Gabriel Allahdua, pictured in June 2020, is a former farmworker. He says the recommendations on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program from the Senate committee give him little comfort because he had hoped for speedier action.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
The federal government should phase out work permits that restrict migrant workers to one employer, a committee of senators concluded in a new report, following an in-depth review of Canada’s decades-old Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
The report, titled Act Now, was released Tuesday by the Senate committee on social affairs, science and technology.
It says the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) in its current form is not working for migrants or employers. It recommended a timeline of three years to phase out closed work permits, which tie migrant workers to one employer.
As a replacement, the report recommended the government look into sector-specific and regional work permits. The Immigration Minister and the Employment Minister have 100 days to respond.
The report is based on a study that the committee first launched in the fall of 2022.
Other recommendations include calls to boost funding to support migrant workers, to implement more rigorous and unannounced inspections and to provide migrant workers with more information about their rights to access health care.
Gabriel Allahdua, a former farmworker, came to Canada under the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program and was employed under a closed work permit. He said the recommendations from the Senate committee give him little comfort because he had hoped for speedier action.
“What is a ‘phase out?’ It’s when you don’t understand the urgency of the problem,” he said.
“The closed work permit is the best gift the government has ever given the employer,” he added.
Closed work permits under the TFWP have long been criticized for exposing migrant workers to abuse. UN special rapporteur Tomoya Obokata said in 2023 that the TFWP is a “breeding ground” for contemporary forms of slavery.
One witness before the committee compared labour under the closed work permit to indentured servitude, said Senator Gigi Osler.
Migrant workers in the TFWP often find themselves facing wage theft, unsafe working conditions, harassment, bullying and other abuses, Ms. Osler told a news conference. She said that workers facing abuse are often too afraid to report mistreatment because they risk deportation.
In March, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said he instructed his department to review existing programs that bring in temporary workers and undertake work to “weed out” abuses.
The government has put forward some “attractive” measures to improve the system, such as creating a list of employers who have proven they are trustworthy, committee chair, Senator Ratna Omidvar, told reporters.
The report noted the TFWP, first created in 1973, was originally intended to be a “last and limited resort” to filling labour shortages. Now, the program has become “a central component of the labour market in Canada.”
Power is likely one reason it has been able to persist for so long, said Ms. Omidvar.
“Employers have powerful lobby groups – they are in Ottawa a great deal – and workers do not.”
Beyond sectoral and regional work permits, a national commission on migrant labour may be needed to address long-standing issues, she said.
The report recommends a tripartite Migrant Work Commission that would bring together commissioners representing migrant workers, employers and the federal government.
“This commission would serve as a one-stop-shop for migrants and employers who need help in asserting their rights,” Ms. Omidvar said.
A national commission would also eliminate inefficiencies within the migrant labour infrastructure, she said.
The current system includes various federal, provincial and municipal agencies with “competing and overlapping interests.”
“With so many cooks in the kitchen, it is only logical to have a head chef,” she added.