing conditions and health and safety risks that farm workers face. See more: https://twitter.com/MWACCanada/status/1399130840928505861 
  • Migrant care workers: 1 in 3 migrant care workers lost their jobs during COVID-19, and many were not able to access income support. Immigration pathways for migrant childcare workers have been closed arbitrarily for the rest of the year, while over 12,000 care workers with pending applications are stuck in the backlog, in some cases for over 5 years. See: https://migrantrights.ca/bcdrelease/. 
  • Refugees: Canada closed its borders to refugees in 2020, and significantly reduced processing of asylum applications in the country. See more: https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2021/06/20/2249890/0/en/Migrants-call-on-PM-Trudeau-to-Unite-Families-Welcome-Migrants-Refugees-on-World-Refugee-Day-Fathers-Day.html 
  • Migrant students and workers: Migrant students have seen their tuition fees increase dramatically which, accompanied by high unemployment, has caused immense stress and at least six suicides this year, and is resulting in students losing their status in the country.  
• The July 25th action follows a week of protests in Montreal led by Solidarity Across Borders. 
• Every migrant-led organization in Canada, as well as over 400 civil society organizations, are jointly calling for full and permanent immigration status for all migrants in the country, as well as permanent resident status for all on arrival. 

MEDIA CONTACT
Karen Cocq
Migrant Rights Network Secretariat, Ottawa
647-970-8464 | karen@migrantworkersalliance.org 

Migrant Rights Network calls for full and permanent immigration status for all

Canada, July 16, 2021 — Just ten weeks after opening, the Essential Worker stream of the new Temporary Residence to Permanent Residence Immigration program under which select workers could apply for permanent residence, closed late last night, leaving hundreds of thousands of migrants without permanent resident status and equal rights. 

Thousands have spent the last two months trying to get their applications together, spending thousands of dollars on documents, immigration consultants or lawyers, English language tests, and medical exams, including for families overseas, only to lose everything. 

The new permanent residency program was set to close after 6 months or when the caps in each stream were reached. That it closed after just two months demonstrates how these first-come, first-serve programs are unfair. Racialized migrants in the most precarious conditions, and facing the most restrictions and exploitation are the ones who were not able to meet the arbitrary deadline. 

Hundreds of thousands more could simply not apply for PR through this program because of exclusionary requirements that migrants have been denouncing since the program’s announcement (including in our report released on May 4, 2021 on survey results of those trying to apply for the program: https://migrantrights.ca/disappointmentchaosreportpr/). 

We call on Justin Trudeau’s government to re-open this program and remove all caps and requirements, and ensure Permanent Residency immediately for all migrants, including students, refugees, workers and undocumented people now. 

We call on migrants to continue to organize and raise your voices – let us turn disappointment and anger into a unified call for equality and justice. Migrant Rights Network will be in Ottawa on July 25th at PM Trudeau’s office to demand he do the right thing. 

Media Contacts: 

• Cross-Canada – Syed Hussan, Migrant Rights Network – Secretariat, 416-453-3632, hussan@migrantworkersalliance.org
• Elise Hjalmarson, RAMA Okanagan, 250-681-1456, ramaokanagan@gmail.com
• Marcus Padilha, FCJ Refugee Centre, (416) 469-9754, marcus.padilha@fcjrefugeecentre.org
• Jael Duarte, No One Is Illegal-Frederiction, jduarte@la-henry.ca
• Julie Diesta, Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights (CDWCR), (778) 881-8345, cdwcr.org@gmail.com
• Stacey Gomez, No one is illegal – Halifax/Kjipuktuk, outreach@migrantjusticens.ca 
• Marco Luciano, Migrante Alberta, 780-966-5908

Increased rejections point to secretive policy change at a time when immigration is at an all time low

Canada, July 13, 2021 – The Migrant Rights Network is sounding the alarm, releasing data today that shows that Humanitarian and Compassionate application rejections in Canada doubled from 35% in 2019 to nearly 70% in the first quarter of 2021. Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) applications are the only opportunity for permanent residence – and therefore equal rights and safety – for undocumented migrants inside Canada. The rejections increased without any announced change in policy, at the same time as immigration levels in Canada saw a historic downturn in 2020. 

Speaking at a press conference this morning, Queen Gabriel, an elder care worker from the Caribbean living in Toronto whose H&C application was rejected in October 2020, called for urgent changes. “The immigration process is slowly choking the life out of us,” she said. “Many of us have died not being able to access simple health care during COVID-19 or even sick days for fear of unreasonable reprimand. Permanent residence should not be such a trying, nerve wrecking, daunting, undertaking for anyone. Landed status for all is necessary.” 

Canada accepted 5,075 Humanitarian and Compassionate applications in 2019. In 2020, despite an increase in applications, only 3,735 applications were accepted. Immigration levels in Canada fell by almost half in 2020, due to COVID-19 related border closures. As a result, federal immigration policy has shifted the focus to accepting migrants already in the country. 

“Right now, Canada needs immigrants and with COVID-19, the simplest first thing to do is regularize and give permanent residency to all migrants already in the country, including undocumented people. Instead, we see immigration officials arbitrarily  doing the opposite,” added Syed Hussan, from the Migrant Rights Network Secretariat. “Permanent residence status is the only mechanism to ensure migrants have equal rights. By doubling rejections, Prime Minister Trudeau is doubling the potential for exploitation.”

Devine Cruz, came to Canada as a caregiver from Hong Kong with her employer, who brought her in as a tourist, saying that they would only be in Canada for a week. She was forced to stay until she became undocumented. Her application was rejected this year. Speaking today from Vancouver, Cruz said, “I felt I was being penalized for being poor because my rich employers who brought me here illegally can get in and out of Canada, while I had to hide from my community.”

Mamadou Batchily, 44 years old, father of two, had a work injury in 2018. He made a Humanitarian and Compassionate application but was denied in January 2021. He said, “I have been weakened by this painful process. I see now that Canada places no value on human life. My case shows the injustices faced by all migrants in Canada, and especially those who are injured while working in this country.”

Since the start of COVID-19, Canada has created two new programs to give access to permanent residency to migrants already in the country. But both the Health Care Workers permanent residence pathway and the Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway, largely exclude undocumented residents. 

“The Humanitarian and Compassionate claim is an application of a last resort, for women fleeing gender violence, homeless people, and other undocumented families. It is a long process that takes three to five years, costs thousands of dollars, and comes down to a single decision maker, with no guaranteed avenue to legal appeal,” added immigration consultant Macdonald Scott from Carranza LLP. “No one knows how or why the decision was made to suddenly increase refusals, and that makes it hard to challenge. This has made an already arbitrary policy much worse, and with a very serious human cost.”  

Migrants from Montreal, Toronto and other cities will be marching to the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa on July 25, 2021: www.MigrantRights.ca/MarchtoOttawa to call for full and permanent immigration status for all residents in the country, and for all those arriving in the future. 

BACKGROUND

Humanitarian and Compassionate statistics from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (see complete numbers)

* Acceptance rates = (Acceptance / (Accepted + Rejected)) and Rejection rates = (Rejected / (Accepted + Rejected)) as the Applied figure includes those that are withdrawn or incomplete.

• There are over half a million undocumented residents in Canada. These are primarily migrants who arrived on temporary permits (refugee, work or study permits) whose permits were not renewed because of exclusionary immigration laws. 
• Most undocumented migrants have no path to stability except through the Humanitarian and Compassionate application process. 
• Most undocumented migrants work, and are essential members of our communities. 
• Canada saw a historic shortfall in immigration in 2020 due to COVID-19, with only 184,000 people granted permanent residency. As a result, Canada has set a target for 401,000 migrants for 2021. The federal government has already prioritized permanent resident status for residents in the country.
• Acceptance rates for Humanitarian and Compassionate applications were around 64% before 2020. That rate has drastically declined but without any public policy changes announced. 
• Over 400 organizations have joined in to call on Prime Minister Trudeau to ensure full and permanent immigration status or all: www.StatusforAll.ca 

For more information, or to receive a recording of the press conference, please contact:
Syed Hussan, Migrant Rights Network Secretariat
416-453-3632
hussan@migrantworkersalliance.org 

CANADA, June 16, 2021 — Migrants, including refugees, care workers, farm workers, undocumented people and international students, are organizing rallies and celebrations in Vancouver, Toronto, Sudbury, Winnipeg and online on June 20th – World Refugee Day & Fathers’ Day – to call for full immigration status for all and family unity. COVID-19 has caused a human rights catastrophe for migrants, which has been exacerbated by government inaction. At least 13 farmworkers have died already in 2021, migrant care workers continue to face abuse, job loss and family separation, and undocumented people remain excluded from all rights and essential supports, including vaccines in many places. Over 1.6 million people in Canada are without permanent resident status and therefore don’t have equal rights nor the power to exercise those rights they do have. Many are separated from their families. Canada accepted approximately 25,000 refugees in 2020, a 50% reduction from the previous year. Existing ‘pathways’ and temporary programs continue to deny permanent status to the majority of migrants in Canada.

Details of actions

TORONTO: June 20, 2021, 1pm EST, 74 Victoria Street (Immigration and Refugee Board). Organized by Migrant Rights Network – Ontario.  Media contact: Rajean Hoilett, rajean@workersactioncentre.org, 289-923-3534

VANCOUVER: June 20, 2021, 10am PST, CBC Plaza (across from Immigration Enforcement offices). Organized by BC Migrants. Media contact: Julie Diesta, Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights (CDWCR), 778-881-8345, cdwcr.org@gmail.com; Byron Cruz, Sanctuary Health Collective Vancouver, (604)3157725, sanctuaryhealthvancouver@gmail.com

SUDBURY: June 20, 2021, 1pm EST, MP Marc Serrée Constituency office. 2914 Hwy 69 N, Unit 1, Val Caron. Organized by Sudbury Workers Education and Advocacy Centre (SWEAC). Media contact: deMarie Bah Jean, education@sudburyworkerscentre.ca, 647-718-3464. 

WINNIPEG: June 20, 2021, 4pm, Drive-by rally starting at the Legislative Grounds, 450 Broadway. 

BACKGROUND

• At least 1 in 23 people in Canada are migrants with temporary status and without full rights. 
• Migrants include people on various study, work or humanitarian permits, or without documentation at all. 
• Many migrants are excluded from healthcare, income support, and basic workplace protections. Many are separated from their families. 
• COVID-19 has shown that migrants cannot fully protect themselves because they cannot afford to lose their jobs and because speaking out about unsafe work, exploitation and poor housing conditions can result in deportation. 
• Canada has shut its doors to refugees during COVID-19. Only 18,500 people were able to apply in 2020 because of border closures, less than a third of the previous year’s total of 58,378 applications. The situation is worse in 2021, with only 2,245 people able to apply in the first three months of this year. 
• Despite promises to release immigration detainees, Canada jailed about half of all immigration detainees in provincial jails, up from about a fifth of detainees prior to the pandemic.
• Over 400 organizations, and tens of thousands of people have joined Migrant Rights Network’s call for full and permanent immigration status for all migrants: https://migrantrights.ca/status-for-all/. 

Migrants, including undocumented people, call for transformation of immigration system to ensure rights, dignity and permanent resident status for all

Download Exclusion, Disappointment, Chaos & Exploitations: Canada’s New Short-Term Immigration Pathway: HERE

Canada – Survey results released today reveal that 45.4% of migrant workers and 34.5% of international graduates are excluded from the new short-term immigration program scheduled to be launched this Thursday. Out of 3,000 survey responses, an additional 48.27% of international graduates and 45.4% of migrant workers do not have the language test results required to apply for this first-come, first-served program. In total, 1.18 million undocumented residents, refugees, students and migrants in Quebec are not allowed to apply. The Migrant Rights Network, Canada’s largest migrant-led coalition, is releasing an analysis of the survey results today, entitled “Exclusion, Disappointment, Chaos & Exploitation: Canada’s New Short-Term Immigration Pathway”, and calling for full and permanent immigration status for all. 

“Prime Minister Trudeau has the opportunity of a lifetime to change the course of Canada’s economy while ensuring equal rights for all,” says Syed Hussan of the Migrant Rights Network secretariat. “We don’t need small, one-off, exclusionary pilot programs, we need an overhaul of the immigration system so that every resident in the country has the same immigration status and therefore the same access to labour rights, healthcare, and other essential services. These rights are a matter of life and death.” The Migrant Rights Network is aware of at least half a dozen migrant farmworkers that have died this year, as well half a dozen International Students that have died by suicide due to financial and immigration pressures. This new program excludes migrants like these.

The temporary public policy was announced on April 14th and excludes most migrants, many of whom are in essential jobs or caring for their communities, and are denied universal healthcare, labour rights and emergency support because they do not have permanent residency. 

“During this pandemic, millions of people without status have risked their lives to serve you and keep the Canadian economy rolling. Why does the government not put in place a regularization program for everyone?,” says Samira, living without status with her mother in Montreal for eight years. “It’s revolting how all these new laws ignore us, like we didn’t exist. We are here and we will continue to struggle.”

Applications through the program are capped at 90,000 spots but there are more than 461,470 migrants who may be eligible to apply. To apply, they must be employed, be currently in Canada, have a valid English test result, and have all their documents at the time of application. This costs thousands of dollars. 

English or French language requirements exclude many, including the majority of Spanish speaking migrant farm workers who have been so hard-hit by COVID-19. Gary, a chicken catcher in Ontario who has been working in Canada for 8 years, says, “Many of us have taught ourselves English to get by while working in Canada but cannot write or read it. I am excluded from the government’s PR program because I cannot pass the English test. That is not fair – we have built lives here, and we have missed out on our lives with our families. We cannot stand up for our rights because the employers always threaten us saying they won’t renew our contracts or will deport us. This is why we need permanent residency with no requirements like English exams, to be able to protect ourselves and defend our rights. We demand status for all.”

Within hours of the program’s announcement on April 14th, the websites of the English testing centres crashed. Few spots are available now, and some migrants, particularly farmworkers and domestic workers, are unable to leave farms or employer-provided housing, to go to take a test. Others are not allowed time off to study, or to take the test. Others are not allowed time off to study or to take the test. Testing centres are only available in major cities, and travel from rural communities during COVID-19 is either dangerous or simply impossible because of lockdown measures. 

25.4% of the survey respondents in the Essential Workers stream did not meet either the 12 months of work required in the previous 36 months or did have an approved NOC Code despite working in essential jobs. This is because workers earned this work experience while between work permits and cannot count it. In addition, 13.7% of survey respondents in this stream report not having a valid work authorization – this is largely temporary foreign workers who lost jobs during COVID-19 and are not legally allowed to work elsewhere because of their employer-restricted work permits. 

“I struggled to find a new employer to sponsor me so I could get the last 3 months of work I needed to meet the 24 month work requirement under the Home Child Care Provider Pilot and be able to apply for PR. Just last week, the cap in that program was reached. Another door has been closed for me and care workers like me. And I can’t qualify for this new program without a job,” says Cherrian Snagg, a migrant care worker, was fired when she got sick during COVID, and lost her housing, healthcare, income, and legal right to work because she is on an employer-restricted permit. “Without permanent residency status, you are pushed around – by employers and by the government. This is discrimination and exploitation. I join with my fellow migrants to demand status for all now.”

13.6% of survey respondents in the International Graduate stream and 6.3% of survey respondents in the Essential Workers stream do not currently have a job, which is a requirement for the program. This has made workers scramble to take any job, at any wage to qualify for this program. Those on employer-restricted permits who were laid off or left bad employers are being forced to return to them so they can qualify. Migrants on any kind of leave from their current job, paid or unpaid, must return to work to qualify, including anyone on caregiver leave or taking unpaid sick time to quarantine for COVID-19. 

The report also details migrants facing chaos and exploitation as a result of high fees, being stuck abroad and not being able to travel, and difficulty in getting documents in time. 

In the report, the Migrant Rights Network is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to “ensure permanent resident status for all migrant and undocumented people in the country, and ensure that all working class migrants that arrive in the future do so with permanent resident status. The current program must be expanded to include everyone without permanent status; all caps and the 6-month window must be removed; residents of Quebec must be allowed to apply; and requirements for an English language test, educational credentials, current employment, and valid immigration status must be removed. Any other inadmissibility requirements must also be removed, and the application fees waived for low-wage workers.” Over 450 organizations and tens of thousands of people have signed a petition calling for the same: www.StatusforAll.ca 

Migrant Rights Network members will be organizing actions on May 9th – Mothers Day – to continue the call for Status for All in Montreal (2pm, Riding Office of Justin Trudeau 1100 Crémazie East), Vancouver (11am, MP Harjit Sajjan’s constituency office, 6406 Victoria Drive). More cities will be announced. 

###

Media Contact:
Syed Hussan
416-453-3632
hussan@migrantworkersalliance.org 

CANADA, April 14, 2021 — Migrant Rights Network is calling on the federal government to ensure that all migrant and undocumented people in Canada are granted permanent resident status without exception, and that all working class migrants are able to arrive in the future with permanent resident status. Today’s announcement opens up a short-term window for thousands of migrants who are able to meet restrictive criteria, but keeps the fundamentals of the temporary immigration system intact where hundreds of thousands are exploited.

“Migrants bravely spoke up about injustice and forced the federal government to acknowledge that permanent resident status is necessary to be able to access or assert basic rights,” says Syed Hussan, executive director of Migrant Workers Alliance for Change based in Ontario. “Today’s announcement is a start, but without fundamental change through granting full and permanent immigration status for all, it will simply not be enough.”

Over 650,000 temporary work and study permits were issued in 2020, and there are over 1.6 million migrant and undocumented people in Canada. Temporary status means not having equal access to rights and services. Some temporary work programs tie workers to employers, creating a massive power imbalance that makes it impossible for workers to assert basic workplace rights – the abuse faced by farm workers and care workers in COVID-19 provides well documented proof. Study and work permit holders are often unable to access basic healthcare or income supports in times of emergency, and face labour exploitation because of limits on where and how much they can work.

“Undocumented people like me work on the frontlines in long-term care homes, caring for the sick and the elderly, and in many other essential jobs, why are we being excluded?” asked Lily, a member of Caregivers Action Centre. “Without permanent resident status, we are shut out of healthcare, even the COVID19 vaccine, we can’t defend ourselves against bad bosses, and we live in constant fear of detention and deportation”.

Marisol B. from Migrante Canada agreed. “For us undocumented migrant workers, we know that our work is truly essential. So it is disappointing to see that in this announcement we are excluded. When the government does not address the temporary migrant workers program’s fundamental issue, these changes, although welcomed, indeed fall short of the aspirations of ALL migrant workers and advocates. It simply reinforces the existing neoliberal agenda within the Canadian immigration system.”

The only path for permanent resident status for undocumented people is the Humanitarian and Compassionate application, but in 2020, the acceptance rate for these applications dropped to 37% from 65% in 2019. Canada also deported more people in 2020 than in any year since 2015 despite the federal government assurances that it was unsafe and inhumane to deport people during a global pandemic.

“For the first time, some seasonal agricultural workers may have a path to permanent resident status, but the requirement for passing a high level English test excludes the majority of us. This is discrimination. They call us essential, but they continue to exclude us. We demand status for all,” said Gabriel Flores, a member of Migrant Workers Alliance for Change and a Mexican seasonal agricultural worker who was unjustly fired in 2020 for speaking out about the conditions that caused a massive COVID-19 outbreak that took the life of his co-worker Juan Lopez Chaparro.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

• National: Karen Cocq, Migrant Rights Network, 647-970-8464
• Alberta: Marco Luciano, 780-966-5908
• Atlantic: Stacey Gomez, 902-9994458 & Fallon Mawhinney, 9029165510
• British Columbia: Byron Cruz, 604-315-7725
• Quebec: Hady, 514-358-8836

Minister Mendicino will make an announcement regarding new “pathways for immigration” on April 14, 2021 at 1:30pm EST. Migrant Rights Network will be available for comment immediately after. 

Canada, April 13, 2021 — The Migrant Rights Network – Canada’s largest migrant led coalition with membership in 9 provinces – calls on Immigration Minister Mendicino to announce immediate permanent resident status for all 1.6 million people in the country currently without it. The Migrant Rights Network also calls on the federal government to ensure that all low-waged migrants that arrive in the future do so with permanent resident status. 

“Any multi-tier system of immigration where some have permanent residency – and therefore rights to decent work, healthcare, family unification and freedom from reprisals – while others are temporary or without status engenders exploitation. The public has seen this exposed in extreme and deadly ways during COVID-19,” says Syed Hussan from the Migrant Rights Network Secretariat. “All of us are essential, nothing short of full and permanent immigration status for all is an acceptable response to the current crisis.” 

BACKGROUND

(1) Status for All is not the same as a ‘Pathway to Immigration’. ‘Pathways’ are multi-step processes in which migrants must remain temporary for years. Temporary status means not having equal access to rights and services. Some temporary work programs tie workers to employers, creating a massive power imbalance that makes it impossible for workers to assert basic workplace rights – the abuse faced by farm workers and care workers in COVID-19 has been well documented. Study and work permit holders are often unable to access basic healthcare, income supports in times of emergency and also face labour exploitation because of limits on where and how much they can work. We do not need more temporariness. We need permanent resident status for all. 

(2) ‘Pathways’ already exist for some temporary residents (care workers, students, refugees, farmworkers, etc.), and they have proven to be nothing but minefields of abuse. ‘Pathway’ programs include educational, language and length of work requirements that are impossible to meet. These requirements breed abuse by forcing workers to accept bad working conditions in the hopes of possibly qualifying for permanent resident status one day. The recently announced ‘Guardian Angels’ program for example, excluded most occupations in healthcare, and were restricted to refugee claimants who had received a work permit. 

(3) Migrants who cannot meet the restrictive requirements of pathway programs often lose their status and are often forced to stay in Canada, excluded from almost all rights and protections. 

(4) Over 450 labour, civil society and environmental organizations and tens of thousands of people have signed a petition calling for full and permanent immigration status for all: www.StatusforAll.ca. 

(5) Migrant Rights Network demands the government meet with migrant organizations to create a Status for All program that includes at least the following:

• A moratorium on all detentions and deportations is put in place immediately to ensure undocumented people applying for status are protected. During this time, all undocumented and migrant residents in Canada should get immediate and open work authorization and full access to all basic entitlements; 
• A regularization process must be created where all migrants in the country get permanent residence status or citizenship, without any exclusions by work history, previous immigration status, health status, previous access to social assistance, criminality, and without any other language or education requirements.
• All low-waged workers arriving in Canada in the future should arrive with Permanent Resident status if they so choose.  

Media Contact:
National – Karen Cocq, Migrant Rights Network, 647-970-8464
Alberta – Vanessa Ortiz, 403-612-7396
Atlantic – Stacey Gomez, 902-9994458
British Columbia – Byron Cruz, 604-315-7725

Campaign by Solidarity Across Borders.

Immigration detention is imprisonment without trial because the federal government insists that these migrants will otherwise not show up for their deportation. Dozens are being imprisoned in Quebec even though the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has paused its deportations in Quebec because of the risks of expelling people during a global pandemic.

Please fill out your information above to send a letter and share on social media.

Share this call to action widely! Use the hashtag set #FreeThemAll #StatusForAll along with #HungerStrikeLaval to show your support for the struggle on social media! We encourage you to tag Bill Blair, Marco Mendicino, Justin Trudeau, and other government officials.

Canada, February 24, 2021 — The Migrant Rights Network along with leading doctors, health policy experts, and labour leaders, is calling for immediate action to ensure that all migrant and undocumented residents of Canada are able to be vaccinated. A letter signed by 270 organizations outlines specific measures that must be implemented in order to make government assurances about universal vaccine access a reality. For the COVID vaccine to be accessible to migrants in a safe and non-coercive manner, the following must be implemented:  

1. Vaccination must be provided free of charge;
2. Vaccination must not require a health card or health coverage;
3. Names, addresses or other identifying information should not be required for vaccination because migrant and undocumented people are fearful of sharing this information; 
4. No ID information should be shared with federal immigration enforcement;
5. Vaccine must be accessible (in rural communities, to those who don’t speak English or French, don’t have access to a computer, telephone, etc);
6. COVID-19 vaccination should not be coercive or mandatory. To protect against this, anti-reprisal protections and permanent resident status must be ensured for migrants that speak up about workplace issues; 
7. Vaccine providers must be trained so that they don’t turn away people who don’t have health coverage or are fearful of sharing their ID;
8. Anti-racist public education is necessary to address vaccine hesitancy. Migrants have well-founded reasons to distrust medical systems because of histories of violence and coercion;
9. Universal healthcare for all; and 
10. Full and permanent immigration status for all. 

QUOTES

“I am on the frontlines everyday just like everyone else who lives and works in the home but while they are now better protected from the virus, I am not. Undocumented workers are already denied access to healthcare, housing, social services and legal rights. Now we are being denied the COVID vaccine. But undocumented workers make up part of Canadian society and this needs to be acknowledged by the government. The vaccine should be a basic human right for all who live here. All migrants deserve permanent status so that we can have equal rights and protections and be reunited with our families.” – Lily, an undocumented worker at a Long-Term Care facility in Toronto, who was denied the COVID vaccine, member of Caregivers Action Centre

“Migrant and undocumented people are at the forefront of the COVID crisis and deserve safe and dignified access to the COVID vaccine. Hundreds have told us they are afraid that if they get the vaccine their information will be handed over to immigration enforcement, or that employers will use the vaccine to coerce them. We call on the federal government to give full and permanent immigrations status to all migrant and undocumented people immediately, so that migrants can access the protection they need. We also call on the provinces to ensure universal health care for all not just in policy, but in practice.” – Byron Cruz, Sanctuary Health & Migrant Rights Network 

“Early in the pandemic, many provinces made available medical care that was previously unfunded for those without, or with the wrong residency, immigration or citizenship status. However, many of these announcements were made without proper implementation plans. As a result, previously excluded groups continued to be refused care at the point of access. As we approach the end of this pandemic, we cannot make the same mistake with vaccines.”- Dr Danyaal Raza, Board Chair, Canadian Doctors for Medicare

“Everyone living in Canada is covered by the 5 principles of the Canada Health Act. This means everyone has universality and accessibility to health care when needed. This right must include migrants’ access to the COVID vaccine and requires measures to ensure this right is guaranteed in practice, not just in policy.” – Pauline Worsfold, RN, Chair, Canadian Health Coalition & Secretary-Treasurer, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions 

“My mother is very ill and I am her primary caregiver, so I have to limit my outings to avoid putting her at risk since we do not have any health care. The curfew in Quebec means I am afraid to go out in case I get stopped by the police and asked for ID. My mother is in the most at-risk category for COVID but we don’t even know if she will get the vaccine because we have no status. This is why we are asking for a status for all. No one should be left behind.” – Samira, undocumented migrant and member of Solidarity Across Borders, Montreal. 

Background

• 1 in 23 people in Canada – over 1.6 million – don’t have permanent resident status. Many are in essential jobs including healthcare, cleaning, construction, delivery and agriculture. 
• Many migrants in Canada don’t have a health card either because they are undocumented or because their work or study permits, to which health coverage is tied, have expired due to government processing delays. Those without health cards are being denied vaccination. 
• Undocumented people are afraid that their personal information will be shared with federal immigration enforcement if they go to get vaccinated. 
• Some employers have threatened migrants with job loss and deportation if they aren’t vaccinated. This is so employers don’t lose profits as a result of outbreaks or workers falling ill. 
• Racialized and migrant communities have faced generations of exploitation and abuse at the hands of medical systems and scientific research. No specific training for service providers or public education and outreach to racialized migrants has been developed to ensure safe and dignified access to vaccination. 
• The only way to ensure equal rights is to ensure everyone has the same immigration status. Migrants continue to raise the call for full and permanent immigration status for all: https://migrantrights.ca/status-for-all/ 

Media Contact: Karen Cocq, 647-970-8464, karen@migrantworkersalliance.org.
Please email us for recording of press conference that took place at 11am EST, February 24, 2021.

October 30, 2020 – Migrants, refugees, undocumented people, workers and students are taking action on Day of the Dead – November 1st and 2nd to honour the lives of migrants that have died during COVID-19, and to call for full and permanent immigration status for all as the second wave of COVID-19 ramps up. Actions including die-ins, altars for the dead, and rallies will take place in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Niagara, Sherbrooke, Sudbury & Halifax and come just days after a stunning report that exposed migrant care worker exploitation during COVID-19. Day of the Dead is a very important celebration to honor and celebrate the departed in Mexico and Guatemala, dating back to Indigenous traditions centuries old.

Cross-Canada Media Contact: info@migrantrights.ca

NOVEMBER 1 Details & Contact Information

• MONTRÉAL, 5pm, Radio-Canada, 1400, Boul. René-Lévesque est. Contact: Solidarity Across Borders, 514-222-0205. 
• NIAGARA, 7:30pm, Facebook Live. Contact: Kit Andres, 905-324-2840
• SHERBROOKE, 2pm, 175 Rue Queen. Contact: Nastaran Daniali: (819) 416-2864.
• SUDBURY, 2pm, Bell Park – Miner’s Monument. Contact: Scott Florence, 705-470-3323
• TORONTO, 5pm, Dufferin Grove Park. Contact: Syed Hussan, 416-453-3632
• VANCOUVER, 1pm, Grandview Park. Contact: Byron Cruz, 604-315-7725; Julie Diesta – 604 874 0649

NOVEMBER 2 Details & Contact Information

• HALIFAX, 6:30pm, 2221 Maitland St. Contact: No one is illegal – Halifax/K’jipuktuk – noii.hfx@gmail.com 

Background

• At least 1 in 23 people in Canada (over 1.6 million) are non permanent residents. 
• Thousands of migrants have gotten COVID-19, many have died because they are excluded from universal healthcare, access to emergency income supports, and decent work. Many are separated from their families. 
• Migrants are unable to fully protect themselves during COVID-19 because of lack of emergency support, and because speaking out about unsafe work and housing conditions can result in deportation, homelessness, or not being able to return.  
• Over 350 organizations have released a letter calling for full and permanent immigration status for all: https://migrantrights.ca/status-for-all/

Toronto, October 28, 2020 — Migrant care worker organizations are releasing a report today documenting the experiences of hundreds of racialized migrant domestic workers during COVID-19. The report, “Behind Closed Doors: Exposing Migrant Care Worker Exploitation During COVID-19”, features shocking stories of abuse including working every day without a break, thousands of dollars in stolen wages, workers being trapped in employers’ homes for months, and being laid off and evicted. The report documents how these crises threaten workers’ ability to unite with their families and access permanent residency, and calls for full and permanent immigration status for all migrants as the only solution. 

“I came to Canada for my future and my family’s future, but my employer took advantage of me and underpaid me because of my tied work permit” said Karen Savitra, a migrant care worker from the Philippines who has been in Canada since 2016 and is a member of the Caregivers’ Action Centre. She worked 12 hours a day, 5 days a week during COVID-19, but was only paid $1,440 per month until she was fired because her employer moved out of town to escape the pandemic. “We should be given permanent residency upon arrival, along with our families, so that there is no complication for anything. They allowed us to come to Canada, we worked here, now we want fairness.”

The report is based on over 200 surveys that were filled out by migrant care workers from across the country. Nearly 1 in 2 respondents that kept working during COVID-19 reported longer hours of work. Over 40% of respondents also reported not being paid for any extra hours of work, averaging approximately $226 in unpaid wages per week, or $6,552 in unpaid wages per worker over the last six months.

“I am worried about being without status. It’s very hard. It’s very scary,” said Harpeet Kaur, a migrant care worker from India and member of the Caregivers’ Action Centre, speaking at the report launch today. Her work permit is expiring in November, and according to the terms of her work permit, she is not allowed to work for any other employer. “Without full immigration status, migrants like me don’t have the power to protect ourselves even in COVID-19. It’s not fair.”

One in 3 survey respondents reported being forbidden by their employers to leave the house, take public transit, buy groceries, send remittances to families abroad or visit doctors during COVID-19. Workers were barred from meeting with friends or partners.

In one case, a worker reported her bank account being frozen but not being able to visit the bank to resolve the issue because her employer would not let her leave the house. As a result, the worker was unable to send remittances to her family for 3 months.

More than 1 in 3 survey respondents lost their jobs during COVID-19, and were forced to move out and try to find new work. One in 3 respondents that lost work reported on-going problems in accessing the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) or Employment Insurance (EI). Nearly half of all respondents reported concerns about employers processing their Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs). Without an LMIA, there is no work permit and workers cannot complete the 24 months of work necessary to apply for permanent residency. 

“I’m so worried because I need a job to support my family,” says Vancouver-based Judy Cabato, a migrant care worker from the Philippines. Judy, a member of the Vancouver Committee for Domestic Worker and Caregiver Rights, was laid off in April. She has completed the requirements to apply for permanent residency but application processing is delayed due to COVID-19. Her work permit, and therefore her health card and Social Insurance Number, also expired. As a result, she cannot access emergency income support or healthcare. “ I’m here in Canada to work. I want to work. My family needs me to work. I am appealing to the government – grant us, all migrants, without exception, Full and Permanent Immigration Status For All, and Now!”

Over 10,000 people and 350 organizations have joined with the Migrant Rights Network to call for full and permanent immigration status for all. Actions are taking place across Canada on November 1 and 2, 2020 including in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, Sudbury, Niagara and Sherbrooke: www.MigrantRights.ca/Nov1. Media is invited. 

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE REPORT & WORKER QUOTES

Please read the full report including recommendations here:
www.MigrantRights.ca/BehindClosedDoors 

Lack of permanent resident status makes it impossible for workers to assert their rights

• “I work non-stop as a live-in caregiver under elderly care program. Since pandemic I am working 24/7 for months without the chance of having my off day during the weekend. I have no choice since my work permit is tied to my employer until I am able to complete my 24 months experience and my contract that I signed with them.” 
• “Treatment for care workers here in Canada isn’t fair. The employer’s taking advantage of workers without permanent paper.”

Workers are being forced to work long hours without pay

• “I’m working more, longer hours! Since I am staying in the house even though I am on my day off I still have to work and no overtime pay.” 
• “I’m working more, longer hours!, my employer is very rich and big house they love to party and i works long hours then they didn’t pay me for my over time”

Employers have trapped migrant workers in homes

• “I really want to go back to my apartment and it’s only a walking distance from my employer’s home but they won’t let me”
• “I can’t even go out because my employer is scared that I might bring them the virus.” 
• I’m just concerned about the 12-13 hours work with just 8hrs and late pay. Need to work on Saturdays and Sundays in order not to be starved. They’re not forcing me to stay just inside the house, however, they’re not allowing me to be in public transportation. Whenever i want to go outside and have some walk, I am obliged to inform them, and be back immediately. Therefore, it is simply a strategy not to leave the house during the weekend. I’m so sad for no freedom at all.”
• “Due to the virus, I have no freedom, I hope that I can apply for PR in advance.”

Many workers who were laid off cannot access income support because of expired SINs caused by permit processing delays

• “They stopped my EI because my SIN expired. I can’t find a job because my SIN and Working Permit are expired. What will I do?”

Many workers are concerned about being unable to complete program requirements due to COVID-19:

24 months of work necessary to apply for Permanent Residence

• “I’ve been in Canada for almost 2 years now but i have only completed 7 months of on-permit experience in the 2 years i was here. 24 months is a really long requirement for getting PR. They should at least launch a program too for us soon so we are able to apply PR. Working while there is COVID is risky too with us nannies, not only for health care workers. We keep the children safe and we can’t go anywhere since we are very cautious of riding public transit. They should open another path since there’s lots of application backlogs and pandemic is still going on. Or better create another program for us to easily get our PR now. The new pathway takes lots of requirements and long processing time.”

High English language requirements

• “I’m 4 years with my employer but can’t apply to Permanent Residence because I failed the English test. My employer released me even though she did need a live in caregiver.”
• “I’m stressed with my bosses divorce fight and they put me in the middle all the time. I can’t focus on doing my paperwork and can’t pass the English test. I am a single mum with 4 kids. I am working hard to provide for my kids, and now I’m worried that I can’t reunite with them because of the English test and the education evaluation.”

Lack of sick leave and healthcare are exacerbating increased mental and physical health concerns

• “I am still working during the coronavirus crisis, I am really concerned that I can not get PR if I get sick.”
• “I’m worried because I don’t have status since I already applied for my PR and open work permit. My SIN and my OHIP both need to be renewed but I can’t.”
• “I am feeling so depressed about my family if I will get PR or not. Working without family here alone it’s too difficult”.

Family separation is a primary concern for migrant care workers

• “I’m always thinking about my family back home. This pandemic caused me so much stress thinking  how to bring my family here in Canada. It’s not easy to be alone.”
• “I applied for my PR in September 2019 and still no response. Just a few weeks ago I received an email to confirm that I couldn’t sponsor my only son because he is 23 years old now. I am really so sad about it because I have only one son. COVID delayed everything.“
• “I want to reunite with my family as soon as possible. My kid was only 4 years old when I left home. I do hope Canada will make it easy for us to reunite with family easily.”

Media Contact
Syed Hussan, 416-453-3632, hussan@migrantworkersalliance.org 

CANADA – Migrants, refugees, undocumented people, workers and students are taking action on September 18-20 in 10 cities to call for full and permanent immigration status for all. These actions come just days before the throne speech where Prime Minister Trudeau is expected to announce a new mandate for COVID-19 recovery.  The cross-country day of action is coordinated by the Migrant Rights Network, Canada’s migrant justice coalition. On September 14, a coalition of over 300 organizations which include over 8 million people released a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau calling for full and permanent immigration status. This comes after months of protest, led by undocumented migrants and other migrants with precarious status, demanding a fully inclusive regularization program. Read the statement here: www.statusforall.ca

Actions & Media Contacts
Cross-Country Contact: Syed Hussan, Migrant Rights Network – 416-453-3632, hussan@mgrantworkersalliance.org

September 18, 2020

• KELOWNA: Contact: Radical Action with Migrants in Agriculture, 250-215-3415
• VANCOUVER: Contact: CDWCR, 778-881-8345 and Sanctuary Health, 604-315-7725

September 20, 2020

• TORONTO: September 20, 2pm, Dundas Square. Contact: Syed Hussan, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, 416-453-3632 
• MONTREAL: September 20, 2pm, Bureau Premier Ministre Legault, 2001 ave McGill College. Contact: Solidarity Across Borders, 514-222-0205
• HAMILTON: September 20, 2pm, 1579 Main St. W.., march to MP Filomena Tassi’s office 1686 Main St. West. Contact: Jennifer Hompoth, 416-960-3098.
  
• ST CATHARINES: September 20, 2pm, MP Chris Bittle’s office, 61 Geneva Street. Contact: Kit Andres, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, 905-324-2840 
• SUDBURY: 3 PM, Marc Serré office, 2914 Hwy 69 N, Unit 1, Val Caron
• Online actions are also taking place in Fredericton, Kitchener and St. John’s. More actions are being updated see https://migrantrights.ca/sep20/ for the latest. 

Background

• At least 1 in 23 people in Canada (over 1.6 million) are non permanent residents. 
• Migrants are on various study, work or humanitarian permits, or without documentation at all. 
• Many migrants are excluded from universal healthcare, access to emergency income supports, and decent work. Many are separated from their families. 
• Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, refugees, students and undocumented people have lost their lives and livelihoods in COVID-19. 
• Migrants are unable to fully protect themselves during COVID-19 because of lack of emergency support, and because speaking out about unsafe work and housing conditions can result in deportation, homelessness, or not being able to return.  
• The federal government announced a “pathway to permanent residency for some asylum claimants working in the health-care sector during the COVID-19 pandemic” on August 14th. However, COVID-19 does not differentiate between people, and neither should the government response. 
• Over 300 organızatıons ıssued a joint letter to Prıme Mınıster Trudeau callıng for full and permanent resıdent status for all thıs week: www.StatusforAll.ca

Press conference, 9am, September 14, 2020. Contact for video.
Syed Hussan, 416-453-3632, hussan@migrantworkersalliance.org

Toronto, September 14, 2020 — This morning, as the federal Liberal cabinet meets to set their priorities for the Throne Speech, over 280 organizations that include 8 million people are calling for a fair society with equal rights for migrants. Faith, labour, climate and Indigenous leaders are sending a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau stating, “We call for a single-tier immigration system, where everyone in the country has the same rights. All migrants, refugees and undocumented people in the country must be regularized and given full immigration status now without exception. All migrants arriving in the future must do so with full and permanent immigration status.” The full letter and list of signatories will be released during the press conference. 

The full statement and signatories is at www.StatusforAll.ca (www.StatutpourTous.ca for French). 

Migrants in Canada are hit hard by the COVID-19, with many dying and thousands unable to access the emergency care and support that others in Canada have relied on. At least 1,300 farm workers have contracted COVID-19 just in Ontario. The pandemic has revealed the extent to which Canada relies on migrants to grow our food, care for our families, deliver our packages, and support our schools. And yet, while migrants form the backbone of this country, they are relegated to an underclass with substandard rights and precarious status, compounding their hardship. Trudeau has promised “to build back better.”  This must include equal rights and full immigration status for migrants.  

“For far too long, migrant workers have been denied equal rights in Canada. They have been subjected to recruiter corruption, employer exploitation, poverty wages, treacherous work, harassment, intimidation, discrimination, and threats of deportation. Today, the Labour movement, not only here in Ontario, but across the country, reaffirms this call for full and permanent immigration status for all”, said Patty Coates, President of the Ontario Federation of Labour. The OFL is Canada’s largest provincial labour federation, representing over one million Ontario workers belonging to 54 affiliated unions. Provincial labour federations representing unions in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Northern Territories, Nova Scotia, PEI, Saskatchewan, and Yukon are also signatories to the statement.

The letter initiated by Migrant Rights Network – Canada’s only national migrant-led coalition –  highlights how, “Migrants, refugees, and undocumented people want to take care of their families and be active members of their communities. But federal immigration rules tip the scales against them.”

“Canada is the 10th largest contributor to global climate change, which is forcing millions of people from their communities as they flee environmental destruction, conflict driven by increasing resource scarcity, and massive land grabs that give way to huge development projects – including Canadian-owned mining and extractive activities. Migrants who make their way to Canada deserve to live with dignity, respect, and status. The Canadian government can and must make choices now to allow the care and solidarity that are shaping our experience of the present to transform our future,” says Catherine Abreu, Executive Director, Climate Action Network, Canada’s largest climate coalition representing over 100 organizations. 

Major environmental organizations including 350.org, The Leap, Council of Canadians, Environmental Defence Canada, Blue Green Canada and Wilderness Committee have also added their voice to the open letter that reads, “Full immigration status for all is an essential step towards eliminating inequalities in the workplace and necessary for a transition to a just and sustainable economy of care.”

“Extraordinary times call for bold action. In taking this step, Canada will not only sustain our population and expand our economy, we will strengthen families, honour essential workers and build cohesive community with our neighbours. Status for all is racial, labour, and social justice—wrapped into one. It just makes good sense,” added Jennifer Henry, Executive Director of KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives. KAIROS is Canada’s faith based coalition of 10 churches and religious organizations. The United Church of Canada, Islamic Social Services Association, Loretto Sisters Canada and Office of the National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop are also signatories to the letter. 

Over the last 6 months, Migrant Rights Network members have organized over 30 protests for full and permanent immigration status for all. Today’s open letter, signed by organizations representing all sectors of society from across the country, shows that migrants are not alone. The next day of action is on September 20: www.MigrantRights.ca/Sep20. 

The letter outlines how, “COVID-19 has exposed deep inequalities in our society. The fault lines are gendered and racialized: the worst impacts are being felt by women and in Indigenous, Black and Brown communities.”

Lindsey Bacigal, Director of Communications for Indigenous Climate Action, a national Indigenous led climate organization, agrees and added, “Migrants and Indigenous Peoples share similar experiences of injustice in so-called Canada. Full and permanent status for all is an important step in rectifying this, while also working towards creating a just and equitable future where our communities can do more than just survive, but we can thrive. Anything less allows for systems of oppression – and those that uphold them – to continue to benefit from the injustices our communities face.”

Mark Hancock, National President, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) added, “Thousands of migrant workers and undocumented people, mainly racialized workers, are doing essential work that supports us all. They’re being exploited because of their immigration status, and that has to stop. CUPE stands with migrant workers in their fight against discrimination, low wages, and dangerous conditions, and calls on the Canadian government to end this unfair and unequal treatment, and ensure all migrants, refugees and undocumented people have the right to live and work in Canada.” CUPE is Canada’s largest union and is a signatory to the letter, along with Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union. United Steelworkers, National Union of Public and General Employees and SEIU Local 2 are among many national and provincial labour signatories.

Other signatories of note include Oxfam, Canadian Civil Liberties Association, ACORN, Leadnow, Canadian Federation of Students, SumofUs and the federal body of immigration and settlement agencies, Canadian Immigrant Settlement Sector Alliance. 

###

www.MigrantRights.ca 

Migrants, refugees, undocumented people, workers and students are taking to the streets on August 23rd to call for full and permanent immigration status for all. Parliament may be prorogued but migrants are still in crisis. Actions in ten cities and five provinces are calling for the expansion of the newly announced pathway to permanent residency for some refugees in healthcare to include everyone in the country without permanent resident status. COVID-19 has worsened existing inequalities and with fears of a second wave on the horizon, swift action is needed to ensure migrants are not put in further jeopardy. The cross-country day of action is coordinated by the Migrant Rights Network, Canada’s migrant justice coalition. The Migrant Rights Network is calling on all political parties to ensure a plan for regularization is announced in the upcoming speech from the throne. 

August 23, 2020 Actions & Media Contacts

• NATIONAL CONTACT: Karen Cocq, Migrant Rights Network – 647-970-8464 [EN/FR]
• TORONTO: 2:15pm. Immigration and Refugee Board and CBSA Offices (74 Victoria Street). Contact: Sarom Rho, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change – 647-858-2854 
• MONTREAL: Contact: Solidarity Across Borders – 514-809-0773 
  • Montréal-Nord: 2pm, Henri Bourassa metro (in front of the IGA)
  • Parc Ex: 2pm, Parc metro
  • Côte-des-neiges: 2pm, Plamondon metro (Van Horne exit)
  • Downtown: 2pm, Berri UQAM (Émilie Gamelin exit)
• NIAGARA: 1pm, Niagara Detention Centre (1355 Uppers Lane). Contact: Kit Andres, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change – 905-324-2840. 
• VANCOUVER: 3pm, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (877 Expo Blvd). Contact: Nayeli Jimenez – 778-874-4977.
• REGINA: 1pm, MP Michael Kram Office (Quance St 2723 E). Contact: Gurjinder Singh Lehal – pres@ursu.ca or 431-997-9949
• SHERBROOKE: 2pm, Bureau d’Élisabeth Brière, députée fédérale de Sherbrooke (1650 Rue King Ouest). Contact: Fritzna Blaise Malebranche: (819) 342-9693; Nastaran Daniali: (819) 416-2864 Ensemble avec les personnes migrantes contre le racisme.
• WINDSOR: 3pm, Immigration and Refugee and CBSA Offices (1250 Walker Rd).  
• OTTAWA: 2pm, Immigration and Refugee Board (344 Slater Street). Contact: Erin Leigh, Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women (OCTEVAW) – 613-858-5136
• HALIFAX: Multiple locations. Contact: No one is illegal – Halifax/K’jipuktuk – noii.hfx@gmail.com
• OKANAGAN: Multiple locations. Contact: RAMA – RamaOkanagan@gmail.com 

More actions are being updated, see www.MigrantRights.ca/August23 for the latest. 

BACKGROUND

• At least 1 in 23 people in Canada (over 1.6 million) are non permanent residents. 
• Migrants are on various study, work or humanitarian permits, or without documentation at all. 
• Many migrants are excluded from universal healthcare, access to emergency income supports, and decent work. Many are separated from their families. 
• Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, refugees, students and undocumented people have lost their lives and livelihoods in COVID-19. 
• Migrants are unable to fully protect themselves during COVID-19 because of lack of emergency support, and because speaking out about unsafe work and housing conditions can result in deportation, homelessness, or not being able to return.  
• The federal government announced a “pathway to permanent residency for some asylum claimants working in the health-care sector during the COVID-19 pandemic” on August 14th. However, COVID-19 does not differentiate between people, neither should the government response. 
• Nearly 12,000 people have signed a petition calling for permanent immigration status for all: https://migrantrights.ca/covid19/, 
• Migrant Rights Network’s proposal for Status for All is here: https://migrantrights.ca/statusforall/ 

CANADA, July 31, 2020 — Migrant Food and Farmworker organizations in British Columbia, PEI, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec are responding to today’s announcement by the federal government of another $59 million dollars, mostly directed to the agri-food industry and government, by reiterating our call for full and permanent immigration status for all. Without full and permanent immigration status, all other measures will fail to protect workers’ lives and livelihoods from COVID-19, poor housing, and employer exploitation. 

“We know that inspections can only enforce existing laws, but the existing laws are bad. Migrant farm workers are excluded from basic labour laws like minimum wage or time off, universal healthcare is difficult to access, and there are no real anti-reprisal protections,” says Kit Andres, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change Niagara. “More inspections won’t save lives; giving migrants the power to protect themselves and have equality through permanent immigration status will.”

Just yesterday, migrant farmworker Gabriel Flores who worked at Scotlynn farm in Ontario, called on Minister Mendicino for permanent resident status for all, after being fired for asking for healthcare and speaking to the press. In his letter, he wrote, “We need permanent resident status now, so workers can have the power to protect ourselves. Our health, our well-being, our families, and our lives depend on it.” 

In another recent case, migrant workers at Balamore Farms in Nova Scotia, reported that supervisors chose which workers would speak to inspectors and instructed them to say “that they are treating us good and paying us ok and if they dont they are going to go back to Jamaica and they won’t be able to go to another farm either”. See more here: https://twitter.com/MWACCanada/status/1289219693862158338

The federal government has also announced consultations to develop a proposal for mandatory housing requirements. However, without permanent immigration status, migrant workers will not be able to assert their rights or complain when these requirements are not met.

“Migrant workers on farms across the country are falling sick and need immediate and real change. We don’t need more consultations, we know the answers: the federal government could mandate physical distancing at all housing and workplaces which would stop the spread of COVID-19, and ensure permanent resident status now so workers can actually protect themselves,” says Byron Cruz, of Sanctuary Health in Vancouver. 

MEDIA CONTACTS:

• National Coordination: Syed Hussan, 416-453-3632
• Atlantic: 
  • • Ann Wheatley, 902-388-8183, Cooper Institute
    • Stacey Gomez, 902-999-4458, No One is Illegal – Halifax/K’jipuktuk 
• British Columbia
  • • Byron Cruz, 604-315-7725, Sanctuary Health
• Ontario: Kit Andres, 905-324-2840, Migrant Workers Alliance 
• Quebec: Viviana Medina, 438 881 9174, Centre des travailleurs et travailleuses immigrants

Statement by Migrant Rights Network – Food and Farmworkers Working Group

CANADA, June 14, 2020 — Over 40 migrant, refugee and undocumented led groups and allies are launching a call for full immigration status for all today. Thousands are expected to join digital rallies and caravans as COVID-19 continues to threaten migrant and undocumented lives and livelihoods. Following the deaths of two farmworkers in Ontario, Prime Minister Trudeau promised to “do better”. Already, the federal cabinet is considering regularizing some asylum seekers working in healthcare in Quebec. The Migrant Rights Network – Canada’s largest migrant justice coalition – is calling for regularization and full immigration status for all non-permanent residents in the country to give migrants the ability to protect and care for themselves and their families during the pandemic. Migrants in the future must also come with full rights. Full Immigration Status for All is necessary for a full and just recovery from COVID-19.

“We hear more farm workers have COVID-19. Our health and safety is at risk. Our housing and work conditions make it so that if one person falls sick, everyone will fall sick. But we don’t have safe ways to complain without the threats of being fired, deported, and banned from coming back. There have already been two deaths, Bonifacio and Rogelio. More deaths will keep happening, so we won’t stop fighting. We come to Canada for a better life, not to die. No more deaths, No more family separation! Permanent resident status now!” – Clarke, Jamaican migrant farmworker, Niagara, Migrant Workers Alliance. 

“They call us caregivers, but this is not true. We are care workers. We raise your family. We prepare your children for the future and help the elderly live with dignity. We work too many hours, yet we are the lowest paid. Sometimes we work extra hours and we are not paid at all. But we are separated from our families.” – Winnie Waithira, migrant careworker, Toronto, Caregivers Action Centre.

“Me and my husband work in cleaning and construction. We know our work is essential to this economy. We are joining our fellow migrants – care workers, farm workers, all of us without status – because we are all valuable, we all want a better future, and we all deserve status.” – Laura Lopez, Undocumented construction worker, Vancouver, Sanctuary Health. 

“We’re tired of crying in silence and counting our failures while the system holds us down. We’re tired of hiding and living in the shadows. We’re tired of hiding from the police. We’re tired of seeing families divided because of a simple lack of status. We’re tired of not being able to take care of ourselves when we get sick. We’re tired of the guilty silence of certain media and of Justin Trudeau and his government, on the injustices forced upon people without status. We are tired of being tired. People without status and asylum seekers didn’t wait for COVID-19 to become essential workers. We were essential yesterday, we’re essential today.” – Mamadou, Undocumented young man, Montreal, Solidarity Across Borders. 

“If I have status, I have power to fight for my rights. If I have status, I have power to support myself. If I have status, My complaint will not be delayed. We are not alone. Our voices need to be heard. Our rights need to be respected. Sex work is work. This is my choice. It doesn’t matter where I work. Immigration law should not punish us!” – Mika, undocumented massage parlour worker who has been in Canada sixteen years, Toronto, Butterfly. 

“Let us unite and fight for our right to Status! Let our voices thunder across Canada and be heard in the halls of parliament. Let us stand strong and invincible! For we migrant workers are at the backbone of this country! We deserve decent work and equal rights! We need status for all!” – Marisol Bobadilla, former temporary foreign worker, Toronto, Migrante Canada. 

“We, the invisible, grow the fruit and vegetables you eat and even the flowers on your table, but we lack the choice to leave bad jobs and resist the injustices inflicted upon us by abusive employers who treat us like slaves. I think that Canada owes us something and that this is the opportunity for it to pay its debt by giving us Permanent residence.” – Luis, Migrant Farmworker who has been coming to Canada for over 20 years, Niagara, Migrant Workers Alliance.

“As international students, we pay three to four times in tuition fees. We are excluded from most of the student scholarships and government grants. We work in essential services while being paid below minimum wage. But when it comes to services and support, we are excluded. We won’t have a just and humane community, unless all of us have the rights that we deserve, unless we all have full and immigration status. ” – Rahil Adeli, International Student, Vancouver, Migrant Students United. 

“We are not here to steal anyone’s job. We are working like any other worker. Pay taxes everyone else pays into. But why are we second class workers? Workers without any rights. The work that we do are not temporary jobs. They are permanent jobs. Putting food on Canadian tables are not temporary jobs. Cleaning Canadian workplaces and homes are not temporary jobs. Taking care of Canadian children and elderly are not temporary jobs. We believe it is just to ask for health care, to ask for a living wage like everybody else. It is just to ask for permanent status for all of us,” Edelyn Royo, Migrant Worker, Edmonton, Migrante Alberta.

BACKGROUND

• • At least 1 in 23 people in Canada are migrants, without citizenship rights. 
  • Migrants are on various study, work or humanitarian permits, or without documentation at all. 
  • Many migrants are excluded from universal healthcare, access to federal income support, and decent work. Many are separated from their families. 
  • Migrants are unable to fully protect themselves during COVID-19 because of lack of income, or because speaking out about unsafe work and housing conditions can result in deportation. 
  • Read more on migrant priorities during COVID-19 at https://migrantrights.ca/covid19/, and more on Status for All at https://migrantrights.ca/statusforall/ 
  • On June 14, 2020 (all times EST):
    • 11:45am: Migrant Students Online Rally

• 12:00pm: Massive Digital Rally for Status for All

• 4:00pm: Digital Rally in Spanish for Status for All

• 5:00pm: Digital Rally in Mandarin for Status for All

• 5:00pm: Car Caravan for Status for All, Vancouver, BC

Media Contact: Syed Hussan, 416 453 3632, hussan@migrantworkersalliance.org

Livestream broadcast: www.migrantrights.ca 

CANADA, June 11, 2020 — As COVID-19 continues to threaten migrant and undocumented lives and livelihoods, thousands are expected to rally online and in the streets for full immigration status for all migrants. Following the deaths of two farmworkers in Ontario, Prime Minister Trudeau promised to “do better”. Already, the federal cabinet is considering regularizing some asylum seekers working in healthcare in Quebec. The Migrant Rights Network – Canada’s largest migrant justice coalition – is calling for regularization and full immigration status for all non-permanent residents in the country to give migrants the ability to protect and care for themselves and their families during the pandemic. Full Immigration Status for All is necessary for a full and just recovery from COVID-19.

• WHAT: Massive Digital Rally and Caravan for Full Immigration Status for All
• WHEN: 12pm EST / 9am PST, June 14, 2020. Other actions throughout the day. 
• WHERE: Broadcast at www.MigrantRights.ca/June2020  
• WHO: Migrant and undocumented leaders from across Canada, including domestic careworkers, farmworkers, immigration detainees, refugees, migrant students and undocumented people.

BACKGROUND

• At least 1 in 23 people in Canada are migrants, without citizenship rights. 
• Migrants are on various study, work or humanitarian permits, or without documentation at all. 
• Many migrants are excluded from universal healthcare, access to federal income support, and decent work. Many are separated from their families. 
• Migrants are unable to fully protect themselves during COVID-19 because of lack of income, or because speaking out about unsafe work and housing conditions can result in deportation. 
• Read more on migrant priorities during COVID-19 at https://migrantrights.ca/covid19/, and more on Status for All at https://migrantrights.ca/statusforall/ 
• On June 14, 2020 (all times EST):
  • 11:45am: Migrant Students Online Rally
  • 12:00pm: Massive Digital Rally for Status for All
  • 4:00pm: Digital Rally in Spanish for Status for All
  • 5:00pm: Digital Rally in Mandarin for Status for All
  • 5:00pm: Car Caravan for Status for All, Vancouver, BC 

Media Contact: Syed Hussan, hussan@migrantworkersalliance.org, 416-453-3632. Pre-interviews available.

sign our petition

Canada, May 15, 2020 – Migrant food and farm worker groups from Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec are jointly raising the alarm about the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot Program to be launched by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) just now. This program gives unfair and excessive power to employers and excludes workers in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP), which represents the majority of food and farm workers in the country. Most other migrant workers will also be excluded because of harsh qualification criteria. Quebec workers are also excluded. The Migrant Rights Network is calling for permanent resident status for all, without exclusion or employer control to support essential migrant workers. 

“At a time when JBS and Cargill are re-opening without making any changes to ensure worker safety, tying migrant workers’ ability to stay in the country permanently to the goodwill of employers gives employers a dangerous amount of power. Workers will be forced to choose between their health, or even their lives, or a chance at stability and family unity,” says Marco Luciano, Director, Migrante Alberta.

The Agri-Food Immigration program requires applicants to have a “job offer” letter from the employer. This requirement means workers will be reluctant to exercise their right to refuse unsafe work if their future ability to apply for permanent residence hangs in the balance.

JBS Meats has had over 600 cases of COVID-19, and one death, but continues to operate. J.J, a current worker at JBS who is afraid to use his name says, “We are concerned about going back to work. JBS keeps on calling us to go back. We are not sure if the workplace is safe. Our status is Temporary Foreign Worker. We are afraid that we will be terminated and sent back home if we take a leave of absence because of our safety. Or that they might not process our papers – our visa and work permit will expire in October.”

“For 54 years, migrant farm workers have demanded permanent residence status on arrival so that they could access the same rights and protections as other immigrants and citizens. While this new program is a direct result of decades of food and farmworkers courageously speaking out, it sets up impossible requirements that would shut most out”, says Robyn Bunn, from RAMA in Kelowna, BC. “This program is just smoke and mirrors – the government wants to look like it’s taking appropriate action during a pandemic, while in reality almost everyone is excluded.”

The Agri-Food Pilot Program excludes migrants in the SAWP even though these workers make up over 65% of Canada’s migrant agricultural workforce and are essential to the food supply. Many SAWP workers work in Canada eight out of 12 months each year, in many cases for over 20 years at a time but with no path to Permanent Residency. 

“We do hard work in Canada – we work outside in the cold and in the heat – and we can’t apply for anything. Why are we being left out of these opportunities? All migrants deserve landed status on arrival,” says James, father of 3 from Jamaica, a migrant farm worker who has been working in Niagara since 2007.

“The federal government is willing to open borders, charter planes, and give employers $50 million to offset costs of quarantine. Many provinces have created programs to ease the farm labour shortage. Yet migrant farm workers –  essential workers that keep the food system running – are being excluded from permanent residency? It makes no sense,” says Kit Andres, Migrant Workers Alliance – Niagara. “COVID-19 has shown that migrant labour is essential to the Canadian economy.” 

Exclusions also extend to fisheries. “The fisheries industry in the Atlantic Region relies heavily on thousands of migrant workers from around the world. These are essential workers and they should be able to lay permanent roots, access basic rights and protections and reunite with their families – excluding them from this immigration program is a slap in the face to essential workers ensuring we are fed during this pandemic,” says Ann Wheatley, Cooper Institute, Charlottetown. 

The current Agri-Food Immigration Pilot Program excludes most low-waged migrants, who are people of colour, many of them Black men, working in Canada’s farms and factories, showing one more time the structural racism migrants workers have been subjected to for over half a century.

Facts: The Agri-Food Immigration Pilot Program & Migrant Workers

• Of the 98,495 work permits issued for temporary foreign workers in 2019, 56,850 were agricultural workers. The Agri-Food Pilot Program is restricted to only 2,750 applications per year, about 4.8% of the migrant agricultural workforce.
• The Agri-Food Immigration Pilot requires migrant workers to pass an English language test at Level 4. No support is provided for migrant workers to study for these tests, which are expensive and inaccessible in rural communities where workers are based. Many workers from the Caribbean, who only speak English, are failing the test. Many migrant workers are able to work and live in Canada, but do not speak English. 
• The Agri-Food Immigration Pilot requires migrant workers to show Canadian accreditation for high school education. No support is provided for migrant workers to get this accreditation, which is expensive and done by private businesses, and is inaccessible in rural communities. Migrant workers are barred from studying while on a work permit, so cannot gain the accreditation here.
• The Agri-Food Immigration Pilot requires that workers are engaged in full-time work over the previous 12 months. As a result, all SAWP workers are excluded. Workers in fisheries are also excluded. 
• The Agri-Food Immigration Pilot requires workers to be working for 12 months immediately before applying – but many workers have lost jobs or seen their hours reduced due to COVID-19. 
• Migrant workers account for 12 per cent of Canada’s agricultural workforce, according to the Conference Board of Canada.
• Migrant workers face immense violations of their rights. A recent Toronto Star investigation documented 5,386 workplace related complaints by farmworkers from Mexico in a 9 year period. 

Media Contacts

• Coordination: Syed Hussan, 416-453-3632, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change
• Alberta: Marco Luciano, 780-966-5908, Migrante Alberta
• Atlantic: Ann Wheatley, 902-388-8183, Cooper Institute
• British Columbia
  • Robyn Bunn, 250-215-1033, RAMA, Kelowna
  • Alexandra Henao, 778-789-5076, Fuerza Migrante, Vancouver
  • Byron Cruz, 604-315-7725, Sanctuary Health
• Ontario: Kit Andres, 905-324-2840, Migrant Workers Alliance – Niagara
• Quebec: Viviana Medina, 438 881 9174, Centre des travailleurs et travailleuses immigrants

CANADA, April 16, 2020 – In a rare and historic moment, essential undocumented and migrant workers from across Canada and Mexico spoke out today calling on Prime Minister Trudeau to fill the gaps that exclude them from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). Migrant Rights Network – Canada’s only migrant led national body – released a letter outlining solutions to ensure income for 1.8 million migrants in the country. 

Laura Lopez, a mother of two from Vancouver and a member of Sanctuary Health, is one of over half a million people in Canada who are undocumented. She’s calling for CERB to be accessible to people without Social Insurance Numbers. 

“My biggest fear is that we are going to end up on the street, us and our two kids,” she said. “People like us, working in construction or cleaning, we are essential workers. Help in this crisis must be universal.” 

Laura’s story is echoed across the country. Lisa Cheun, a member of Butterfly, is a refugee claimant without a work permit in Toronto who worked at a massage parlour until businesses were shut down this month. 

“I paid more than $4000 in income taxes just in March. But I cannot get the government funding support because I have not obtained my work permit this year. But I have lost my job and have no income. What can I do now?” 

The Social Insurance Numbers of temporary residents expire alongside their work and study permits. A valid SIN is necessary to access the CERB program. 

Alina Przybyl is a Polish student at Toronto’s George Brown College in the Assaulted Women and Children’s Counselling program and a member of Migrant Students United. She applied for a renewal of her study permit three months ago, and is still waiting for it. SIN renewal will take another three months. 

“In a time of a global crisis, when we keep hearing that ‘we are in this together’, but many of us are still facing barriers. We are all affected and we should all be supported, regardless of our immigration status,” added the former restaurant worker, who recently lost her jobs both on and off campus because of COVID-19. 

In order to flatten the curve, everyone needs to follow public health directives. But without income, undocumented and migrant workers are some of the most at risk for losing housing, access to food and healthcare. 

The problem extends beyond Canada’s borders. Tens of thousands of essential migrant agricultural workers are unable or afraid to travel. Lost incomes are throwing families into crisis the world over.

“I have been coming to Canada to work for 17 years. But, because of COVID19, I have not been able to travel to Canada to work. I think it is only fair and that I have a right to receive government support because, like any Canadian worker, I have a Social Insurance Number,” says Gustavo Antonio, a migrant farm worker member of RAMA who works in the Okanagan Valley and is still waiting to travel. 

“In a public health emergency, we cannot protect anyone if we do not protect everyone. Over half a million workers are in a state of abject despair. Immediate comprehensive government action is necessary,” added Syed Hussan, Executive Director, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change. “Most migrant and undocumented people are essential workers that are caring for all of us, and keeping the economy moving right now. They cannot be allowed to go hungry and die because they don’t have an active Social Insurance Number. We have a solution and are calling on the government to meet with us to ensure migrants get the support they need and status now.” 

Nearly 5,000 people and many national organizations have signed on to Migrant Rights Network’s calls: www.MigrantRights.ca/COVID19. 

###

Contact: Syed Hussan, 416 453 3632, hussan@migrantworkersalliance.org 

Video of today’s press conference available. 

BACKGROUND

Migrant Rights Network is calling on the Federal Government to meet with migrant-led organizations to create mechanisms to:

1. Ensure residents without Social Insurance Numbers have access to Canada Emergency Response Benefit through the provision of accessible Individual Tax Numbers where information is not shared with immigration authorities. 
2. Extend access to CERB for those whose SIN has expired. 
3. Ensure that Seasonal TFWP and SAWP workers have access to income supports for delays in contracts, both inside and outside the country. 
4. Ensure that migrant workers who are forced to leave jobs or those that aren’t starting contracts right now are not deemed to have “quit voluntarily” and receive income supports. 
5. Extend income supports to migrant and undocumented residents who did not earn at least $5,000 in the previous 12 months. 

Migrant Rights Network is Canada’s Migrant Coalition, and includes Butterfly (Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network), Caregivers’ Action Centre, Centre des travailleuses et travailleurs immigrants, Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto, Collaborative Network to End Exploitation, Cooper Institute and the Prince Edward Island Action Team for Migrant Workers’ Rights, Durham Region Migrant Solidarity Network, FCJ Refugee House, Fuerza Migrante Vancouver, GABRIELA Ontario, IAVGO Community Legal Clinic, Income Security Advocacy Centre, Migrant Students United, Migrant Worker Solidarity Network – Manitoba, Migrant Workers Alliance – Niagara, Ontario, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, Migrante (Alberta, BC, Canada, Manitoba, Ontario), No One Is Illegal (Toronto, Halifax, London, Vancouver), Migrant Resource Centre Canada, OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, OHIP For All, PCLS Community Legal Clinic, Radical Action with Migrants in Agriculture (RAMA), Okanagan region, BC, Sanctuary Health, Solidarity Across Borders, South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario, UFCW Canada, UNIFOR, Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights, Workers Action Centre and Workers United

Nearly 10,000 migrant women are working in Canada today, taking care of Canadian families. Migrant women raise children and tend to the sick and elderly.

Migrant women like Winnie Waithira. Winnie has worked in Ontario since September 2014. She worked 60 hour weeks without a break, and sometimes without pay. She still managed to complete all the requirements to apply for permanent residency and reunite with her family. Despite all this, she has been denied permanent residency.

Winnie hasn’t stayed silent. Along with racialized women migrant workers across Canada, she’s part of Landed Status Now – a migrant care worker campaign for immigration and labour rights. They have already won victories, and ensured rights and status for workers facing deportation. But the work isn’t done.

Right now, many Care Workers are fighting unfair language and educational barriers that make it impossible for them to get Permanent Residency. They are calling on the Immigration Minister to change the rules. Add your voice to theirs!

Sign the petition for Landed Status Now!

Migrant care workers in Canada were the first group of migrant workers to get a path to permanent resident status in 1981 as a direct result of Caribbean domestic women’s organizing. Today, again, it is migrant care workers at the forefront of the migrant justice struggle.

Women migrant workers are not just in care work, but also work in farms, factories, retail fisheries, and sex work; they are students, refugees and sometimes undocumented. They all face economic gender-based exploitation. Census data shows that migrant women workers earn just 31 cents for every dollar that a male permanent resident or citizen earns. The situation is not that much better for citizens: racialized women who are citizens in Canada earn 59 cents for every dollar earned by non-racialized men.

Gender inequality is the hidden engine of the economy. For workers to work, they must be fed and clothed; children must be raised; homes cleaned and elders cared for. This mostly unwaged work falls to women. It is this unwaged work that subsidizes the wealthy. It is how the rich get richer – today 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than 4.6 billion people!

The richest few in Canada get richer from on-going colonialism. Central to this plunder is the oil and gas industry that brings with them “man-camps” which increase violence against Indigenous women. This is one of the reasons the Wet’suwet’en in British Columbia are opposing the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline. Thousands of Indigenous women and girls have been murdered or disappeared in Canada – this is a genocide. This is why today on International Women’s Day, we are in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en and call for an end to violence against Indigenous women.

Those at the top push divisions. Today, on International Working Women’s Day we must unite with working women, sex workers, trans women, homeless women, racialized women, and women in the Global South.

Just as care workers lead the migrant justice movement, women also lead environmental struggles, worker rights fights, movements against war and displacement, and more. Today, and every day, we unite under women’s leadership, we fight, we win.

March 8, 2020

Canada – The cross-country alliance Migrant Rights Network is holding Canada-wide actions on June 16 to put forward a pro-migrant and anti-racist agenda in advance of the federal elections. June 16 is International Domestic Workers Day and Father’s Day. Many migrants are unjustly separated from their families, and domestic workers continue to be harmed by federal and provincial laws that deny them full rights and permanent resident status. Ahead of the federal election, migrants and allies are ringing the alarm on the increasing use of racist and xenophobic rhetoric as a vote wining strategy. The Migrant Rights Network is calling on all political parties to committ to status for all, decent work, quality universal public services, end to discrimination, and a stop to policies of displacement.

Cross-Canada Media Contacts:
EN: Syed Hussan, 416 453 3632, hussan@migrantworkersalliance.org
FR/ES: Karen Cocq, 647 970 8464, karen@migrantworkersalliance.org

Affiliated rallies / creative actions and marches are planned in:

• Fredericton – 7pm, June 16, City Hall, Tabatha Armstrong 506.453.4875 (No One Is Illegal Fredericton)
• Guelph – 12pm, June 16, Mandy Hiscocks, 519.731.4179 (OPIRG Guelph)
• Halifax – 2pm, June 16, Garrison Grounds, Citadel Hill
• Kelowna – 12pm, June 16, Dayton Street Overpass over Harvey Avenue. Luis Diaz, 250.826.1551 (RAMA)
• London – 1pm, June 16, Victoria Park
• Montreal – 2pm, June 16, Parc Nelson Mandela, Romina Hernandez-Gomez, (514) 560-0673 (Solidarity Across Borders)
• Ottawa – 2pm, June 16, Dundonald Park – Karen Cocq, 647 970 8464 (Migrant Workers Alliance)
• Peterborough – 2pm, June 16, Confederation Park
• Toronto – 2pm, June 16, Grange Park – Syed Hussan, 416 453 3632 (Migrant Worker Alliance)
• Winnipeg – 1pm, June 15. Canadian Museum for Human Rights
• Vancouver – For migrant workers only, by invitation. Byron Cruz – (604) 315-7725 and Lorina Serafico – (604) 618-3649

  See full details at www.migrantrights.ca/June16 (more added daily)

Background

#UniteAgainstRacism Demands:

• STATUS FOR ALL: Permanent resident status and family unity for all migrants and refugees here, and landed status on arrival for those that arrive in the future. No detentions, no deportations!
• DECENT WORK: $15 minimum wage, full labour rights for all and no employer specific or time limited work permits.
• UNIVERSAL SERVICES: Full access to quality public services including healthcare, education, income security, childcare, pensions, and more for all residents.
• NO DISCRIMINATION: Indigenous self-determination, gender justice, and an end to racism, particularly anti-Black racism and Islamophobia.
• NO DISPLACEMENT: An end to practices and policies further climate change, wars, corporate impunity, dirty mining and economic exploitation which force people to migrate.

Media Contact National (local contacts listed below):
EN: Syed Hussan, 416 453 3632, hussan@migrantworkersalliance.org
FR: Karen Cocq, 647-9708464, karen@migrantworkersalliance.org

Cross Canada Network Launches to Fight Racism and Anti-Immigrant Hysteria in Election Year

Canada – New Zealand mosque shooting with 49 murders and counting has given intense urgency in Canada which faced a similar mosque shooting in 2017 in Quebec. With actions planned from Halifax to Vancouver, a new cross-country alliance, the Migrant Rights Network is launching March 21, International Day for the Elimination of Racism, to counter fake news about Canada’s immigration system, and urgently demand pro-immigrant and anti-racist laws. The Migrant Rights Network is led by grassroots migrant and refugee groups, civil society organizations and labour unions. March 21 marks the beginning of a national dialogue to create a Platform for Racial and Migrant Justice ahead of the federal election. All social, environmental and labour groups in Canada are invited to participate in this process.

Following the March 21 #UniteAgainstRacism mobilization, actions are also called for May 1, 2019 (International Workers Day); June 16, 2019 (Father’s Day & International Domestic Workers Day); and September 2, 2019 (Labour Day). More information can be found on www.migrantrights.ca

Initial details and media contacts for #UniteAgainstRacism Week of Action (March 17-24)
More actions being announced everyday at https://migrantrights.ca/en/march21/

March 17, 2019

NIAGARA – 2pm, 1665 Four Mile Creek Rd
Sonia Aviles, 289-990-4519

March 20, 2019

PETERBOROUGH – 6pm, Confederation Park

March 21, 2019

HALIFAX – 4:30pm, Halifax Convention Centre
Stacey Gomez, 902 999 4458

MONTREAL – 10am, 200 Rene Levesque
Niel La Dode, 438-505-4820; Viviana Carol Velazquez, 514-342-2111

TORONTO – 5:30pm, Nathan Phillips Square
Syed Hussan, 416 453 3632

VANCOUVER – 6:30pm, Alma VanDusen Room, 350 West Georgia Street
Chris Perry Sorio, 416-828-0441

March 23, 2019

LETHBRIDGE – 12pm, City Hall

EDMONTON – 6pm, 11834 Kingsway Avenue – Note this event is a fundraiser
Marco Luciano, 780-966-5908

March 24, 2019

MONTREAL – 2pm, Saint-Laurent Station
Safa Chebbi, 438-497-4243

OTTAWA – 2pm, 166 Frank Street
Aimee Beboso, 613-255-1921

BACKGROUND

Migrant and racial justice organizations are coming together as the Migrant Rights Network to intervene in an increasingly divisive and alarmingly dangerous political environment.

n Canada, police reported hate crimes went up 47% in 2017. At least 300 known white supremacist organizations are currently active across the country. Over 70% of the migrants in Canada are denied full access to basic labour or social rights because of unfair temporary permits. Women of colour continue to earn far less than white men. Black and Indigenous communities are unfairly targeted by police and imprisonment. Racialized people are shut out of basic services. Meanwhile, anti-immigrant populist messaging by federal political parties increased dramatically during the recent by-elections. Clearly, Canada is not immune to the racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric which was central to national elections in the United States, and in many countries in Western Europe. Uniting against racism now is the only way forward.

THE MIGRANT RIGHTS NETWORK DEMANDS

STATUS FOR ALL, STATUS NOW: Permanent resident status and family unity for all migrants and refugees here, and landed status on arrival for those that arrive in the future. Replace Caregiver “pilot project” with a Federal Care Workers Program that provides landed status upon entry for Care Workers and their families. No detentions, no deportations!

DECENT WORK: $15 minimum wage, full labour rights and no employer specific or time limited work permits.

UNIVERSAL SERVICES: Full access to quality public services including healthcare, education, income security, childcare settlement services, pensions, and more for all residents.

JUST SOCIETY: Indigenous self-determination, gender justice, and an end to racism, particularly anti-Black racism and Islamophobia.

NO DISPLACEMENT: An end to practices of displacement and persecution that force people to migrate including climate change, wars, corporate impunity and economic exploitation.

Consultations are being facilitated by well-known agricultural employer lobbyist Hill & Knowlton Canada

CANADA – Migrant agricultural worker organizations across Canada are outraged at closed door consultations on changes to the agricultural stream of the temporary foreign worker program which have shut out workers, and which refuse to focus on worker concerns. The federal government began invitation-only meetings with big business lobby groups in late May. Migrant worker groups have either been invited late or not at all, despite repeated requests to be part of the discussions.

“The power imbalance between migrant agricultural workers and employers is well documented, and any meaningful reforms must begin with conversations with migrant workers and their organizations at a time and place where workers can participate, in a language they are comfortable in, and with guarantees that there won’t be employer reprisals,” says Diwa Marcelino of Migrante from Manitoba.

Migrant workers in the primary agriculture stream are restricted to working only for the employer listed on their work permit. They are in large part allowed to only live in employer-controlled housing. In some provinces they are excluded from, or face restrictions on collective bargaining, and are often exempted from minimum wage, overtime hours, and other basic employment standards. Employers are allowed to fire and send migrant agricultural workers home if they are injured or fall sick. Workers pay most taxes but often can’t get full access to EI, CPP or other entitlements. This is why migrant agricultural worker organizations across Canada are unified in calling for permanent residency status on arrival, as well as full labour rights and access to social entitlements.  

“It would be unthinkable for the the federal government to craft regulations that might affect women’s issues and not invite women to the table, but they feel comfortable excluding migrant agricultural workers and their advocates from rules and policies that deeply impact their lives. It’s unbelievable,” says Joey Calugay of the Immigrant Workers Centre in Quebec. “Migrant workers deserve a seat at the table, and they want the right to permanent status upon landing.”

These consultations, which include federal and provincial policy makers, are being facilitated by Hill and Knowlton Strategies, a lobbying firm that has represented the interests of agricultural employers throughout Canada. This is a gross conflict of interest. In 2017, Hill and Knowlton lobbied Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 53 times, often on behalf of different employer and employer lobby organizations.

“There are no migrant workers in the rooms for these conversations, it’s mostly employers and it’s being facilitated by their own lobbyists. How can any meaningful changes that reflect the needs of migrant workers come from this process?” asks Syed Hussan of Migrant Workers Alliance for Change from Ontario. “We are calling on Minister Hajdu and Minister Hussen to step in and restart this process, this time with migrant worker involvement, and ensure that we are discussing permanent status on landing as a solution.”

“Migrant workers grow food, and feed families, their lives deserve respect and their work deserves our admiration and support which must include their involvement in decisions that impact their lives,” said Byron Cruz from Sanctuary Health in Vancouver, BC. “The fundamental problem with the temporary foreign worker program is the lack of immigration and labour rights, and the first step to correcting it is access to permanent residency status on arrival.”

AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT

• Joey Calugay, Immigration Workers Centre, Quebec, 514-947-3662
• Syed Hussan, Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada, Toronto, 416-453-3632
• Byron Cruz, Sanctuary Health, British Columbia, 604-315-7725
• Andrew Stevens, Migrant Work Saskatchewan & University of Regina, 306-552-9330
• Diwa Marcelino, Migrante Manitoba, 204-218-7100
• Robyn Bunn, RAMA, Kelowna, British Columbia, 250-215-1033

Toronto, April 16, 2018 – Organizations representing key groups of immigrants excluded from Canada due to medical inadmissibility are very disappointed in today’s announcement by Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen for not repealing Section 38(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. This section denies permanent residency to an entire family if a member of the family is sick or has a disability and deemed to pose an “excessive demand” on health and social services.

Today’s modest gains are the result of many years of affected people and our organizations calling for an end to these discriminatory laws. Our advocacy resulted in a review by the federal Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration in 2017, which ultimately echoed our recommendation for a full repeal. Instead of taking this principled position, the Immigration Minister Hussen today announced only minor tweaks to the existing, and deeply flawed, regime.

Minnister Hussen’s announcement continues to uphold discriminatory medical inadmissibility laws. Today’s changes that promise to increase the cost threshold and amend the definition of social services, if properly implemented, may ensure that many future immigrants living with HIV and some people with disabilities may no longer be excluded. However, the underlying issue remains: people with disabilities continue to be considered as burdens on Canadian society. Today’s announcement  also fails to address retroactive cases, such that all of the applicants currently in Canada who are separated from family members with disabilities remain in limbo. It is important to note that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, which recommended the repeal of the law in late 2017, noted that “savings [from this law] are not known and were not provided to the Committee.” The Government of Canada, while explicitly agreeing with the Standing Committee’s recommendation to repeal this legislation, has failed to bring its policies in line with inclusivity for persons with disabilities and with Canada’s domestic and international human rights obligations.

For comments:

Anna Malla, Coordinator, Caregivers Action Centre, 647-782-6633
James Hicks, National Coordinator, Council of Canadians With Disabilities, 343-291-1118
John Rae, 1st Vice Chair, Council of Canadians With Disabilities, 416-941-1547
Joshua Terry, Communications and Campaigns Officer, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, 416 595-1666 ext. 236
Natalie Drolet, Executive Director, Migrant Workers Centre, 604.669.4482, ext 104.

As a result of organizing by people with Disabilities and their families, and with your support, in 2017, the Standing Committee for Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) issued a report to Parliament recommending the repeal of the medical inadmissibility regime. The Minister of Immigration, the Honourable Minister Ahmed Hussen, has himself agreed that this policy must be changed. He will be announcing these changes on April 12th. 

Lets make sure that he follows the Committee’s recommendation and repeals the law rather than tweaking it. 

Members of Parliament need to hear from residents in their riding urging them to repeal Section 38(1)(c) of IRPA. It’s your turn to act.

Here’s what to do:

1. Find the contact of your local MP: http://www.ourcommons.ca/parliamentarians/en/constituencies/FindMP
2. Email them as soon as possible requesting a meeting.
3. Follow up with a phone call requesting a meeting.
4. If you have a meeting confirmed, please let us know at info@migrantrights.ca
5. At the appointed time, go to the meeting. Make sure to read this memo in advance and leave a copy with the MP
6. Take a picture with the MP and send it to us at info@migrantrights.ca so we can remind them that they committed to acting on this issue.

Download this TOOLKIT

It includes sample emails to request a meeting, phone scripts, agendas for a meeting and what to say. Please get in touch if you have more questions.

Here’s a backgrounder to share with your MP and for you to be apprised of the facts.

Please download, read, and print.

Toronto — Caregiver and migrant rights organizations are calling on Federal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen to immediately repeal Section 38(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act following a report by the Parliamentary Citizenship and Immigration Committee’s report which called for the repeal. The report also proposed interim measures, but migrant rights organizations insist that interim measures would uphold a fundamentally discriminatory system. More than a thousand people and organizations have signed an Open Letter in support of these demands.

“Denying permanent residency to entire families was never fair or just, thousands of people have suffered under this law already and hundreds of families are waiting to be reunited, there is no time for delay, it is time to repeal Section 38(1)(c)” says Anna Malla of the Caregivers Action Centre. “Caregivers and Disabled people cannot wait for interim measures, the Liberal government must do the right thing, end medical inadmissibility immediately as an interim step to permanent status on arrival.”

The Parliamentary Committee’s report titled, Building an Inclusive Canada: Bringing the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in Step with Modern Values was released following consultations in November. Migrant rights and disability justice groups insist that Disablism was never acceptable, and ending discriminatory laws is not a ‘modern value’.

Section 38(1)(c) reads, “A foreign national is inadmissible on health grounds if their health condition is expected to cause excessive demand on health or social services,” in effect denying an entire family permanent status if any member of the family is sick or disabled. This discriminatory system has been in place since 2002, and an average of 1,000 people, and their families are rejected each year.

BACKGROUND
https://migrantrights.ca/en/613-2/

Toronto, November 20, 2017 – As the Federal government prepares to host consultations in Ottawa, migrant caregivers and disability justice advocates spoke out in Toronto today calling for an immediate end to disability discrimination in Canada’s immigration law. More than a thousand people and organizations have signed an Open Letter in support of these demands.

The parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration is examining Section 38(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) today. Section 38(1)(c) reads “A foreign national is inadmissible on health grounds if their health condition is expected to cause excessive demand on health or social services,” in effect denying an entire family permanent status if ​any ​member ​of ​the ​family ​is sick or disabled. This discriminatory system has been in place since 2002, and an average of 1,000 people, and their families are rejected each year.

“We can’t wait any longer, we need an immediate repeal of the discriminatory medical inadmissibility regime, Permanent Residency for all those denied based on this Section in the last ten years, and Permanent Residency upon arrival for all migrant workers” says Caregivers Action Centre member Amalia Loyzaga, mother of three and a recent widow. Ms Loyzaga has been separated from her family for the past ten years because her Permanent Residency is being challenged based solely on her daughter’s autism diagnosis. She is also one of 25,000 Caregivers caught in a backlog.

“I cannot comprehend how inhuman, discriminatory and unjust immigration law is set out for people with disabilities, and why action is still being delayed” adds Loyzaga.

“Section 38 (1)(c) violates basic rights to equality for disabled people, tears apart families, diminishes the invaluable contributions made by disabled people and stigmatizes us,” says prominent disability activist and scholar Dr. Loree Erickson, who has been in Canada for the past 14 years and was recently denied permanent residency.

“I ​felt ​like ​I ​am ​dying ​when ​I ​was ​denied. ​I ​don’t ​know ​what ​to ​do ​and ​where ​to ​go. ​I felt ​so ​hopeless. ​I ​wanted ​to ​scream. My family has been waiting for years, and we can’t wait any longer, we need to be reunited now” adds Josarie Danieles. Ms. Danieles is a member of the Caregivers Action Centre and has been publicly calling for overhaul of the medical inadmissibility regime since 2016.

Ms Danieles has been in Canada since 2010, and completed her requirements for permanent residency in 2014. Her permanent residency application is being challenged because her daughter Precious has been deemed to be an ‘excessive burden to the Canadian health system’.

Caregiver Mercedes Benitez, whose case was in the news recently and is scheduled to speak to Parliament later today, was granted Permanent Residency based on Humanitarian and compassionate grounds last week.

“Getting my file approved means that I won the lottery. But although now I’m approved, I wonder, what about those other cases? So many others are still suffering. Excessive demand should be eliminated because there should not be any more mothers who cry every night or children who are being discriminated based on their disability or health condition.”

The denial of permanent resident status based on disability is just one symptom of a system that fails to protect those who come from other countries to care for children, the sick, and the elderly. “For caregivers, the medical inadmissibility rule magnifies the hardships imposed by what is already a two-tier system where some immigrants come with temporary status and limited rights, while others come as permanent residents. There needs to be one system of rights, and full immigration status on arrival” adds Fay Faraday, a labour and human rights lawyer who has worked with migrant workers for over two decades.

Directly affected migrant mothers, disabled people and advocates are also concerned with the lack of truly democratic consultation in Parliament.

“While all of us applied to participate in these so-called public consultations, only one of us was invited to speak, but we are here speaking today, to say we cannot wait, end discrimination now,” adds Loyzaga.

Source
www.caregiversactioncentre.org

Migrant caregivers and their supporters are calling on the the Federal Government to:

1. Immediately grant permanent residency to Josarie Danieles, Amalia Loyzaga and their families, as well as other migrants who have been denied permanent residency on disability grounds over the past ten years.
2. Eliminate Section 38(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which allows for discriminating against people with disabilities.
3. Grant permanent residency status to migrant workers currently in Canada, including undocumented workers, with specific provisions to allow their families to join them.
4. Ensure that all migrant workers are allowed to come to Canada with their families, and with permanent residency status, which is the norm for applicants in the Canadian Express Entry system.
5. Ensure all migrant workers have access to all public services, basic rights and the ability to change jobs through open work permits.

Since 2009, migrant worker groups along with you have organized against the 4-and-4 rule, as part of a broader campaign for open work permits and permanent status on landing.

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The 4-and-4 rule required migrant workers to leave after four years of cumulative employment and banned them from returning for four years. Over 15 cities organized protest and actions in March 2015 as a lead up to the imposition of the 4-and-4 rule which uprooted tens of thousands of migrant workers, and caused mass deportations. Nearly 4,000 people signed petitions. Since October 2015, the Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada (CMWRC) has campaigned for the overturn of this rule and permanent status on landing.

While this is an important step, we need more than repealing and tinkering. We need a total overhaul of the system which begins with ensuring permanent status on landing for migrant workers now and a regularization program for workers who stayed and became undocumented.

In yesterday’s announcement, the Federal Government promised to expand ‘pathways to citizenship’. The Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada (CMWRC) believes that ‘pathways’ are a euphemism for maintaining unjust temporariness for low-waged and racialized workers. A pathway is a two stage process, where migrant workers must first complete a temporary sentence of abuse and injustice before a few are selected to compete for permanent status. Low-waged and racialized people deemed to be doing ‘low-skilled’ work deserve permanent status on landing, just as much as those deemed to be doing ‘high skilled’ work.

Migrant workers from across Canada called for a repeal of the 4-and-4 rule and most importantly permanent status on landing in the recent review of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program in Ottawa.  

Feel free to use pictures and background: http://no4and4campaign.tumblr.com/

Canada,  December 14, 2016 – Since April 2011, migrant worker groups have organized against the 4-and-4 rule, as part of a broader campaign for open work permits and permanent status on landing. The 4-and-4 rule required migrant workers to leave after four years of cumulative employment and banned them from returning for four years. Over 15 cities organized protest and actions in March 2015 as a lead up to the imposition of the 4-and-4 rule which uprooted tens of thousands of migrant workers, and caused mass deportations. Nearly 4,000 people signed petitions. Since October 2015, the Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada (CMWRC) has campaigned for the overturn of this rule. On December 13th, the notorious 4-and-4 rule was repealed.

“This repeal is a first step which came about because migrant workers and their allies organized against an unjust rule that resulted in thousands of deportations and migrants becoming undocumented,” says Syed Hussan of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change. “We need permanent status for migrant workers who stayed here undocumented and for those that were uprooted and forced out, for this change to be really meaningful.”

“There were more than thirty of us who reached our 4 year limit and we fought an uphill battle to stay in Quebec and apply for permanent status,” explains Francisco Mootoo of the Temporary Foreign Workers Association. “Many other migrant workers impacted were unable to do so, and it’s essential that all migrant workers get permanent residence upon arrival.”

“Dozens of our members have been forced to become undocumented or leave Canada because of this badly planned, and badly executed law that seems to have been designed by the previous government simply to show that they were being hard on migrant workers,” adds Anna Malla of the Caregivers’ Action Centre. “Repealing and tinkering is not enough. We need a total overhaul of the system which begins with ensuring permanent status on landing for migrant workers now and a regularization program for workers who have become undocumented.”

In yesterday’s announcement, the Federal Government promised to expand ‘pathways to citizenship’. The Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada (CMWRC) believes that ‘pathways’ are a euphemism for maintaining unjust temporariness for low-waged and racialized workers. A pathway is a two stage process, where migrant workers must first complete a temporary sentence of abuse and injustice before a few are selected to compete for permanent status. Low-waged and racialized people deemed to be doing ‘low-skilled’ work deserve permanent status on landing, just as much as those deemed to be doing ‘high skilled’ work.

Migrant workers from across Canada called for a repeal of the 4-and-4 rule and most importantly for permanent status on landing in the recent review of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program in Ottawa.  

National Media Contacts

• Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada – Syed Hussan – Migrant Workers Alliance for Change – 1-416-453-3632
• Pour le français/Québec: Francisco Mootoo, Association des travailleuses et travailleurs étrangers temporaires: (514) 793-2672
• Atlantic Canada – Josie Baker – Cooper Institute- 1-902-315-2705
• British Columbia – Vancouver – Natalie Drolet, 604-669-6452, West Coast Domestic Workers’ Association
• Ontario – Chris Ramsaroop – Justicia for Migrant Workers / Harvesting Freedom Campaign –1-647-834-4932
• Prairies – Manitoba – Diwa Marcelino – Migrante Canada – 204-218-710

Canada, September 19, 2016 – The Federal government’s acknowledgement of the need for reforms of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program today is a result of years of migrant workers advocating for themselves and fighting against against denial of their human and labour rights. Migrant workers members of Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada (CMWRC), the representative body for migrant workers in Canada, are calling on Minister McCallum and Minister Mihychuk to now swiftly introduce legislation for permanent immigration status for Seasonal Agricultural Workers, Caregivers and Temporary Foreign Workers in low-waged categories. As an interim measure, CMWRC is calling for open work permits, the licensing of recruiters, and an end to Harper era restrictions, including the 4 and 4 rule.

“For too long we have been treated like cogs in the machine, unable to change jobs, and the debate has been about profits over people,” says Francisco Moottoo, a temporary foreign worker from Quebec and member of Association des travailleuses et travailleurs étrangers temporaires, who spoke to the Standing Committee in May. “But we are human beings, we have families and we have feelings, and we are being denied the most basic of rights. The fundamental question is not how many migrant workers and in what industries, but what rights do we have. We deserve permanent immigration status on landing, we deserve to be able to change our jobs, we deserve to be with our families, we deserve happiness.”

All the migrant workers that participated in this review are members of organizations that make up the CMWRC. Migrant workers identified the need for permanent status on landing, open work permits, recruiter regulation, proactive labour investigations, and an end to the cumulative work permit, which are recommended in the report today. Migrant workers also called for review of medical inadmissibility of Caregivers and repatriation of migrant workers for health concerns, which have not been addressed. CMWRC hopes that all its recommendations are swiftly implemented.

The report comes as agricultural worker members of Justice for Migrant Workers are marching over 1,500 kilometres from Windsor to Ottawa to mark the 50 years since the creation of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program.

“Today’s report is vague and its recommendations are not specific, we need real changes. They are talking about expanding the SAWP program but that can’t happen without permanent status” says Farmworker Gabriel Allahdua who is in Guelph today. “We have been coming to Canada, and growing, harvesting, cleaning, packing and serving food for half a century, there is nothing temporary about us. We deserve permanent status.”

The committee has recommended a path to permanent residency for Temporary Foreign Workers, but migrant workers insist that a ‘path’ is not enough.

“Our job is never temporary, the work we do is permanent. Caregivers have a so-called path to permanent residency, but it’s not a path, it’s a minefield and it’s exposing us to exploitation, all of us migrant workers deserve permanent residence on arrival not long-term temporariness,” says Caregiver Teta Bayan from the Caregivers Action Centre who was forced to miss her turn to speak to the review. “We also need an end to the current Caregiver program introduced by the previous government which took away our right to permanent residency.”

###

• Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada – Syed Hussan – Migrant Workers Alliance for Change – 1-416-453-3632
• Pour le français/Quebec: Francisco Mootoo, Association des travailleuses et travailleurs étrangers temporaires: (514) 793-2672
• Alberta – Edmonton – Marco Luciano – Migrante Canada – 1-780-966-5908
• Atlantic Canada – Josie Baker – Cooper Institute- 1-902-315-2705
• British Columbia – Vancouver – Mildred German – Migrante BC –1-604-879-5850
• Ontario – Chris Ramsaroop – Justicia for Migrant Workers / Harvesting Freedom Campaign –1-647-834-4932
• Prairies – Manitoba – Diwa Marcelino – Migrante Canada – 204-218-710

Canada, July 6, 2016 — Migrant worker organizations are ringing alarm bells about closed-door meetings on immigration policy across the country that do not include migrant workers’ concerns. These invitation-only ‘Townhalls’ began last week, while an online consultation form was launched on a government website without much notice Tuesday. Over 50 national organizations have joined the Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada, the representative body of migrant workers, in calling for open meetings with migrant workers at a time and place where they can participate, and comprehensive immigration reform to ensure permanent resident status for low-waged, racialized workers.

“Migrant workers are critical to Canada’s economy. However, they are denied basic rights and are unable to participate in decisions that affect their lives. Permanent immigration status for migrant workers is the most pressing change needed in immigration policy in Canada today” says Josie Baker from the Cooper Institute in Prince Edward Island and a member of the Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada. “I had to call MPs in my area to find out about the meeting. I was told that one was happening in my town right away. They hadn’t told anyone about it, and migrant workers aren’t invited. Where is the transparency?”

A review of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program and the Caregiver Program was just completed by a parliamentary committee but the final recommendations will not be released until the Fall. Migrant workers are one of the only groups of immigrants that can’t come to Canada with permanent resident status, a change that must be made through the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

“First and foremost, we need to change immigration law to ensure that migrant workers have permanent resident immigration rights like everyone else. These immigration consultations should be a time to ensure real conversation and transparency where Parliamentarians listen to migrant workers where they are and move towards comprehensive reforms, not backroom conversations with a few insiders,” says Marco Luciano from Migrante Canada, based in Edmonton.

Migrant workers recently spoke to Parliamentarians at the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities. Audio and transcripts can be found here. Dozens of national organizations have called for permanent immigration status for migrant workers, see some of them here. Migrant worker organizations across the country are available to comment.

Media Contacts

• Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada – Syed Hussan – Migrant Workers Alliance for Change – 1-416-453-3632
• Alberta – Edmonton – Marco Luciano – Migrante Canada – 1-780-966-5908
• Atlantic Canada – Josie Baker – Cooper Institute- 1-902-894-4573
• British Columbia – Vancouver – Natalie Drolet – West Coast Domestic Workers Association –1-604-669-6452
• British Columbia – Okanagan – Elise Hjalmarson — RAMA – 250-212-2620.
• Ontario – Chris Ramsaroop – Justicia for Migrant Workers / Harvesting Freedom Campaign –1-647-834-4932

Click their names to read the transcript or scroll below to hear audio. Click here to read submissions from diverse organizations supporting migrant worker demands.

• Gabriel Allahdua, Agricultural worker, Justicia for Migrant Workers
• Gina Bahiwal, Agricultural worker, Justicia for Migrant Workers / others
• Ericson Santos De Leon, Caregiver, Migrante
• Francisco Mootoo, Migrant worker, Temporary Foreign Workers Association, Quebec
• Teta Bayan, Member, Caregivers Action Centre
• Pinky Paglingayen, Caregiver
• Claudia Colocho, Migrant worker, United Food and Commercial Workers
AND
• Marcia Lindo-Barrett the cousin of Sheldon Mckenzie, Farmworker who died as a result of workplace injuries

From May 11 to June 1, 2016, the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities invited written submissions on the future of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program. Across the board, most written submissions called for permanent residency status on arrival for all migrant workers. Here are a few of them.

Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada / Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, and endorsed by 16 organizations.

All migrant workers must be able to immigrate to Canada as permanent residents immediately, independently and permanently without depending or relying on the sponsorship or good will of their employers or third party agencies. This program should include migrant workers already in Canada, those that have worked here and left and those arriving in the future. Migrant workers who have been granted permanent residency should get comprehensive settlement services that will ensure their success. Download full submissions here.

Canadian Council for Refugees

The federal government should guarantee the right to all admitted as migrant workers, whatever the category, to apply for permanent residence at the same time as they apply for the work permit. This would move us away from treating newcomers as disposable, as we have been doing by using precarious, temporary labour to fill long-term positions. Download full submissions here.

Inter Pares

Current and future migrant workers should be presented with the option of acquiring permanent residency in Canada immediately, independently and permanently without depending or relying on the sponsorship or good will of their employers or third party agencies. Download full submissions here.

United Food and Commercial Workers

Canada should view the prosperity of migrant workers as an investment in Canada. We should actively support their settlement and nurture their attachment to Canada. Our primary recommendation is that workers have the option to enter Canada as permanent residents. Download full submissions here.

Migrant Worker Solidarity Network

Migrant workers, including Seasonal Agricultural Workers, should be given permanent resident status. Download full submissions here.

Caregivers Action Centre 

May 27, 2016 – Canada — Migrant advocates are calling for immediate permanent resident immigration status for Seasonal Agricultural Workers, Caregivers and Temporary Foreign Workers as a parliamentary committee reviews the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Migrant workers take care of our children, grow our food and build our economy, but remain precarious and vulnerable. These hard working community members are unable to change jobs, assert their rights and are separated from their children and parents by restricting policies.

Media events across Canada

Charlottetown, PEI: May 30, 12pm, Province House – 902-315-2705
Edmonton, AB: May 30, 9:30am, Alberta Legislature – 780-966-5908
Kelowna, BC: May 28, 11am, Kelowna Farmers Market – 250-212-2620
Montreal, QC: Available by phone – (514) 793-2672
Toronto, ON: May 30, 1pm, Southeast corner of Bloor & Spadina – 416-453-3632
Vancouver, BC: May 31, 11:30am, 550 W 6th Avenue – 604-669-6452

Background

The federal government is reviewing the Temporary Foreign Workers Program over six, three hour sessions in a parliamentary committee. Migrant workers have largely been excluded from this process. Only four migrant workers have spoken to the Parliamentarians, and one Caregiver leader was turned away on May 18th. CMWRC is calling for a comprehensive multi-Ministry consultation with migrant workers at a time and place they can attend following the current review.

Download backgrounder here.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada – Syed Hussan – Migrant Workers Alliance for Change – 1-416-453-3632
Pour le français/Quebec: Francisco Mootoo, Association des travailleuses et travailleurs étrangers temporaires: (514) 793-2672
Alberta – Edmonton – Marco Luciano – Migrante Canada – 1-780-966-5908
Atlantic Canada – Josie Baker – Cooper Institute- 1-902-315-2705
British Columbia – Vancouver – Natalie Drolet – West Coast Domestic Workers Association –1-604-669-6452
British Columbia – Okanagan – Elise Hjalmarson — RAMA – 250-212-2620.
Ontario – Chris Ramsaroop – Justicia for Migrant Workers / Harvesting Freedom Campaign –1-647-834-4932
Prairies – Manitoba – Diwa Marcelino – Migrante Canada – 204-218-710

Ottawa, May 16, 2016 – Four migrant workers will testify at the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) today between 4:30pm and 6:30pm calling for permanent immigration status, open work permits and comprehensive reforms. Migrant worker leaders from across Canada are joining them to call for permanent immigration status on landing. The Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada which is helping to coordinate these testimonies continues to insist that more needs to be done to ensure migrant worker participation in laws that primarily affect their lives. The hearing can be watched – audio only – as of 3:30pm by clicking here.

Gina Bahiwal, has been a Temporary Foreign Worker in Ontario and BC since 2008 and has worked at a warehouse, Holiday Inn and Mcdonalds. She will testify to HUMA today.

“I think migrant workers should all get permanent status upon arrival because we came here to Canada to work, and our work is skilled work. If you come to Canada and your work is called high-skilled, you get permanent immigration status, why don’t we? In addition, those workers who are being abused on closed work permits, can’t find another job because their work permit is tied to a job. Many workers, vulnerable workers, who worked in Canada for four years are being told to go home, but they have no life to go back to.”

Gabriel Alahuda is a Seasonal Agricultural Worker in Ontario. He will testify to HUMA today.

“A migrant farmworker, named Sheldon Mc Kenzie, died in 2005 in a work related accident – a fact that is news across Canada today. What safety net is available for the young family he’ve left behind after 13 years of service on the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program? These questions must be answered. Migrant workers spend years working in a developed country like Canada, where we consistently make our contributions, like all working citizens, only to be denied the benefits which only citizens can access and enjoy. We need rights, we need permanent residency and need it now.”

Francisco Mootoo a temporary foreign worker from Mauritius. He arrived in Quebec in 2012. He will testify to HUMA this week.

“We were lucky, but we had to fight for our right to stay, knowing full well that we have done everything required of us as working people contributing to Canada’s economy here in Quebec.  These immigration policies have to change for the better, reflecting a program that does not seek to exploit the desperation of hardworking people who merely wish to make this country their home. In that light, we fully support the demands of the Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada and hope that the HUMA committee seriously listens to our collective voice when reviewing the TFWP.”

Ericson Santos De Leon, Caregiver from Montreal, Quebec who will testify to the committee

“My agency charged me $4,300 placement fee. They said that I had to pay such a high fee because it was harder to place male caregivers. When I got here, I found out that the agency that hired me paid a friend to pretend to be my employer for my papers. For three months, I was stranded. After three months, I was getting desperate so I went to the agency and asked, what was going on? I’ve been waiting for so long. They made me work under the table for a family for a year. After a year, I told them I would report them to the authorities. I said, “you’ve been abusing me. I have a family to support.” They got scared and finally fixed my papers so I was legally employed. What they did was very wrong. They took advantage of me because they know that I wanted to come to Canada.”

Hessed Torres, Temporary Foreign Worker from Vancouver, British Columbia

“As a live-in caregiver, I experienced working between 12-16 hours a days despite my contract stating that I would work 8 hours a day. I also worked beyond the job duties that were stated in my contract. I felt that I needed to stay with my employer despite my working conditions being unjust because I didn’t have mobility to work for a different employer that would treat me fairly. When I asserted my rights, I was terminated. I was left jobless and homeless. I’m very fortunate to be part of MIGRANTE BC because they gave me shelter, a home, a community, and helped to empower me to assert my rights and to talk about my experience as a migrant worker.”

Dhon Mojica, Migrant Worker from Alberta

“Temporary foreign workers like myself are people, we are workers were not rags that can be thrown away when you don’t need us anymore, We were invited to come and many made money off us, we deserve the right to stay in Canada.”

Source
Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada
www.migrantrights.ca

Backgrounder

Please see: https://migrantrights.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/MigrantWorkers_Backgrounder.pdf

MEDIA CONTACTS

• Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada – Syed Hussan – Migrant Workers Alliance for Change – 1-416-453-3632
• Ontario – Chris Ramsaroop – Justicia for Migrant Workers / Harvesting Freedom Campaign – 1-647-834-4932
• Pour le français/Quebec: Lucio Castracani – Centre des travailleurs et travailleuses immigrant-e-s, (514) 885-4014
• Alberta – Edmonton – Marco Luciano – Migrante Canada – 1-780-966-5908
• British Columbia – Vancouver – Natalie Drolet – West Coast Domestic Workers Association – 1-604-669-6452
• Atlantic Canada – Josie Baker – Cooper Institute- 1-902-315-2705
• Prairies – Manitoba – Diwa Marcelino – Migrante Canada – 204-218-710

National Migrant Worker Rights Coalition calls for Open Work Permits and Permanent Resident Status

Canada – The Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada (CMWRC) is calling for removal of restrictions of hours required for Employment Insurance so that ALL Fort McMurray worker evacuees can have immediate income. CMWRC is also calling on the federal government to issue open work permits or temporary residents permits for temporary foreign workers (TFW) evacuees so that they can get back on their feet and get back to work. A review is currently taking place for EI in Parliament and a review of the TFW program starts on Wednesday, May 11th. CMWRC is calling for open work permits, and permanent resident status for migrant workers in the TFW review. A petition has also been started by CMWRC.

“Many of the 80,000 people who were evacuated now have no income due to no fault of their own, and many may be denied Employment Insurance,” explains Migrante Canada organizer and CMWRC member Marco Luciano based in Edmonton. “Getting Employment Insurance into the hands of all workers – Canadian and migrant – is essential to giving people the support they need.”

Under current laws, workers in Fort McMurray need to have worked 630 hours in the previous 52 weeks to qualify for EI. If they do, they would receive a base rate of 55% of their weekly salary. Many workers will be excluded because they have not accrued this many hours.

“Migrant workers face an additional burden however, which requires immediate action. Under the current broken system, migrant workers can only work for one employer at the one location that is listed on their permits. They are effectively tied to a single workplace, and now likely that workplace has been destroyed by fire” added Luciano. “These migrant workers need open work permits or temporary resident permits immediately so that they can start looking for work and get back on their feet. They have taken huge loans to come work in Canada, they have families to feed just like everyone else, and they need their hands untied so they can get back to work.”

“The tragedy in Alberta highlights the need to address the inconsistencies that exist for migrant workers that should be dealt with in the upcoming review of the TFW process,” says Syed Hussan, from the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change in Toronto. “All migrant workers need permanent resident immigration status, open work permits and an end to Harper era laws.”

The Filipino Workers Network is raising funds for the foreign worker evacuees at https://fundrazr.com/b180X9.

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Backgrounder on TFWP and asks by CMWRC: https://migrantrights.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/MigrantWorkers_Backgrounder.pdf

Source
www.migrantrights.ca

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Media Contacts

• Alberta – Edmonton – Marco Luciano – Migrante Canada – 1-780-966-5908
• Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada – Syed Hussan – Migrant Workers Alliance for Change – 1-416-453-3632
• Pour le français/Quebec: Lucio Castracani – Centre des travailleurs et travailleuses immigrant-e-s, (514) 885-4014
• Ontario – Chris Ramsaroop – Justicia for Migrant Workers / Harvesting Freedom Campaign – 1-647-834-4932
• British Columbia – Vancouver – Natalie Drolet – West Coast Domestic Workers Association – 1-604-669-6452
• Atlantic Canada – Josie Baker – Cooper Institute- 1-902-315-2705
• Prairies – Manitoba – Diwa Marcelino – Migrante Canada – 204-218-710

Canada, February 24, 2016 — The Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada (CMWRC), the representative body of migrant workers in the country is calling for an end to the discriminatory practice of tying migrant workers to specific employers and transition towards permanent immigration status upon arrival for all migrant workers. With membership in six provinces, the CMWRC is a coalition of organizations representing Canadian born and migrant worker groups from coast to coast to coast, aimed at improving work conditions for all workers. CMWRC believes that the review of the program must result in improved living and working conditions for Caregivers, Seasonal Agricultural Workers and other low-wage Temporary Foreign Workers that make up the Temporary Foreign Workers Program.`

“Under the previous government, we saw a $1,000 processing fees imposed on employers which was sometimes downloaded to the workers themselves; a restriction of four years for workers to stay here; and many exclusions on migrant worker permits which made it so that workers couldn’t leave bad jobs,” says Marco Luciano from Migrante Canada which represents migrant workers in Alberta. “Any review of the Foreign Worker Program should end these exclusions and move towards open work permits and ensure permanent status on landing.”

Under current laws, work sites with over 10 workers are subject to progressive “caps” on the percentage of migrant workers in their total workforce each year, from 30%, to 20%, to 10% in July 2016. Migrant workers as a result are forced out of jobs they have held for years. No new permits are being issued in food, retail and accommodation sector regions with unemployment greater than 6%, this has effectively locked workers already here in to their jobs greatly increasing the chances of exploitation.

“Atlantic Canada has a seasonal economy, and seasonal industry has come to depend on migrant workers to keep things running,” says Josie Baker of the Cooper Institute who works with migrant workers in Prince Edward Island. “We need to re-build our rural communities, but we have to face the reality that thousands of our neighbours are captive workers tied to a single employer, unable to re-unite with their families. We need to ensure that migrant workers have the same rights as everyone else.”

“Migrant workers are still being talked about as if they were an endless commodity Canada can bring in and send away whenever they feel like. There is no mention about the human and labor rights abuses this program gave way to, and the only issue that seems to be a problem is whether Canada has enough of this “product” or not,” says Enrique Illanes from the Immigrant Workers Centre that supports migrant workers in Quebec. “We need to shift the discussion to how to reformulate a program that leaves many workers unprotected and exposed, as well as ensuring labor and human rights for all workers in Canada.”

“For the last 50 years, the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) has brought tens of thousands of migrant workers from the Caribbean and Mexico annually to work in fields across Canada. These workers who risk life and limb in often unsafe work conditions to put food on the table,” says Chris Ramsaroop of Justicia for Migrant Workers that supports agricultural workers in Ontario. “This government has the opportunity to end half a century of injustice, and ensure permanent immigration status on landing for agricultural workers.”

“Migrant caregivers take care of children, the sick and the elderly, they safeguard our future and do critical work that benefits Canadian families and the Canadian economy. Their right to apply for permanent residence was taken away by the previous government and replaced by a quota that restricts their ability to stay. Tied work permits make it nearly impossible for Caregivers to switch jobs if they are in exploitative employment situations,” says Natalie Drolet of the West Coast Domestic Workers Association which serves Caregivers in British Columbia. “Caregivers should be able to switch jobs like other workers in Canada, and have open work permits immediately, as well as permanent immigration status on landing.”

“Here in Manitoba, we have seen that strong regulatory protections against recruiters, and providing decent healthcare and labour protections results in better work for everyone,” says Diwa Marcelino with Migrante in Winnipeg, Manitoba. “Now it is time for the Federal Government to keep its end of the bargain, and extend Federal protections.”

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Source
Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada
www.migrantrights.ca

Migrant worker rights groups are available for comment across Canada

• Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada – Syed Hussan – Migrant Workers Alliance for Change – 1-416-453-3632
• Pour le français/Quebec: Enrique Llanes – Centre des travailleurs et travailleuses immigrant-e-s, (514) 546-9382 – attetquebec@gmail.com
• Agricultural Workers / Ontario – Chris Ramsaroop – Justicia for Migrant Workers / Harvesting Freedom Campaign – 1-647-834-4932
• Caregivers / British Columbia – Vancouver – Natalie Drolet – West Coast Domestic Workers Association – 1-604-669-6452
• Alberta – Edmonton – Marco Luciano – Migrante Canada – 1-780-966-5908
• Atlantic Canada – Josie Baker – Cooper Institute- 1-902-315-2705
• Prairies – Manitoba – Diwa Marcelino – Migrante Canada – 204-218-7100

Open work permits, family reunification and permanent immigration status on landing for Seasonal Agricultural Workers, Caregivers and Temporary Foreign Workers remain priorities.

Canada, February 18, 2016 – The Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada (CMWRC), the representative alliance of migrant worker groups across the country, is responding to Minister Mihychuk’s statements in the mainstream media about forthcoming review of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program by calling for further details, including timelines, migrant worker involvement and scope of the review. Migrant worker advocates have been calling for Mobility, Voice and Equality for Migrant Workers, including open work permits; an end to discriminatory Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) regulations like the 4 in and 4 out rule; and permanent immigration status on landing.

“As a country, we need to honour and celebrate low-waged, and racialized migrant workers for feeding our families; taking care of children, the sick and the elderly; and doing backbreaking work to build our economy,” says Syed Hussan of the CMWRC. “Migrant worker voices must be central to the review to show Canadians the critical importance of migrant workers, and the need to ensure that they have full rights, and permanent immigration status just like everyone else who works here.”

Migrant worker rights groups are available for comment across Canada

Pour le français
Enrique Llanes – Centre des travailleurs et travailleuses immigrant-e-s, (514) 546-9382 – attetquebec@gmail.com

For impact on Agricultural Workers
Ontario – Chris Ramsaroop – Justicia for Migrant Workers / Harvesting Freedom Campaign – 1-647-834-4932

For impacts on Caregivers
Vancouver – Natalie Drolet – West Coast Domestic Workers Association – 1-604-669-6452

For impacts in Alberta
Edmonton – Marco Luciano – Migrante Canada – 1-780-966-5908

For impacts in Atlantic Canada
Charlottetown – Josie Baker – Cooper Institute- 1-902-315-2705

For impacts in Prairies
Manitoba – Diwa Marcelino – Migrante Canada – 204-218-7100

For more on Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada and Ontario
Toronto – Syed Hussan – Migrant Workers Alliance for Change – 1-416-453-3632

The whole world celebrates International Migrants Day today. 25 years ago, on December 18, 1990, the United Nations General Assembly signed and adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

Today, exactly 25 years later Canada, an active recruiter of migrant workers, has still not signed this covenant. As of 2013, there were over 176, 613 temporary foreign workers; 284, 050 international mobility program workers, and hundreds of thousands of migrants on other work permits living and working here precariously. On this day, and every day, we call upon the new Federal government to address the core issues that migrant workers face. It is time for Mobility, Voice and Equality for Migrant Workers.

Sign the Petition! Let’s work together to ensure justice

We are the Coalition for Migrant Workers Rights – Canada (CMWRC), a historic coalition of organizations representing Canadian born and migrant worker groups from coast to coast to coast. We are calling on the Federal government to end the discriminatory practice of tying migrant workers to specific employers and transition towards permanent immigration status upon arrival for migrant workers.

We are calling on groups and organizations to unite together to ensure decent work, and permanent immigration status on landing for migrant workers as it is the only way to ensure decent work and decent lives for all, and stop the rush towards fewer rights and protections. If your organization supports our demands, get in touch with us.

Migrant workers, many of them deemed low-skilled, in the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP) come at the request of specific employers, and are attached to them for the duration of their stay in Canada. They cannot easily change jobs or remain in the country if they are unemployed. Most migrant workers are denied permanent residency and are pushed out by a revolving door immigration system.

The use of labour brokers or recruitment agencies has led to the proliferation of operators who exploit migrant worker for their profit. Brokers are largely unregulated, and charge exorbitant fees for placement in jobs that sometimes don’t even exist.

Federal immigration laws that create temporariness are exacerbated by provincial labour and social entitlement laws that shut migrant workers out from basic protections. As a result, migrant workers live in constant precarity.

This shift towards increased temporary worker programs over the last decade is part of a much longer historical trend towards temporariness. 2016 will be the 50th year of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program and over 40 years since the current form of the Caregivers program came into force. This temporariness has created  a massive divide between citizens with rights, and the rest, temporary and non-status, largely racialized and low-waged workers. CMWRC

We also know that the struggles for migrant worker rights in Canada cannot be separated from the struggle against displacement. Migration, in its current form, is still very much a product of underdevelopment. Poverty, unemployment, political conflict and general displacement of peoples including displacement due to environmental factors. Thus, justice for migrants includes ensuring an end to wars and war profiteering, economic free trade agreements, and ecological and environmental degradation that Canadian corporations are complicit in abroad. It requires recognition and honoring of Indigenous self-determination here at home.

This December 18th, let us commit to moving as one to make our dreams of justice a reality.

Coalition for Migrant Workers Rights Canada International Migrants’ Day statement, December 18, 2015
MoVE is a Campaign for Mobility, Voice and Equality for Migrant Workers

For too long, we have only heard about migrant workers. But it’s time to hear from them. Migrant worker leaders like Dhon Mojica. Dhon Mojica, was in the temporary foreign worker program. While his application for permanent residency was recently approved, his life and status were in limbo for a long time. He moved from one precarious job to another in search of stability. Many of his friends and co-workers were not as lucky. Most of them were sent back to the Philippines. Dhon should have arrived in Canada with permanent immigration status. That’s only fair.

Use these tools to amplify Dhon’s message.

After over a year of conversation, phone calls, in-person meetings and organizing together on the No 4 and 4 Campaign – today we launched over social media with the following:

Newly launched Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights – Canada calls for end to discrimination against migrant workers.

Canada – Migrant worker groups from across Canada are launching a historic coalition to call on Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government to end the discriminatory practice of tying migrant workers to specific employers and transition towards permanent immigration status upon arrival for migrant workers. The Coalition for Migrant Workers Rights – Canada (CMWRC), is a coalition of organizations representing Canadian born and migrant worker groups from coast to coast to coast, aimed at improving work conditions for all workers. CMWRC is launching MoVE – a campaign for Mobility, Voice and Equality for Migrant Workers to call on Prime Minister Trudeau to keep his campaign promises to undo the harm done by the Harper government and to move towards a single-tier immigration system based on permanency and family reunification to ensure decent work for all.

Low-waged Temporary Foreign Workers, Caregivers and Seasonal Agricultural Workers come to Canada on work permits that restrict them to working for the specific employer listed on their permit. Changing employers is extremely difficult which allows bad bosses to lower salaries and work conditions. This creates pressure to reduce salaries and erode work conditions for all workers. A first step to ending this downward cycle is to untie the permits so workers have the ‘mobility’ to leave employers who exploit them. Next steps must move to reorient the system to secure, permanent immigration that protects ‘voice’ and ‘equality’ for workers.

WHAT: Launch of MoVE Campaign by Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights – Canada

WHERE and WHEN:

• Charlottetown – 200 Richmond Street, 11am, Oct 28, 2015.
• Edmonton – 14931 107 Avenue, 3:30pm, Oct 28, 2015.
• Montreal – I.W.C, 4755 Van Horne, 10am, Oct 28, 2015.
• Toronto – Suite 223, 720 Spadina, 11am, Oct 28, 2015.
• Vancouver – 550 W 6th Avenue #100, 9am, Oct 28, 2015.

MoVE Demands

• Regulatory changes to make it easier for migrant workers to move between jobs thereby improving working and living conditions for Canadian born and migrant workers. Specifically:
  • Transition from tied work permits to open work permits
  • Remove limits on work permits and restrictions on Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIA) including a 4-year time limit on workers ability to stay.
• Permanent resident immigration status upon arrival for migrant workers.

WHO: Founding members of CMWRC:

• Cooper Institute (PEI)
• Migrant Workers Alliance for Change*
• Migrante Canada
• Radical Action with Migrants in Agriculture (Okanagan Valley)
• Temporary Foreign Workers Association in Quebec
• Temporary Foreign Workers Coalition in Alberta
• Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregiver Rights (Vancouver)

*Migrant Workers Alliance for Change includes Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (Toronto), Asian Community Aids Services (Ontario), Caregivers Action Centre (Ontario), Fuerza Puwersa (Guelph), Industrial Accident Victims’ Group of Ontario, Justicia for Migrant Workers (Ontario), Legal Assistance of Windsor, Migrante Ontario, No One Is Illegal – Toronto, Parkdale Community Legal Services, Social Planning Toronto, UNIFOR (Canada), South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario, United Food and Commercial Workers (Canada), Workers United and the Workers’ Action Centre (Toronto).

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Media Contacts:

Toronto – Syed Hussan, Coordinator, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, 416 453 3632
Charlottetown – Josie Baker, Cooper Institute, 902-894-4573
Edmonton –Dhon Mojica, Migrante Canada, 780-716-3809
Montreal – ATTET Quebec <attetquebec@gmail.com>
Vancouver – Julie Diesta for Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights (CDWCR), 778-881-8345, Natalie Drolet for West Coast Domestic Workers Association (WCDWA), 604-445-0661, Jane Ordinario for Migrante BC, 604-961-7794