UN report finds Canadian foreign worker program institutionalizes modern-day slavery – JURIST

Tomoya Obokata, UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, reported last week that the Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program will serve as a “breeding ground for modern-day slavery.”

The Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program allows Canadian employers to hire foreign workers for temporary positions. The UN report states that the program institutionalizes a “significant power imbalance” between foreign and migrant workers and their employers, which benefits employers but makes it difficult for foreign workers to exercise their rights. Workers often have little choice but to work for employers who do not guarantee adequate working conditions, and their migration status depends on their employer. If they are fired, they are deported back home.

The UN Special Rapporteur found that governments were not actively informing workers of their rights, that migrant workers were at risk of exploitation, and that the rapporteur had received reports of underpayment, wage theft, physical, emotional and verbal abuse, sexual harassment, disproportionately long working hours, limited breaks, extra-contractual work, uncompensated management tasks, lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), including in hazardous conditions. Workers may be reluctant to raise concerns with their employers.

Obokata advised the Canadian government to strengthen the powers of the Office of the Canadian Ombudsman for Responsible Business, address the situation of migrant workers by enforcing human rights standards, conclude work permit schemes, ensure migrant workers’ access to health care, ensure that workers can effectively report abuses and receive protection, among other recommendations.

Mathis Denis, spokesman for the Minister of Employment, Labour Market Development and Official Languages, said companies are being fined if their foreign workers are not provided with adequate working conditions. Last year, inspections of companies resulted in fines of $2.1 million. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) maintains a website listing employers who have failed to comply with the rules and have not met their responsibilities under the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program and the International Mobility Program. Employers who fail to comply can be fined, banned from hiring temporary workers or both. Denis said a government survey found that most temporary foreign workers were aware of their rights.

The number of workers hired through the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program has increased, with the UN report saying there were nearly 136,000 permit holders in 2022, most of whom worked in agriculture. Obokata visited Canada to assess the Canadian government’s efforts to prevent contemporary forms of slavery, meeting with government officials, human rights organizations, academics, workers, and survivors of modern-day slavery.