1 November 2024
The Honourable Marc Miller, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
Honourable Randy Boissonnault, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Official Languages
Employment and Social Development Canada
RE: Urgent Concerns Regarding the Proposed Reforms to the TFWP streams for agriculture and fish processing
Dear Ministers,
We, the undersigned organizations, write to express our deep concerns regarding Employment and Social Development Canada's (ESDC) plans to reform the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) streams that admit workers for employment in the agriculture and food processing sectors, including fish and seafood.
We are concerned that the proposed changes do not address long-standing human rights issues and that the consultation and adoption processes are being conducted with insufficient transparency. Furthermore, we are particularly worried that the individuals most directly affected by these changes, migrant workers, are not being adequately consulted to ensure their opinions on the reforms are heard.
1. The proposed changes do not address human rights issues
Years of research, studies, and awareness raising have highlighted two underlying factors that expose migrant workers to the risk of exploitation and other human rights violations: closed work permits (tied to a single employer), which prevent them from changing employers, and a temporary and precarious immigration status, which discourages them from reporting mistreatment due to fear of being fired, losing their status, and being forced to return prematurely to their home country, often with significant debt.
The federal government has been informed of these issues repeatedly over the years, and its refusal to address them meaningfully has led Professor Tomoya Obokata, UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, to describe the program as “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery” in his report submitted this month to the UN Human Rights Council.
We believe that any reform undertaken at this stage must prioritize addressing these serious human rights concerns. However, this does not seem to be the case. Instead, the reform appears to aim more at making the program more convenient for employers while sidelining the need to tackle the root causes of ongoing rights violations.
Moreover, one of the main proposals in this announced reform of the TFWP concerns the granting of sectoral work permits, rather than closed ones, for the new stream. However, it is not demonstrated that these permits will lead to improved working conditions or increased mobility for workers. On the contrary, experiences with sectoral permits outside Canada suggest that there are numerous reasons to anticipate that these permits may fail to improve worker mobility. Recruitment agencies could monopolize access to alternative jobs, while employers might collude to control workers' mobility in the labour market, for example, by blacklisting those that assert their rights.
However, beyond the fact that the introduction of sectoral work permits raises doubts about the actual improvements the proposed reforms may bring in terms of migrant workers' rights and working conditions, the main drawback of your department’s proposed reform lies in the persistent refusal to address the issue of temporary and precarious immigration status, which keeps workers dependent on their employer, regardless of which one, to maintain their status in the country.
A lack of access to permanent residency for workers in the agricultural and food processing sectors creates serious barriers for workers in terms of accessing justice and fully benefiting from various health and social programs (to which they are entitled to by law). In the absence of reforms addressing these long-standing issues, the proposed measures will not concretely benefit workers but will merely offer employers increased flexibility to organize a mobile workforce in their respective sectors, while still keeping them captive and dependent.
2. Lack of transparency in the announcement of reforms, consultation processes, and the exclusion of migrant voices
The proposed reforms, which appear to be largely predetermined and fail to address key concerns raised by civil society, are accompanied by a troubling lack of transparency. Many organizations that have long supported and advocated for migrant workers were only made aware of these reforms through media reports in April. Even then, obtaining detailed information about the proposed changes proved challenging. Currently, there seems to be no public availability of detailed information on the reforms or the consultation process. This lack of transparency hampers stakeholders' ability to engage constructively and contribute effectively to the reform process.
It is particularly concerning that between March and May 2024, ESDC and IRCC conducted preliminary consultations with select partners and stakeholders regarding the new program. However, the criteria for inviting certain groups while excluding others remain unclear. This lack of explanation raises questions about the fairness and inclusivity of the consultation process, and whether the interests of migrant workers are adequately represented in the reform discussions.
Additionally, the structure and timeline of the consultation process are problematic. Stakeholders currently have only 20 business days to review and provide feedback on discussion papers covering six specific topics. This timeframe is insufficient for meaningful consultation and for gathering input from the individuals most affected—migrant workers themselves. The possibility of discretionary extensions to this deadline, as seen with the consultation on housing, does not adequately address the issue.
We therefore request the following:
- A public and genuinely transparent consultation process, including making available publicly all information regarding the reforms and consultations on the ESDC website, as well as, through provincial and municipal governments to ensure the inclusion of all stakeholders in the consultative process;
- A methodology that ensures proper consultation with migrant workers themselves, through civil society groups and unions involved with them;
- Longer timelines for each stage of the consultation, along with advance notice of the release dates for discussion papers so that organizations can adequately prepare;
- A consultation that is not limited to the announced six topics but is open to other issues raised by stakeholders;
- A consultation that addresses the fundamental issue of access to permanent residency, including for workers in the relevant sectors without status;
- A consultation that allows for discussion on all types of work permits, including open permits without sector limitations;
- That stakeholders are not consulted on a reform plan that has already been pre-determined.
Lastly, as you are aware, CCR and its members are deeply concerned about the recent announcement of cuts to the immigration levels plan, which drastically reduced commitments to refugees and access to permanent residency for many in vulnerable positions with temporary status including migrant workers. We urge the government to take immediate action to create a more inclusive and equitable immigration system that recognizes the vital contributions of migrant workers to our society and economy.
This letter is being submitted in both official languages. Thank you very much for your consideration, we look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely, and on behalf of the other signatories,
Gauri Sreenivasan
Co- Executive Director
Cc: The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (ESDC)
Signatories:
- Action Coalition on Human Trafficking (ACT), Alberta
- Amnistie internationale Canada francophone
- Association pour les droits des travailleur·ses de maison et de ferme (DTMF), Québec
- Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking (CCTEHT), national
- FCJ Refugee Centre, Ontario
- Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ)
- Legal Assistance of Windsor, Ontario
- L’Observatoire pour la justice migrante, Québec
- La Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes immigrantes et réfugiées (TCRI), Québec
- Réseau d’aide aux travailleuses et travailleurs migrants agricoles du Québec (RATTMAQ), Québec
- SEF-Conseil Migrant, Québec