Join us online on Thursday, April 27 at 8pm (Toronto time) for an open and anonymous meeting for undocumented migrants and supporters across the country. We will provide an update on regularization, answer all your questions, and share what needs to be done for us to win!
REGISTER RIGHT NOW to get the Zoom link or come back to this registration page on April 27th and join in. Simultaneous interpretation will be available in Spanish and English.
Join us in grief and rage.
If you can’t attend at 12pm, there is also a vigil at the same location at 4:30pm organized by the Toronto Refugee Rights Day organizing committee.
Refugees and other migrants were already dying crossing via Roxham Road because the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) and other immigration laws made it impossible to travel safely. Now, with STCA expanded, both the US and Canada have legislated a policy of turning away migrants. Any refugee crossing over will be able to be deported without due process within the first 14 days of arrival. This will force refugees to take even more dangerous routes and cause even more suffering and death. Prime Minister Trudeau says Canada welcomes migrants, even as he is slamming the door shut and putting migrants in danger.
Are you a migrant care worker in Canada? We want to know what your current struggle is. We are gathering information to determine what care worker issues to voice out to the government.
Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (Formerly Caregivers Action Centre) is an organization that is led by current and former migrant care workers like you and other migrants workers in farms, healthcare, fisheries and migrant students. We will use this information to learn how to better support migrant care workers in their demands . Personal details you share is private and confidential and will not be shared to the government or employers.
This survey is only complete when you click “submit” at the bottom of the page. Please share this survey with your friends and other care workers. Call, text, or Whatsapp us if you have any questions at 416- 897-4388!
Join other migrants and allies to paint banners, make signs and art for the March 19 Status For All rally and march in Toronto.
Sunday March 12
2-5pm, drop in
720 Spadina Ave, suite 202
Toronto, M5S 2T9
See map here: https://goo.gl/maps/9pY2ZFbs62qcZboh8
Register now and together let’s make our message clear: Unite Against Racism, Refugees Welcome, Status for All!
Sunday March 12
2-5pm, drop in
720 Spadina Ave, suite 202
Toronto, M5S 2T9
See map here: https://goo.gl/maps/9pY2ZFbs62qcZboh8
Toronto, February 20, 2023 — Evocative drawings by children of migrants separated from their families for decades and from those fearing family separation because of possible deportations were launched today, Family Day, at a pop-up art exhibit outside the Toronto office of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. Photographs of the drawings have been put together into a sketchbook by Migrant Workers Alliance for Change and were also mailed to every Member of Parliament.
The drawings from children as young as two years old include inscriptions about family separation and fear. A migrant farmworker’s child wrote, “I miss my dad so much. I wish I could be with him in Canada, reunite our broken family, finish my schooling and make my dad proud.” An undocumented child wrote, “I am six years old, I have no friends, I can’t register in school because I have no status. Please help all the kids in Canada to get an education.”
Sarom Rho, spokesperson for Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, explained, “Permanent resident status is the mechanism through which families can be united and everyone has equal rights; without it migrants are separated and in crisis. We are sending these drawings by migrant children to Prime Minister Trudeau and every Member of Parliament to remind them of the cost of their decision and urge them to keep their promise, ensure permanent resident status for all, and stop the suffering.”
Olufunke Ajileye, a 32 year old mother from Nigeria, was slated to speak at the art exhibit but was detained by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) over the weekend. She shared the following statement, “In 2017, after living here for 6 years, the government tried to deport me without my children. When I was at the airport waiting to be reunited with them, the CBSA officer said he will make sure I never set eyes on my children again. I had a panic attack and was rushed to the hospital. A few months later, they told me I can put my Canadian-born child in foster care while I and my other child go back to Nigeria. This is family separation. No mother should ever be forced to be separated from her children. Permanent residency keeps families together. Prime Minister Trudeau promised regularization, we need status for all now.”
In December 2021, Prime Minister Trudeau promised regularization in his mandate letter. Every migrant group in Canada and over 500 major civil society, labour and environmental organizations have been urging the Prime Minister to keep his promise and create a comprehensive regularization program that is uncapped (no arbitrary quotas or caps); which includes all undocumented people (including failed refugee claimants); allows migrants to apply for permanent resident status (instead of forcing them into temporary immigration programs) and does not have any unfair exclusions. See: www.migrantrights.ca/resources/regularization-in-canada/.
Cindy Carlos is a migrant care worker from the Philippines who came to Canada in 2010 as a live-in caregiver. Holding a drawing from her son this morning, holding back tears, she said, “After I finished my 24 months of work experience, I applied for permanent residency and was denied because of an officer’s mistake. But their mistake cost me my status. And without status, it feels like my hands and feet are tied up. We don’t have freedom. Everyday I live in fear of deportation and discrimination. Prime Minister Trudeau, untie this knot and give status to everyone! No exclusions!”
Canada created new family work permits for migrants in January but low-waged temporary foreign workers like farmworkers and domestic workers are barred from applying. Migrants can only access equal rights and family unity through permanent resident status but there is no access to permanent residency for most agricultural workers at all; and migrant careworkers must meet impossible conditions like high English language score and education accreditation.
Jesy Sari is an Indonesian caregiver and mother of two sons who has been in Canada for four years. She added, “Everyday I think about my two sons back home. It’s breaking my heart because I told them to wait for me. But I don’t know until when because I cannot apply for permanent residency because of the high English and education requirements. It’s like a never ending nightmare. We don’t know about our future here in Canada. This is why we need to be united with our kids, our families. We need status now”
SEE THE SKETCHBOOK OF DRAWINGS HERE: www.migrantworkersalliance.org/sketchbook
BACKGROUND
About Migrant Workers Alliance for Change
Migrant Workers Alliance for Change is Canada’s largest migrant-led organization where migrant farmworkers, careworkers, student workers and undocumented people join together to improve working conditions and immigration and labour laws. Visit us for more information: www.migrantworkersalliance.org
Media contact:
Sarom Rho, 416-887-8315, sarom@migrantworkersalliance.org
We have created a sketchbook of evocative drawings by over 100 children of migrants separated from their families for decades, and from those fearing family separation because of possible deportations. We urge you to look carefully at the drawings. Share it with your family, friends and colleagues. Imagine the love that went into each drawing. Imagine the birthdays, the funerals, the anniversaries missed. Imagine the immense change that you can help create when you support regularization for all undocumented people and permanent resident status for all migrants. A fair society is only possible with equal rights; and equal rights are only possible if everyone has the same immigration status. Add your name to our petition at www.StatusForAll.ca
Read the press release from the pop-up art exhibition launch
Join us online on Wednesday, March 1 at 7pm (Toronto time) for an open and anonymous meeting for undocumented migrants and supporters from across the country. We will provide an update on the campaign for regularization, answer all your questions, and share what needs to be done for us to win.
REGISTER RIGHT NOW to get the Zoom link or come back to this registration page on March 1st and join in. Simultaneous interpretation will be available in Spanish and English.
On the morning of Family Day, join migrant and undocumented people to call for family unity, regularization and Status for All, without exclusion and without delay, and check out an art exhibit of migrant children’s drawings.
1 in 23 people in Canada are separated from our families or fear being torn apart because of deportations. We’re unable to hug our children, put their drawings up on our fridges or be with them for birthdays, graduation or weddings.
Toronto, February 10, 2023 – Today’s announcement by Minister Sean Fraser to reduce the term of service for migrant careworkers from 24 to 12 months is a result of migrant care worker organizing but migrant care workers continue to be denied permanent residency and therefore equal rights.
Migrant Workers Alliance for Change has over 2,500 migrant care worker members, many of whom are exploited at work, and remain separated from their families because of unfair conditions that remain in place despite today’s announcement.
The previous federal Conservative government re-shaped the existing caregiver program in 2014, creating a 5-year pilot program, with increased requirements for permanent residence for migrant women who take care of children, sick and the elderly. Program requirements were onerous – new English language and Education accreditation requirements – disqualifying most migrant care workers in Canada.
As a result of migrant care worker organizing, the newly elected Liberal government created a partial amnesty program, called the “Interim Pathway” in June 2019 and removed the Education requirement for a brief period. Thousands of migrant care workers applied through the Interim Pathway for permanent residence status. Hundreds have still not had their application processed, some of them have been in Canada since 2014 or earlier.
However, at the same time the Liberal government created yet another 5-year pilot program. This program maintains the unfair requirements created by the previous Conservative government, as well as a 2,750 cap for applications accepted per year.
Today’s announcement maintains the exclusionary nature of the program including:
MIGRANT CARE WORKERS ARE CALLING FOR:
QUOTES
“Migrant careworkers like me have been speaking up and fighting for landed status now; reducing the work requirement to one year is a step forward but that still means exploitation for one year. We don’t want half of the exploitation, we want equal rights and that means permanent resident status for all. We need an end caps, unfair language and education requirements and an end to the backlog.” – Jhoey Cruz, Migrant Careworker Organizer, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.
“What the government is doing right now is unfair and unjust. What about us who are not qualified because of our language tests and the education requirements? I can’t apply for permanent residency, I can’t be with my children. How many days will we spend without our loved ones because there is always exclusion for low-wage workers like caregivers. I hope the government will give permanent resident status for all so we can be reunited with our families back home – Razel Lapaz
“I’m happy for myself that I don’t need to finish the 24 months but I’ve been here three years, and just completed more than 12 months work experience. I had to leave so many jobs because of bad treatment and now I am waiting for my employer to get a Labour Market Impact Assessment, so that I can then get a work permit as I need to stay in valid status. It still doesn’t address the issue of long processing times. I’m also sad that a lot of caregivers still wouldn’t be able to apply.”- Anna A.
For more information
Jhoey Cruz, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, 416-897-4388, jhoey@migrantworkersalliance.org
Program details will be announced closer to April 30, 2023. Enter your information and questions below and we will email you updates.
On February 10, 2023, Minister Sean Fraser announced that the amount of work experience in Canada required for a caregiver to qualify for permanent residence is being reduced from 24 months to 12 months.
In addition, some spaces under the existing caregiver pathways have been reserved for caregivers who already have work experience in Canada from a previous work permit so that they are able to apply for permanent residence.
The change will be effective as of April 30, 2023, and will be retrospective for caregivers who have already applied.
Enter your contact information and questions below and we will be in touch.
