Canada’s foreign worker program is ‘breeding ground for modern-day slavery,’ says UN report

By Luca Caruso-Moro

Click here for updates on this story

TORONTO (CTV Network) — Canada’s temporary foreign worker program is a “breeding ground for modern-day slavery,” according to a scathing UN report examining Canada’s efforts to curb unfair labor.

The program allows employers to hire foreign workers to fill temporary positions when they cannot find qualified Canadians. The number of workers employed through the program has grown significantly in recent years. According to the UN report, there were just over 84,000 permit holders in 2018. In 2022, that number had risen to almost 136,000. Most of them worked in agriculture and related labor sectors.

The report, written by UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery Tomoya Obokata, says the program puts workers in an unfair power imbalance with their employers.

For example, if a worker is fired, he or she can be deported. Some workers are deliberately not informed about their rights or are too afraid to report exploitative working conditions, Obokata wrote. Many also become trapped in debt bondage while participating in the programs, the report said.

“They may also incur debts to third-party recruiters, including costs that legally should be borne solely by the employer,” said the July 22 report, which was shared with the federal government ahead of publication.

The program is administered by Employment and Social Development Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency. In Quebec, the provincial government is an administrative partner.

“The government shifts a significant portion of the responsibility for informing temporary foreign workers about their rights to employers, despite the clear conflict of interest,” the report said.

Because workers have no access to justice, they are at risk of all kinds of other abuses, Obokata wrote.

“The Special Rapporteur received reports of underpayment and wage theft, physical, emotional and verbal abuse, excessive working hours, limited breaks, extra-contractual work, uncompensated management duties, lack of personal protective equipment, including in dangerous conditions… Women reported sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse.”

Mathis Denis, spokesperson for the Minister of Employment, Labor Market Development and Official Languages, said in a statement to CTV News that the government recently increased fines for companies that fail to provide adequate working conditions for their foreign workers.

Last budget year, Canada’s 2,122 inspections resulted in fines totaling $2.1 million, up from $1.54 million the year before, he said.

Employers who do not comply with the rules are listed on a public website maintained by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Notable companies on that list include a Domino’s Pizza location in Vancouver, where the pay, working conditions or specific job characteristics did not match the job offer, the government said. That location was fined $21,000.

A Freshii in Richmond, B.C., was fined $15,000 for failing to provide an inspector with requested documents, the government found. A Quebec farm, Ferme L. Campbell et Fils Inc., was fined $60,000 and suspended from the program for five years on the same grounds, and because the government found it “failed to make sufficient efforts” to ensure its workplace was free from victimization and physical, sexual, psychological or financial abuse.

“The health and safety of temporary foreign workers (TFW) in Canada are of paramount importance,” Denis wrote.

Responses to a government survey of temporary workers showed that the majority — 76 percent — of workers were aware of their rights and responsibilities, he added. About 80 percent of the 1,600 workers surveyed said their knowledge of their rights and available services had improved.

“It is the responsibility of employers who hire TFWs to ensure their safety and well-being throughout their employment. It is the responsibility of the federal government to ensure that employers comply with the program and to hold accountable those who do not,” Denis wrote.

Please note: This content has a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

[email protected]