[Report] They fear that changes will further undermine migrant workers
This article was originally published by Radio Canada International in Spanish. You’ll find a link to the original article here.
Migrant workers reject reforms proposed by the Canadian government because they fear that exploitation will worsen. Support networks are demanding that permanent resident status be granted as the only solution to guarantee their rights.
Workers pick strawberries in the fields of a farm in Lanaudière, Quebec. Support networks fear that changes being considered by the government will worsen the exploitative conditions of migrant workers.
Image: Radio Canada / IVANO DEMERS
Maria Gabriela Aguzzi
Published August 2nd, 2025 4:00
The hopes of thousands of migrant workers in Canada are being dashed by proposed government reforms that, far from improving their conditions, threaten to deepen exploitation and control by employers.
This was confirmed by Stacey Gomez, executive director of the Centre for Migrant Worker’s Rights in Halifax, Nova Scotia, who spoke out in an interview with RCI to denounce that these changes do not address the structural causes of the problems they face, and that the only solution is to grant permanent resident status to these workers upon arrival in the country.
Gomez explained that Canada's temporary worker program has been criticized for years because of closed work permits, which “trap workers in jobs where they suffer various abuses.”
Currently, if a worker loses their job, they also lose their work permit in many sectors, a situation that was denounced by UN Special Rapporteur Tomoya Obokata, who, after a visit to Canada in September 2023, said that the temporary foreign worker program constituted a form of modern slavery.
Obokata argued at the time that these people risk deportation if they lose their work permits, which also prevents them from changing employers if they face abusive situations.
The federal government is exploring changes that would give workers more freedom to change jobs within their sector, rather than having their permits tied to a single employer.
Internal documents from Employment and Social Development Canada, published this week by The Globe and Mail, detail proposals to introduce a new sectoral permit for workers in the agricultural and fish processing industries. These permits, valid for two years, would allow workers to change employers within the same sector, provided they have a new job offer.
However, Gomez stressed that although the government is proposing these new changes, the practical reality is that “there are still many restrictions.”
Stacey Gomez is the executive director of the Centre for Migrant Workers Rights in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Photo: Screenshot / Maria Gabriela Aguzzi
A worker, even if they can change employers more easily within a sector, would still be tied to that sector, for which they must have a specific permit and an open position, which means that “supposed mobility” is not really mobility at all. “It's not going to change much for workers, in fact, it could make the situation worse,” warned Gomez.
The concern is compounded by government proposals to allow employers to charge up to 30% of a worker's salary for accommodation. This point is critical, said Gomez, given the “appalling conditions in which many workers live,” an issue that has been the subject of constant complaints.
Another crucial issue raised by these temporary foreign workers is access to healthcare in the different regions where they work.
In this regard, Stacey Gomez highlighted the words of a migrant worker in Nova Scotia who said he had seen "sick workers being sent back to Mexico. Once there, it is their responsibility to fend for themselves. We have no guarantees. For the government, the consulate, and the farms, we are objects, not human beings."
Given these circumstances, Gomez emphasized the need to pass initiatives that grant permanent status to these workers.
“This would allow workers to exercise their rights without fear of being sent back to their country of origin. It would also allow them to be with their families while working in Canada.”
Worker support networks speak out
This week, at a press conference held via Zoom, the Migrant Rights Network released a new report revealing that workers reject the changes proposed by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).
The report, published on July 30, presents the voices of 514 migrant workers: 322 respondents and 192 focus group participants with an average of 6.2 years of experience in Canada's temporary foreign worker programs.
According to the support network, the changes—which are currently under consultation—would legalize new wage deductions of up to $1,307 per month ($15,600 per year), while keeping workers tied to their employers and failing to improve their housing. Migrant workers are clear in their demand “for real change, starting with permanent resident status for all,” said network spokespeople.
Some of the people who participated in the virtual press conference organized to denounce the possible impacts of the changes being proposed to the temporary foreign workers program by the federal government
Photo: Screenshot / Maria Gabriela Aguzzi
Pablo, an agricultural worker originally from Mexico who has been coming to Canada for more than 12 years, participated in the press conference, offering his testimony alongside two other people who are participating or have participated in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
He said he worked in vegetable planting and harvesting, as well as on packing lines, a job that involves “long hours and often a lot of pressure, which has sometimes led to accidents in the workplace.”
Despite having health insurance, “access to medical care remains very difficult,” he said.
Pablo described the housing conditions as precarious, exacerbating the reality of grueling workdays and little time for rest.
“We live in overcrowded conditions, sharing very small rooms, about three to four meters, with up to four people. This means a lack of privacy and poor rest.”
The proposal to allow employers greater deductions for rent is categorically rejected by workers such as Pablo, as “this only opens the door for some employers to profit from our need for housing, charging us for spaces that do not guarantee our safety and well-being.”
He said he has lived in houses with up to 30 people, which generates “huge profits for the employer, but at the expense of our living conditions.”
For Pablo, the most effective solution to protect himself from abusive employers is to “grant permanent residence without requiring a high level of English, because the work we do does not require advanced English skills.” Permanent status will help ensure that workers are no longer exploited, he stressed.
Pablo, like many others, returns to work in Canada so that “our children can have better lives in our home countries, so they can study and finish school, so they can have more opportunities than we had.”
His hope is to save enough money to start a business and “retire with dignity and be able to support my family.”
Specifically, support networks for these immigrants are demanding:
Permanent residency upon arrival without exemptions or delays.
Elimination of all employer-linked work permits.
Zero deductions for housing.
Minimum wage of between $20 and $25 per hour, with 40 hours per week guaranteed.
Immediate access to healthcare without employer interference.
Full payment by the employer of all transportation costs and access to local transportation.
Migrant rights organizations and the workers themselves insisted that the changes proposed by the government will not solve the structural problems and will only perpetuate a system where power remains in the hands of employers.
