Immigration - Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

Jan 9 2020

CBC Ombudsperson: Investigate documentary on “birth tourism”

The following is a letter sent to CBC Ombudsperson. You can send a complaint also through: https://cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/ombudsman/contact

CBC 5th Estate Documentary – Passport babies: The growing shadow industry of birth tourism is inaccurate, unfair, imbalanced and puts migrants at risk

We are writing to you regarding the recent CBC 5th Estate’s documentary titled Passport babies: The growing shadow industry of birth tourism broadcast on January 5, 2020, and accompanying CBC web articles. This letter is co-signed by 30 immigrant rights, labour, research and indigenous rights organizations.

The documentary and the accompanying articles fail to meet even the most minimal standards for fairness and accuracy in reporting. The program provides a biased version of events, and does not include any immigration rights expert voices. In the current climate of rising xenophobia and racism, this kind of misinformation only increases the risk of violence and hatred toward migrants and their families.

(1) Accuracy

The program repeatedly reiterates that there are 5,000 non-resident births per year in Canada, and directly links that number to births by tourists. This number has only been cited in one report by Policy Options from November 22, 2018. However, in that study, the report author Mr. Griffith highlights that the 5,000 figure includes all migrants in Canada that do not have health coverage – not just tourists. This fact is not mentioned in the 5th Estate’s report at all. Over 780,000 temporary permits were issued during the period of Mr. Griffith’s study. In addition, there are an estimated 500,000 undocumented residents in Canada. Births by any migrants who did not have medical coverage are counted in the 5,000 figure. Thus, births by tourists are likely dramatically lower than what 5th Estate states them to be.

(2) Fairness

The 5th Estate episode, as well as the accompanying CBC piece titled ‘All about the money’: How women travelling to Canada to give birth could strain the health-care system, posit that lack of fee payment by tourist mothers is hurting the integrity of the healthcare system. The statistics provided, as outlined above, are not limited to tourists but include all non-payment of health fees by migrants. Many migrants are excluded from health coverage because of their temporary permits. Many are unable to pay up front the high fees necessary for life-saving care, putting their lives at risk. In July of 2019, the United Nations urged Canada to change legislation to ensure access to healthcare to all residents. This is critical context about the systemic denial of healthcare to migrants which, when left out, negatively biases viewers towards the reality of healthcare access for migrants.

The show highlights that hospitals and doctors are collecting high fees from patients – $18 million invoiced, and only $2 million not paid. Considering non-payment of fees here includes all migrants, it is important to clarify that 42.9% of non-permanent residents in Canada are low-income, and thus are unable to afford such high fees. And yet the CBC reports the numbers as if they are simply rich tourists accessing services and refusing to pay.

At the same time, front line nurses in the show itself point out how increased profit by hospitals is not resulting in increased staffing. But the production and editing of the show, including corresponding questions to hospital authorities and government officials, lays the blame for the strains on the health care system on fee non-payment by migrants, instead of inadequate staffing support and low government funding for front line workers, particularly nurses.

(3) Balance

The show features several voices, including US President Donald Trump and Canadian parliamentarians, all speaking out against “birth tourism”. No immigration rights organizations, experts or lawyers are featured that could provide nuance or alternative interpretations of the statistics cited, , or shed light on the impact that high healthcare fees have on migrants, or to outline policy alternatives developed by migration policy experts, for example, on the regulation of international recruiters – a subject of extensive policy and legislative work by immigrant rights organizations.

(4) Impact on migrants

Police-reported hate crimes in Canada have been surging, a fact highlighted in the accompanying 5th Estate documentary aired on the same date. This rise in hate crimes is a direct result of growing anti-immigrant sentiment, analyses and rhetoric. In such an environment, producing inaccurate, unfair, and unbalanced media reports serves only to fan these flames of xenophobia and racism by redirecting concerns about lack of funding for healthcare towards immigrants. This is dog-whistle politics, and it has a direct and harmful effect on hundreds of thousands individuals and families, and biases policy makers.

We urge you to investigate the documentary, and accompanying web-stories closely, and to issue retractions and clarifications, and to ensure such inaccurate and biased reports on immigration policy are not aired in the future.

On behalf of:

Migrant Workers Alliance for Change*
OCASI-Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
Idle No More
Association for the Rights of Household and Farm Workers (ADDPD-ARHW)
Butterfly (Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network
BC Health Coalition
Caregiver Connections Education and Support Organization
Caring for Social Justice collective
Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter
Collaborative Network to End Exploitation
CUPE 1571
Durham Region Labour Council
Faraday Law
Idle No More Ontario
Institut universitaire SHERPA: migration, diversité, santé
Migrant Worker Solidarity Network, Manitoba
Migrant Workers Centre – BC
Migrante Alberta
Migrante BC
Montréal Antifasciste
No One is Illegal – Halifax: K’jipuktuk
No One Is Illegal Toronto
No One Is Illegal – Fredericton
Northumberland Labour Council
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Sanctuary Health
Toronto Seed Library
Unifor Local 222
Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights (CDWCR)
Workers Action Centre

* The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC) includes individuals as well as Asian Community Aids Services, Butterfly (Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support), Caregiver Connections Education and Support Organization, Caregivers Action Centre, Chinese Canadian National Council – Toronto, Durham Region Migrant Solidarity Network, FCJ Refugee House, GABRIELA Ontario, IAVGO Community Legal Clinic, Income Security Advocacy Centre, Migrante Ontario, No One Is Illegal – Toronto, Northumberland Community Legal Centre, OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, OHIP For All, PCLS Community Legal Clinic, SALCO Community Legal Clinic, Students Against Migrant Exploitation, UFCW, UNIFOR, Workers’ Action Centre and Workers United.

Mar 24 2017Care Workers Farm Workers

Migrant workers left behind in 2017 Federal Budget

Joint Release from Migrant Workers Alliance for Change and Coalition for Migrant Workers

MEDIA RELEASE

Contact: Sharmeen Khan – Migrant Workers Alliance for Change – 1-647-881-0440

Natalie Drolet – Executive Director, West Coast Domestic Workers’ Association – 1-604-669-6452 or 1-604-445-0661

March 24, 2017, Toronto — Migrant workers and advocates are angered that the 2017 Federal Budget failed to deliver promised details on reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The Liberals delayed their response to a Parliamentary Committee review of the TFWP in January by promising that details would be announced in the Budget. But the Budget offers only a handful of paragraphs that ignore migrant workers’ critical demands for open work permits, permanent residency and robust rights enforcement. Instead, the Budget re-announces policy positions that were originally announced in December or in the Liberals’ 2015 election platform.

“The Liberals are continuing to delay while migrant workers continue to face exploitation,” says Sharmeen Khan, Coordinator of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change. “The Budget acknowledges that migrant workers need protection for their rights to decent work and that migrant workers need access to permanent residency. But the Budget doesn’t actually deliver any policy response to address these long-standing demands or dedicate resources to meaningful proactive rights enforcement,” says Khan. “Migrant workers raised many important concerns in the TFWP review and the Liberals need to address them in a real way that delivers real change.”

Under the new budget, workers in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program and the Caregiver and Temporary Foreign Worker Programs will continue to have their work permits tied to one employer. Furthermore, the exemption to “caps” in low-wage seasonal industries means further exploitation and precarity for migrant workers in sectors such as fisheries where an unlimited number of migrant workers are only hired for 6 months on a non-renewable permit.

The Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development (HUMA) recommended in its 2016 review of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program that the government develop open work permits and pathways to permanent residency for temporary foreign workers. Yet despite these clear recommendations, the Liberal government has refused to overhaul this deeply unjust and exploitative condition on Canada’s most marginalized workforce. While the government claims to continue investigating ways to developing pathways to permanent residency, no details or resources were given in the budget regarding how this work would be done.

“The vulnerability and violence we experience is a result of tied work permits,” says Gabriel Alahuda, a member of Justice for Migrant Workers. “I should be able to complain about my employer, or if needed leave and find other work without the fear of deportation. Without open work permits and permanent status, we are forced to stay in abusive working conditions.”

The Canadian government had an opportunity to rectify decades of abuse and mistreatment by ensuring that migrant workers have the same labour rights afforded to other workers. However, the failure of the government to protect this workforce reveals that the government’s priority is to maintain an exploitative and racist policy that provides a cheap, exploitable workforce for employers and disproportionately exploits workers of colour and women.
If the government is committed to building a “better future for temporary foreign workers” they must meet with migrant workers to develop direct paths to permanent residency, eliminate work permits tied to one employer and develop stronger enforcement to protect migrant workers from abuse. But so far, migrant workers and advocates have been waiting for over a year with no real commitment from the current Liberal government to better the lives and working conditions for migrant workers.

For more information on our demands, please check go to our petition here.

Oct 27 2015

Canada-wide migrant worker coalition calls on Trudeau to MoVE for Real Change

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

· 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.

Online petition at www.migrantrights.ca

October 28, 2015, Canada – Migrant worker groups from across Canada are launching a historic coalition today 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 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 migrant workers are restricted to only working for the specific employer listed on their work permit. Changing employers is extremely difficult. This allows bad bosses to lower salaries and hold workers hostage to poor working conditions and threaten deportation when workers speak out. These practices lower standards for everyone in the labour market. A first step to ending this downward cycle is to untie work permits so workers have the ‘mobility’ to leave employers who exploit them. The next step must be to reorient the system towards secure, permanent immigration that protects ‘voice’ and ‘equality’.

“If we are still under the closed work permit, we feel so small, we are scared. We can’t raise our voice louder,” says Mariyah Fitriyanti, a Live-In Caregiver who recently transitioned from a closed permit to an open permit. “I have an open work permit now. Open work permit is good for us. We can change the employer without them abusing us further. With the open work permit, we feel free.”

“Mr. Trudeau has promised real change, and an immigration system that welcomes and values all of us and that means untied work permits and permanent immigration status upon landing,” adds Senthil Thevar, who was a Temporary Foreign Worker in Ontario.

“Over the past decade, deep changes were made to Canada’s immigration system that bring migrant workers into the country with temporary status under conditions that predictably leave them vulnerable to exploitation by employers and recruiters,” says labour and human rights lawyer Fay Faraday. “Tied work permits, mandatory removal after four years and lack of pathways to permanent status drive real precariousness for migrant workers. There is an opportunity now for a fresh start to rebuild the system on principles of security, decent work and permanence.”

“Workers across Canada are facing precarious, low-wage jobs and tough economic times,” says Naveen Mehta, UFCW Canada’s general counsel, and director of human rights. “Too often we have blamed immigrants for unemployment in these times of economic downturn. Justin Trudeau can put forward a positive decent job agenda that raises standards for all workers, and end the arbitrary exclusion of migrant workers.”

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:

o Transition from tied work permits to open work permits

o 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

Media Contacts:

Toronto – Syed Hussan, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, 416 453 3632; Karen Cocq, 416-531-0778 ext. 221 (pour les français)

Charlottetown – Josie Baker, Cooper Institute, 902-894-4573

Edmonton – Dhon Mojica, Migrante Canada, 780-716-3809

Montreal – ATTET Quebec <attetquebec@gmail.com>

Vancouver – Jane Ordinario, MIGRANTE-BC, 604-961-7794; Julie Diesta, Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers & Caregivers Rights, 778-881-8345; Natalie Drolet, West Coast Domestic Workers’ Association, 604-445-0661

Mar 27 2015

Migrants and allies “plant justice” at Immigration offices

Sunday, March 29th, 2pm
Citizenship and Immigration Canada Toronto headquarters
55 St. Clair East.

Toronto – Over a 100 migrant workers and supporters in Toronto will be planting seedlings and food at Immigration Canada headquarters to insist that migrant workers are rooted in communities. The “plant-in”, part of actions taking place in 8 cities across the country, calls for an end to the so-called “4 and 4 rule”, and for permanent immigration status for migrant workers. A live band will accompany the planting on Sunday afternoon.

Over 3,000 people have also signed a petition.

“Many of the people who are being forcibly uprooted on April 1st have lived in the country for longer than 4 years. They have families, friends, and relationships,” says Liza Draman from the Caregivers Action Centre. “Workers already face abuse from employers and recruiters because of bad provincial and federal laws, Pulling them away from their communities on top of that is unjust, inhumane and arbitrary.”

Approximately 70,000 low-waged workers in the Temporary Foreign Workers Program and Live-In Caregiver program are impacted by the 4 and 4 regulations, which bars the renewal of work permits past four years. The clock on the first 4 years started on April 01, 2011, but many workers have been in Canada for years prior to that.

“These laws aren’t good for workers or employers,” says Syed Hussan of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change. “It doesn’t serve anyone’s purpose to remove a trained workforce, and replace it with new workers that are less aware of their rights. Why does growing roots in Canada and holding down a job for four years result in deportation? This mass deportation is classic economic mismanagement and is frankly irrational.”

People working low-wage jobs in service, retail, caregiving, manufacturing and agriculture among others are not able to immigrate to Canada permanently under existing federal law. At the same time, the Parliamentary Budget Officer recently noted that the number of Canadian citizens in “low-skilled” jobs has dropped by 26% between 2002 and 2013, highlighting the need for permanents immigrants in these sectors.

###

The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC) is Canada’s largest migrant worker rights coalition with 15 national and community groups.

www.migrantworkersalliance.org

MWAC is part of the Campaign Against the 4 Year Limit on Migrant Workers which is made up of 19 organizations across Canada. Its demands have been endorsed by nearly a dozen major national groups.

www.no4and4.tumblr.com

Mar 12 2015

Parliamentary Budget Officer adds note of reason to TFW debate. Time to re-focus on migrant worker needs.

Media Contact:
Syed Hussan, Cell: 416 453 3632, Email: hussans@migrantworkersalliance.org

Toronto — The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, Canada’s largest coalition of migrant worker rights groups, is pleased with the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s (PBO) report released today entitled: Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada: A look at regions and occupational skill which adds a note of reason to debates around Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada.

“This report is resounding evidence that the hysteria around migrant workers stealing jobs from Canadian citizens is misplaced,” says Syed Hussan, Coordinator of MWAC. “In fact, there is a great need for low-skilled migrant workers to come to Canada, lay roots and settle permanently. It’s time to shift the dialogue to ensuring migrant workers are accorded rights to permanent residency by the Federal government as well as simultaneous provincial reforms where migrant workers are provided with equal access to provinicial labour rights and social entitlements The first step to this is ending the unjust 4 and 4 rule that uproots migrant workers who have worked in Canada for four years.

The PBO found:

At their peak, Temporary Foreign Workers make up 1.8% of the entire Canadian labour force.
Between 2002 and 2013, Canada’s low-skilled workforce declined by 26%
While low-skilled citizen workers experienced a large increase in unemployment following the recession, their number was essentially back at its pre-recession low by 2013.
Most low-skilled temporary foreign workers are in smaller cities where the number of low-skilled Canadian workers is often lower than the national average.
In general, there is insufficient data to show the relationship between foreign workers and labour shortages.

Important background:

The reported unemployment rate in Canada is 6.6%
At the end of 2013, there were over 1.3 million unemployed Canadian citizens and only 53,953 low-skilled foreign workers in the country.
Migrant workers pay all taxes into the system, but are denied full employment insurance, pensions; and access to subsidized housing, post-secondary education, and skills training.

Mar 4 2015

Massive “Stop Mass Deportations” sign to be delivered to Joe Oliver’s office

March 4th. 1pm.
MP Joe Oliver’s Office. 511 Lawrence Ave. West.

Toronto – Migrant worker groups across Canada are speaking out against arbitrary time limits on low-waged workers. Mass deportations are expected as controversial regulations passed in 2011 start their impact on April 1^st, 2015. Temporary Foreign Workers and Live-In Caregivers in low-waged jobs that have worked in Canada for four years will no longer be able to extend their permits and have to leave; those that stay will become undocumented.

“These regulations impose an artificial deadline on worker’s lives and relationships in Canada and enforce a revolving door immigration system,” says Tzazna Miranda Leal, Migrant Worker Organizer with the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change. “The fact that these workers could hold down a job for four years, working 40-60 hours a week, proves that their labor is needed and that their jobs aren’t temporary. They deserve permanent status, not deportation.”

Liza Draman, a Live-In Caregiver organizer with the Caregivers Action Centre adds, “This 4 and 4 rule is a secretive backdoor to excludep Caregivers that are raising Canadian children and taking care of seniors. Its unfair, unjust and cruel.”

Approximately 60,000 caregivers are awaiting their permanent residency because of Immigration Canada’s backlog. As a result, many Caregivers, especially those who may have troubles at work, may not be able to get their open work permits within four years and may face deportation.

Senthil Thevar worked under the Temporary Foreign Workers Program in Canada and is deeply worried about these changes. “Workers like me paid thousands of dollars to come work in Canada. We work long hours, and often don’t even get minimum wage. Now they want to keep us for just four years, and then replace us. We are not chewing gum to be chewed and spat out.”

At least 70,000 workers currently in Canada, and approximately 50,000 entering each year will be impacted.

Deena Ladd from the Workers Action Centre adds, “This is not a solution for workers, employers or the economy. Workers lives will be less stable. Employers will be able to hire a new set of workers every four years who will know less about their rights, and will have to be trained at great cost. Together, this means an economy with greater turn-over, more temporary work and fewer rights.”

Actions are also taking place in Charlottetown, Edmonton, Guelph, Hamilton, Okanagan valley, Vancouver, Victoria. See full list: http://no4and4.tumblr.com/. Over 2,000 people have signed a petition athttps://www.change.org/p/stop-the-mass-deportation-of-thousands-of-immigrants-on-april-1st

###

Source:
Migrant Workers Alliance for Change
www.migrantworkersalliance.org

Campaign Against the 4 Year Limit on Migrant Workers is comprised of migrant worker groups and organizations that work directly with migrant workers across Canada. Members as of February 21, 2015 include Fuerza Puwersa (Guelph), Migrant Workers Alliance for Change*, Migrante Alberta, No One Is Illegal – Vancouver, Radical Action with Migrants in Agriculture (Okanagan Valley) and Sanctuary City Hamilton.

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

Endorsers of Campaign Against the 4 Year Limit on Migrant Workers

Canadian Labour Congress
Cooper Institute – PEI
Council of Canadians
MigrantWorkerRights – Canada
OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
OPIRG – McMaster
No One Is Illegal – Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories

Feb 27 2015

Migrant worker groups across Canada raise alarm bells about 4 and 4 rule

Edmonton, Alberta: March 5, Women’s Day march and speakers forum, 1PM at the Luther Centre 10014 81 Ave.; March 17, Flor@20, Strathcona library 2PM
Guelph, Ontario: Guelph City Hall, March 1, 11am. Community walk.
Hamilton, Ontario: February 28, 11am, various locations.
Okanagan Valley, BC: March 4, community awareness and flyering, various locations.
Toronto, Ontario: March 4, 1pm, Stop Mass Deportation Order to be issued to Finance Minister, Joe Oliver.

Actions in other cities to be announced.

WHY: On April 01, 2015, the 4 & 4 rule (Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations s. 200(3)(g)) will come into effect. Under these rules, low-waged workers in the Temporary Foreign Worker program and Live-In Caregiver streams who have been employed in Canada for one or more periods totaling four years will be denied continued status and forced to leave. They are barred from re-entering Canada as workers for four years. Over 62,000 workers currently in Canada, and many others entering the country will be affected. Workers that choose to stay past four will become undocumented. The fact that these workers have been able to maintain a job for four years proves that their work is permanent, not temporary.

As a response to these changes, front-line migrant worker groups across Canada have come together to launch the Campaign Against a 4-year Limit on Migrant Workers. Migrant workers should be granted permanent residence, not forced to cut their ties with friends, family and community and leave. These exclusions target workers that make less than the prevailing wage in their province or region (approximately $23/hour); and place an arbitrary limit on relationships and ties built over years.

WHAT: Migrant worker groups across Canada are coming together to demand:

An immediate moratorium be placed on the 4 & 4 rule, so workers here may continue to work.
That permanent residency be given to migrant workers already in Canada.
That migrant workers receive access to all social benefits and entitlements
That legislation be enacted providing permanent residency for all migrants upon arrival.

WHO: Campaign Against the 4 Year Limit on Migrant Workers includes Fuerza Puwersa (Guelph), Migrant Workers Alliance for Change*, Migrante Alberta, Radical Action with Migrants in Agriculture (Okanagan Valley) and Sanctuary City Hamilton.

As of February 27th, campaign demands are endorsed by the Council of Canadians, OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, MigrantWorkerRights-Canada, MIGRANTE – BC and No One Is Illegal – Vancouver.

For more information: www.no4and4.tumblr.com

Toronto / Canada-wide coordination: Syed Hussan, hussan@migrantworkersalliance.org or Cell: 416 453 3632
Edmonton, Alberta (Migrante AB): migrantealberta@gmail.com; 780-966-5908
Guelph: Fuerza Puwersa email: fuerza.puwersa@gmail.com or Mobile: 519-328-8835
Hamilton: Hamilton Sanctuary City Coalition: sanctuaryhamilton@gmail.com
Okanagan Valley, BC (RAMA): E-mail: hola@ramaokanagan.org or Mobile: 250-212-4740

Dec 14 2014Care Workers Farm Workers

RELEASE: Notorious 4-and-4 rule repealed; migrant workers need permanent status, not tinkering

MEDIA RELEASE

Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada www.migrantrights.ca

Notorious 4-and-4 rule repealed; migrant workers need permanent status, not tinkering

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 <http://no4and4campaign.tumblr.com/Events> 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
<https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-mass-deportation-of-thousands-of-immigrants-on-april-1st>.
Since October 2015, the Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada (CMWRC) has campaigned for the overturn of this rule
<http://migrantrights.ca/en/demands/>. 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, so 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 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 – 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

Jun 20 2014

Migrant workers prepare for more fees, shorter stays, no permanent status

Ottawa — Migrant workers and supporters are calling today’s announced changes to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program a ‘mass deportation order’ which will forcibly remove and cut-short thousands of workers’ stay in the country. These changes will also lock-in workers with bad employers, and fail to ensure expanded protections or permanent immigration status.

Quotes

“Today’s announcements are bad news for migrant workers. Migrant workers are still employed under an indentured system where they work without voice, without rights and without protections. In fact, today that system has been further entrenched. Genuine reforms would be permanent immigration status, anti reprisal measures and equal access to social entitlements. Instead, we are reinforcing a revolving door system where we are creating a permanent group of temporary workers that are denied rights that Canadians enjoy.”

— Chris Ramsaroop, Justicia for Migrant Workers, Member of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

“Today’s announcements underscore a two-tiered system. Low-waged and racialized people are being removed from the Immigration Ministry entirely, and with that many hopes for permanency are dashed. It’s a knee-jerk reaction that adds fuel to anti-immigrant fire. These changes also don’t deal with Canada’s jobless economic recovery since 2009. Not only will there be more abuse, more suffering, and fewer rights for migrant workers, there are no mechanisms for higher wages or decent working conditions for any worker in the country.

— Syed Hussan, Coordinator, Member of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

“Kenney confirmed today that migrants make up a small proportion of the labour force. The issue isn’t migrants taking jobs from citizen workers, its migrant workers being exploited and abused. That’s what migrant workers and their allies have raised for over a decade. Its obvious that the Federal government refused to listen to the voices of migrant workers.”

— Winston Morrison – Migrant Worker and Member of Justicia for Migrant Workers, Member of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

Preliminary Analysis: Impact of today’s changes on migrant workers

On more temporariness for migrant workers

Entrenching temporariness by reducing the length of time LMIAs will be issued and the cumulative period during which general low-wage temporary foreign workers will be allowed to remain in Canada will set an expiry limit on migrants’ lives, sever relationships and force thousands of workers to either leave the country or live here without rights as undocumented workers.
A further reduction in the number of years a migrant workers can stay in Canada will reinforce our current ‘revolving door’ immigration system where employers simply bring in a new group of more exploitable workers every few years.
A limit on the number of migrant workers that an employer can hire (10% for employers with more than 10 workers) will further reduce the ability of workers to switch jobs in sectors that are ‘at capacity’, forcing them to stay with abusive employers.
Higher LMO (now LMIA) fees (from $250 to $1,000) will be downloaded to workers as there is no national recruiter regulation framework.
Replacing the NOC system with wage levels does not account for the fact that many migrant workers do not actually receive the wages they are promised in their employment contracts.
None of these changes speak to the government’s general push to temporary, precarious, and conditional status across all immigrant and refugee programs, with huge discretion given to employers under both federal programs and provincial nominee programs.

On enforcement

A crackdown on employers abusing the program is not possible in the context of a complaints-driven enforcement system, which requires migrant workers to speak out against employers they are tied to. There are no systems to ensure that migrant workers will actually assert their rights, as complaining to MoL can lead to deportation and is therefore simply not an option.
The increased number, scope and reviewable federal program requirements of inspections will not affect the temporariness of the program, the lack of worker voice, or the lack of permanent resident status. Reducing worker mobility and length of maximum stay in the country will only increase the likelihood that complaints will not be made.
The expanded and improved Tip Line also risks failing to respond to situations where workers are experiencing violations in working conditions or housing in situations of debt bondage.
If increased inspections, tips, complaints, and public blacklisting of employers are successful, the government has made no indication what the impact will be on migrant workers. Will they be free to stay, to change employers, to pay off recruitment fees and placement debts, and support and sponsor their families?
The additional funding for CBSA criminal investigations risks further criminalizing migrant workers, or painting them ultimately as victims without a say in whether they can go or stay here.
Apart from promised information-sharing that’s been demanded for a decade, there are no investments in partnering with provinces for proactive enforcement of labour and employment standards.
If the government were interested in genuine reforms to the program, it would not ignore the long-standing abuse of migrant farm workers and live-in caregivers. These sectors have been exempted from protections without reason.

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Media Contacts: Syed Hussan (416 453 3632, coordinator@migrantworkersalliance.org)