Canada and the World
Current Events with a Canadian Perspective
Last update
09 November 2011
Non-
and Migrant Workers
Tens of thousands of temporary and migrant
workers put up with poor working conditions
to ease their poverty back home
Farmers in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia and Southwestern Ontario rely
on migrant workers. Without non-
Each year between 18,000 and 20,000 labourers come to Canada to work in vegetable,
flower, and tobacco production.
Migrant farm workers travel from Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, Mexico, and small Caribbean Islands to work on Canadian farms from eight weeks to eight months.
They come under a program run by Ottawa called the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program. Mexico is the number one source country.
Most come because of poor economic conditions at home; they can make enough money in Canada to feed and house their families. But, the life of a migrant worker is not great.
Poor Working Conditions on Farms
According to Chris Ramsaroop, at the Canadian Labour Congress, the migrant farm workers are not covered by the Employment Standards Act. This means they have no legal way to challenge unsafe working conditions or even unfair treatment by employers.
There have been efforts to raise awareness of the lack of rights among migrant workers, but people who kick up a fuss are often sent back home. It’s a safe bet that workers labelled as troublemakers will not get hired in future years.
Temporary Domestic Workers
Another group of non-
They come to Canada under something called the Live-
No doubt many of these arrangements work out well, but some that come to light border on slavery.
Monica Urrutia, of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada, has spoken out on behalf of female migrant workers.
“Domestic workers,” she has written, “are not even covered under the basic employment standards uniformly across Canada, and sometimes not at all in several provinces! Reports of verbal and physical abuse, rape, overwork, underpay, long hours, and illegal work with little or no protection in return make the domestic worker one of the most vulnerable workers in Canadian society.”
Foreign domestic workers hold protests in many Western countries seeking better working conditions.
In 2005, Ms. Urrutia's group made an appeal to then Citizenship and Immigration Minister Joe Volpe: “We estimate that there are currently hundreds of Filipino domestic workers who live in constant fear and anxiety about their situation in Canada knowing that they may face deportation.
“We urge you to take immediate action on this matter to protect the rights and welfare of these migrant workers by implementing an immediate moratorium on deportations of domestic workers.”
Other Non-
Non-
Then, there are professionals and technicians on temporary work assignments with Canadian businesses.
Rounding out the non-
They are allowed to stay in Canada temporarily while the government investigates their claims.
The refugee claimant process is one that is greatly abused. It is used by people trying to take a shortcut through the immigrant application process. They make their way to Canada and claim to be escaping from persecution.
While their case is investigated, a process that can take years, they receive welfare, education and health services, and may be allowed to work.
In 2005, more than 31,000 people made refugee claims in Canada. In 2004, 47 percent of refugee claims were rejected and the claimants returned to their country of origin.
Sources
Canadian Labour Congress
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
© Canada and the World, November 2011
All rights reserved
“...international students contributed more than $6.5 billion to the Canadian economy in 2008.”
Dept. of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
THE EMPLOYER
FROM HELL
Six MPs from the Philippines House of Representatives asked for inquiry into the treatment of Filipina caregivers in Canada.
In April 2005, MP Crispin Beltran quoted the case of a caregiver who was forced to work 17 hours a day and was paid less than two cents an hour.
She had to work in her employer’s video store, clean the house of her employer’s mother, and slept in the family’s library.
MIGRANT RIGHTS
The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families establishes standards of protection for all migrant workers and members of their families.
It has been adopted by the United Nations but it remains a long way from becoming a significant measure.
By late 201, 40 countries had ratified the Convention, but Canada is not among them.
The Convention is the law, but it only applies to those countries that have given ratification.
Not one developed nation has ratified the Convention, none has even taken the first step of signing it.