A recent UN report by Tomoya Obokata, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, highlights severe concerns about Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program, suggesting it acts as a breeding ground for contemporary slavery. The report, which can be accessed here, underscores a significant power imbalance favoring employers and rendering it challenging for foreign workers to exercise their rights. Workers face considerable risks, including underpayment, wage theft, and various forms of abuse, all while being dependent on their employers for their migration status.
Among the issues identified are inadequate working conditions, including lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) in hazardous environments and exploitation through extracontractual duties without proper compensation. These conditions create substantial barriers for workers in reporting abuses and asserting their rights.
The UN Special Rapporteur recommends that the Canadian government enhance the powers of the Office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise and enforce human rights standards within the TFW Program. Other recommendations include closing restrictive work permits regimes and ensuring that foreign workers have access to essential services like healthcare.
In response, Mathis Denis, spokesperson for the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, stated that the government has implemented measures to penalize companies that fail to provide appropriate working conditions. Such measures resulted in $2.1 million in fines last year. Additionally, non-compliant employers are listed on a government-managed website, which can be viewed here, and may face fines, bans from hiring temporary workers, or both.
The TFW Program has seen an increase in participants, with nearly 136,000 permit holders in 2022, most of whom are employed in the agricultural sector. This report follows Obokata’s visit to Canada where he engaged with government officials, human rights agencies, academics, and workers to evaluate the country’s efforts in combating contemporary slavery.
For more details, the original article can be found on JURIST.