Category: Uncategorized

Care Workers

We marched to Ottawa to demand our rights!

On July 25, almost 1000 migrant care workers, farmworkers, migrant students, undocumented people, refugees and supporters united and marched on the streets of Ottawa to demand full and permanent immigration status for all. See below for photos of this historic moment!

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Watch this Global TV coverage where migrants bravely speak about why we need status now!

We were also featured in the CBC News, Canadian Press, Capitol Current, Radio Canada, Journal de Montréal, Le Droit, La Presse, TVA Nouvelles, and Ming Pao.

We went to Ottawa to make it loud and clear for Prime Minister Trudeau that we want our rights NOW! Permanent immigration status means that we have access to equal rights like everyone else. It means we can leave our employers if being abused or are able to study in school. It also means we can reunite with our families! 

We know that when migrant care workers come together, we have the power to make change. And with the federal election around the corner, we must be ready to raise our voices and demand that the government do more. Sign this petition to make sure your voice is heard!

Care Workers

TR for PR program closes after only 10 weeks. Here’s what to do next!

After just 10 weeks of opening, the new TR for PR program for Essential Workers (Stream B) officially closed on Thursday, July 15. This means that many of us who were trying to get our applications together to apply on time, are now shut out. 

While many of us are upset, now is the time to connect with other migrant workers and speak up! In 2019, migrant care workers won the Interim Pathway Program, but it closed after being open for only three months. So care workers, like you, continued to demand more and the Interim Pathway was reopened. At that time, the Minister of Immigration said the program was only extended because care workers spoke up. Do you want to speak up with other migrant care workers? Contact us at 647-782-6633 and we will connect you.

Here’s what to do next!  

Did you already apply under the TR for PR program? You may be eligible for a bridging open work permit. Applications and more information will be shared by the government on July 26, 2021 and we will let you know. 

Did you apply for PR previously and are waiting for a decision? The federal government has promised to process 6,000 applications this year, and another 6,000 next year. 

Are you a child care worker? You will be able to apply for permanent residency under the Home Child Care Provider pilot program when it reopens on January 1, 2022, if you meet all the requirements.  

Are you an elderly care worker? You can apply under the TR for PR program: Essential Worker (Stream A) or under the Home Support Worker Program pilot program, if you meet all the requirements. 

Are you non-status? You may be eligible for permanent resident status under the Humanitarian and Compassionate application process. 

If you have more questions, contact our free, confidential hotline at 647-782-6633!

SPEAK UP!

For many of us these options aren’t good enough. We are tired of waiting. We don’t want to be separated from our families. We don’t want to be exploited. The language tests and educational requirements are simply too difficult. We work here, we live here, we deserve equal rights and permanent immigration status for all. 

Here’s what you can do immediately:

  1. Sign this petition to demand: www.landedstatusnow.ca. 
  2. Leave a message for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau RIGHT NOW and demand that he give full and permanent immigration status for ALL! https://migrantrights.ca/callforstatus/

Click here to watch a video of Care Worker Yamz calling the PM Trudeau and leaving a message!

We are going to Ottawa! Watch us live this Sunday, July 25 at 2pm as migrants take to the streets in Ottawa to demand Status for All! Join the livestream on Facebook @MigrantRightsCA. 

Migrant Students

Add your name: Migrant student workers deserve fairness!

Add your name to the petition to #MakeItFair for current and former international students!

If you are part of an organization, click here to endorse the Fairness Agenda platform so we can unite: MigrantWorkersAlliance.org/FairnessAgenda

Farm Workers

Information about English test, for new Permanent Residency program

In May, the Canadian government launched a program called the Pathway to Permanent Residence for Essential Workers. This is a very small opportunity for only 30,000 workers in a number of essential sectors to apply for PR, but only if they can meet certain requirements. 

We know that these requirements are unfair and shut out most workers like us:

  • Having to pass an English exam, with a minimum of level 4, is unfair because English is not a requirement for farm workers to come to Canada to work. 
  • While working in Canada workers do not have time to study and the ones that have learned English are self-taught and it is English for work, so an English test where you have to read, write, speak and listen is not fair or realistic.
  • The vast majority of agricultural workers live in rural communities far from any center where they can take the test. 

Migrant Workers Alliance for Change has been supporting workers interested in taking the test to apply for permanent residence with a preparation course for the exam. So far, we know of 6 workers who have passed the exam after taking this course.

Many workers are reaching out to us with questions about how to apply for PR through this new program. Below is some information about the English test.  

Without the result of the English test workers will not be able to send the application for permanent residence. 

This is a general description of the language requirements for this Permanent Residence program:

  1. Test approved by the government of Canada are:

Only GENERAL is accepted

Only can be done on computer 

Approximate price $ 280 CAD

Only GENERAL is accepted

Available in two formats: On paper, due to COVID it was difficult to find a center to take the exam on paper, but for July and August there are more places and dates available. 

Paper exam $ 287.60 + tax 

Computer exam $ 300 + tax

Note: Prices change depending on the province and city where you are.

Recommendations:

  1. Migrant workers, who take the IELTS test, have the option of paper-based, oral section is done in person.
  2. Both exams are scored with a score of 1-9, for people who apply for permanent residence it is ONLY required that they obtain a minimum of 4 average points.

CELPIP required score by section:

IELTS required score by section:

  1. A score of 4 is less than 50% of the maximum grade which is 9 and is considered one level less than the intermediate level.
  2. Registering for the exam is somewhat complicated as at this time you can only book online.

Migrant workers who are in rural areas face the challenge that there are not always exam centers nearby. In addition to having to pay with a credit card, there is the option of buying a prepaid visa or mastercard, or if workers have a debit visa can be used.

We have consulted with English teachers who are dedicated to preparing students to take these exams and their conclusion is that the level that the government is asking for is something that even non-English speaking workers can achieve. 

Teacher tips: 

  • Learn the mechanisms of the exam
  • Learn the correct way to write an email: greeting, farewell, formally and informally. 
  • For the other sections the answers are in the questions or the text.
  • Both tests are NOT designed to measure your knowledge but your abilities.
  • For workers who speak Spanish it is advisable to take the IELTS test since they can present it written by hand, the reading section is not very difficult since most of the vocabulary has Latin roots. In addition, the oral section is a face-to-face conversation.
  • There are several videos on youtube where you can practice and learn the listening section. 

This program was created thanks to workers who have raised their voices. We must continue fighting for a permanent residence status for all, without leaving anyone behind, united we are stronger!

Study Materials:

  • Videos on Differences Between CELPIP and IELTS 
  • Practice Tests:
  • Videos to practice:
Care Workers

66 years of organizing and winning!

Migrant domestic workers have been coming to Canada without full immigration status – which means without full rights – since 1955. We have been exploited and excluded for 66 years. But it also means we, and the care workers before us, have been organizing and winning for 66 years! 

Today on International Domestic Workers Day, we reflect on the history of migrant care worker organizing: 

  • Black Caribbean women, along with many other workers, led the fight to create a path to permanent residence (PR) for migrant care workers in the 1980s. 
  • In the 1990s, workers’ struggles forced the removal of a number of exclusionary requirements, but care workers were forced to live in employer homes.
  • In 2010, migrant care workers won the Juana Tejada law, removing the requirement for a second medical exam to get PR. 
  • In 2014, migrant care workers won an end to the live-in requirement. But a cap of 2,750 per year was put on PR applications, and unfair requirements for English and education were put in place. 
  • In 2017, migrant care workers led the fight to remove medical inadmissibility rules, which led to them being significantly reduced, though they remain in place. 
  • In 2019, migrant care workers won an Interim Pathway to allow many workers in Canada to get PR without the exclusionary requirements introduced in 2017. 
  • And during COVID-19, migrant care workers are organizing across the country for vaccine access, mobility and immigration and labour rights.

WE hold up the Canadian economy – temporary foreign workers like all of us make up 10% of private household workers in Canada. Thousands of undocumented mostly racialized women are doing in-home domestic work, and even more are working in long-term care homes and as personal support workers. 

But unfair immigration rules push us into abusive jobs; tie us to our employers for health care and housing; restrict us from being able to study freely; put us at risk of exploitation from recruiters and consultants, and for deportation; and separate us from our families for YEARS! 

We know the rules only change if migrant care workers come together and fight for our rights. Join us!

November 22, 1981: Care Workers from the Philippines, Caribbean and the UK gather in a protest of thousands in downtown Toronto. Four days later, on November 26, then-Immigration Minister Lloyd Axworthy, bowing to nearly a decade of mobilizing by immigrant women, created a path for domestic workers to gain permanent residency.
Care Workers

No time to wait! Status For All!

A lot has happened these last couple of months.

  • The Home Child Care Provider Pilot Program closed its doors on April 30th after reaching its cap of 2750 and being open for only four months. 
  • On May 6th, the new PR program for essential workers opened up, allowing some of us to apply. But those of us who have not completed or passed the English test, or laid off from work or don’t have a valid work permit can’t apply. Read more on the program and how to apply here. 
  • Under pressure from migrant care workers, the government has finally agreed to process 6,000 out of 12,000 of us this year that are waiting for a decision on our applications. But thousands of us have already applied for PR and are still waiting for a decision on our applications! 

This is why on May 9th, Mothers Day, migrant care workers, undocumented people and supporters visited Members of Parliament offices across the country with thousands of petitions calling for Landed Status Now and Status for All (see our Landed Status Now petition here). See below for photos and click for some media coverage. 

Migrant Care Workers delivered petitions to MP Heather McPherson in Edmonton! 

The Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers’ and Caregivers Rights along with Sanctuary Health and Migrante-BC delivered petitions to MP Harjit Sajjan in Vancouver!

Migrants and undocumented people hit the streets in Montreal! 

Rules are changing, but too many of us are excluded. Many of us are still separated from our families and unable to access equal rights and protections in the middle of a global pandemic. 

The Immigration Minister Mendicino keeps making promises but we have no time to wait, we must get louder! Join us in-person or online on June 20th for actions happening across the country to demand better: No waiting, No caps, No barriers, Status For ALL!

Sign up and share with your friends and other care workers! 

United, we are stronger!