Stressed about your wages and rights at work? Is your permit expiring? Worried about permanent residency?
You’re not alone!Federal & provincial immigration programs are cut in half. By the end of 2025, more than 1.2 million permits expire.
Former international students and migrants are being laid off. Employers are using immigration cuts as an excuse to push down working conditions for everyone. Sign up to get information about immigration options and what your union or organization can do to ensure rights for all workers.
What do you need to know about the upcoming Immigration Levels Plan, the federal budget and long immigration processing times? Are there more raids? What about expiring permits? How does all this impact you?
Join November’s Migrant Assembly to discuss all these updates and hear how migrants like you are taking action to fight the cuts. This assembly is led by migrants – don’t get scammed by immigration consultants and other people who want to make money off of our struggles by spreading misinformation.
UPDATE: Since we’re dealing with colder weather than anticipated, we’re now meeting indoors at a cafe nearby! Join us at Snakes & Lattes at 3pm for some hot chocolate.
📍Snakes and Lattes – https://maps.app.goo.gl/Xixe8uUvK4JY6c2MA
🕒 May 25 at 3pm
International students! Spring is finally here, the semester is over, and now we’re onto the next struggle: finding jobs and building our lives in Canada. Let’s hang out – come for a picnic in the park and meet with others like you. Bring your friends and family!
Food, music, games and a discussion about what our future holds when it comes to immigration and dignity at work.
This picnic is planned by international students in Migrant Students United chapters at Seneca College and George Brown College.
PGWP workers with expired and expiring permits are uniting on an (1) electoral strategy, and (2) Solutions, not Scapegoats media strategy. Read more about the strategy, political opportunities below, and join the fight for immigration justice!
Our plan of action
We have a joint media and electoral strategy to respond to the political moment we’re in. We must create political pressure, and shift the public narrative that is blaming migrants and international students for the housing and job crisis.
🔹 Electoral Strategy: On April 28, 2025, there will be a federal election. We’ll push candidates in our ridings to take a stand on permit renewals and increasing permanent residency programs.
🔹 “Solutions, Not Scapegoats” Media Campaign: We’ll share our stories to challenge the narrative that immigrants are to blame for economic issues.
Our Political Opportunities
✅ Using the elections to push on immigration justice: The federal elections are April 28, 2025. From now until then, candidates from political parties want to win a seat in their riding. We need a coordinated strategy that is effective on multiple levels, and scale our power up. Candidates will be doing campaign events in each of our ridings, like townhalls, all-candidate debates and more. We are part of their constituent base, even though we cannot vote. We can raise how cuts to immigration hurt all working people in the country, have knock-on effects on the economy and communities, and demand they take a stand on immigration justice.
✅ Exposing contradictions: More and more, working-class Canadians must realize we are not the problem, and that cuts to immigration hurt them too. Many critical sectors like education, healthcare and childcare, are already falling apart because so many of us have to leave jobs when our permits expire. Employers are also using this as an excuse to layoff other workers and lower standards for all of us.
✅ Building unity: We have support from allies in major unions, healthcare and immigration organizations, who know that racism and xenophobia are not the answer. More will recognize this is a shared fight.
We can bring in more of our coworkers, friends, and neighbours. We need both unity and strength in numbers.
Every day, 3,000 permits expire—we can’t afford to stay silent.
The issue and why it’s happening
Our permits are expired / expiring, the requirements for Express Entry programs are restrictive, the minimum cut off scores have been high and the draws for Canadian Experience Class are infrequent. Category-based selection has also let the government cherrypick who gets permanent residency and who doesn’t.
We’re impacted by the massive cuts to permanent residency programs. Provincial programs have been cut by 55%. Some streams of PNP are closing overnight, and they’re suddenly saying our jobs no longer qualify. They want us to fight and compete with each other. But permanent residency and our rights should not be like the hunger games.
We’re in a global economic crisis. At the same time, some people – politicians, corporate employers and landlords – are making record-breaking profits, while the majority of us are struggling to make ends meet. They need somebody to blame. Over the last 18 months, migrants have been scapegoated for the housing crisis, taking jobs, lowering wages and working conditions, causing inflation – this is simply not true. Racism and xenophobia are meant to divide and distract us.
Public opinion on immigration has shifted. In response, the federal government walked back on promises and instead cut permits and immigration, which adds to more scapegoating. It’s a vicious cycle. But when our rights are under attack, we must fight back.
Calling all International Students at GBC! Sign up here to keep up with our fights against unfair cuts at school, work and home and to help us win real changes.
Frustrated by the constant immigration rule changes? Worried about cuts at school and bad bosses at work? Just want to share a meal with other international students? Join other current and former international students standing together against unfair policies and scapegoating!
Join us at the YUGSA Conference Room (Room 430), First Student Centre on Tuesday, March 18th from 4:30 p.m to 6 p.m
International Students and Workers, Stand Up for Justice with MWAC!
Confused by the immigration rule changes? Got problems at work? Come learn your rights and speak to current and former international students standing up together against these unfair policies
Join us from 11 a.m to 12:30 p.m on Friday, February 21st at Seneca College – York.
International Students and Workers, Stand Up for Justice with MWAC!
Confused by the immigration rule changes? Got problems at work? Come learn your rights and speak to current and former international students standing up together against these unfair policies
In 2023, while working on a closed work permit in New Brunswick’s fishery sector, Itzel faced unexpected layoffs due to a lobster shortage. This is a common issue in the Atlantic fishery sector, leaving hundreds of workers without income and having to put food on their tables and pay rent.
When Itzel was denied unemployment insurance, she refused to accept it. With the support of our organization, the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, she fought for her rights and ultimately won over $2,000 in EI benefits.
Itzel’s victory shows that we can win when we stand united and fight for their rights.
She encourages all workers to join the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change and fight for our rights!
If you have an expired or expiring work permit (post-graduate, LMIA, employer-sponsored, spousal, refugee), sign up to get more information about your rights and immigration options.
Immigration laws are changing fast and you’re not alone! By the end of 2024, more than 200,000 post-graduate work permits (PGWP) and nearly 1.2 million total permits will expire. Already, many graduated international students and migrant workers are being fired, laid off or working for cash because their work permits cannot be renewed.
It shouldn’t be this way – all workers should be able to work with rights and protections. Together, we can win fairness.
