“We are not temporary” poster campaign launches in Nova Scotia

Photo: Cancer survivor and migrant farm worker Kerian Burnett (left) and Stacey Gomez from NOII-NS (right) speak at a press conference on August 14, 2023 regarding Kerian’s successful fight for federal healthcare coverage (Source: Canadian Press)

On November 25, 2023, No one is illegal – Nova Scotia (NOII-NS) launched the “We are not temporary” poster campaign, which highlights the voices of migrant workers in Nova Scotia who are calling for permanent residence.  

NOII-NS recently conducted a poll of migrant workers in which 99% of the 141 respondents indicated that they are in favour of permanent residence status for all migrants. The poster campaign, which consists of a series of five posters, profiles some of the responses received from migrant workers in Nova Scotia’s agriculture, seafood and food service sectors.

Migrant workers, also referred to as Temporary Foreign Workers, contribute enormously to Nova Scotia communities and the economy. They are our neighbors, friends and coworkers in workplaces such as farms, seafood plants, restaurants, grocery stores, and more. Migrant workers are employed via the Government of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which includes a number of programs and streams. In 2022, there were an estimated 3360 migrant workers living and working in Nova Scotia, of which approximately 1649 were employed in the agriculture sector.

These are some of the reasons shared by migrant workers:

1. Migrant workers are often not temporary: Although migrant workers are only granted temporary immigration status in Canada, many come to Canada on an annual basis. Some respondents indicated that they and their coworkers have been coming to work in Nova Scotia or Canada for up to 30 years and for 8 months per year.  As a male migrant farm worker from Mexico stated: “I am in favor because there are fellow migrant workers who have been here for 20, 30 years, who left their lives in Mexico to work in Nova Scotia, and should enjoy the benefits.” A male migrant farm worker from Jamaica, who’s been coming to work in Nova Scotia for 20 years stated: “Nova Scotia is almost like home.”

   Unfortunately, migrant workers face many barriers to accessing permanent residence. Only a dismal 2% of Seasonal Agricultural Workers have been able to gain permanent residence within 10 years of working in Canada. 

2. Migrant workers are often separated from family: Migrant workers are generally not permitted to bring their families with them when they come to work in Canada, which means that they are separated from their spouses and children for extended periods of time. Many respondents indicated that they support permanent residence for all migrants because of their families. As one male migrant farm worker from Jamaica stated: "My dream is to bring my family to Canada since am spending most of my time here. I don't want to lose out on my wife and kids… It's hard being away working. I love my family very much and to lose it all would hurt 💔 very much."

3. Migrant workers are not treated fairly: Many respondents indicated that they are in favour of permanent residence so they can have the same rights, benefits and essential services like healthcare as Canadians, as well as better working conditions. Migrant workers are often unable to exercise rights because they risk being sent back to their home country and not able to return to work in Canada in the future. Moreover, agricultural workers in particular are unfairly excluded from rights such as overtime and holiday pay in Nova Scotia. While migrant workers pay into Employment Insurance (EI), they are generally not able to access EI when they’re unemployed. While migrant workers pay taxes, most are excluded from accessing public healthcare coverage (MSI) in Nova Scotia.

   As a woman migrant farm worker from Jamaica stated: “Being a migrant worker in Canada comes with a lot of challenges. You are excluded from many benefits here, things that are important to life including basic health care. Also, we are given closed work permits tying us to employers and we have to live with how they treats us. We are afraid of talking because our family depends on us and we don’t want to face deportation.”

Here are some examples of recent cases, which highlight the vulnerability faced by migrant workers due to their temporary immigration status and how they are fighting back:

1. When migrant farm worker Kerian Burnett was diagnosed with cancer, she was fired. This meant that she lost her housing, private health insurance and income. Together, we advocated for her to receive essential healthcare coverage. Ultimately, she won federal healthcare coverage.

2. Migrant worker Orlando Rosas raised concerns to his employer and to Nova Scotia authorities regarding unsafe living conditions in his employee housing, which led for his cousin to become ill. When action was not taken, he bravely spoke out.

Other migrant communities, including migrant students, refugees, undocumented people, are also made vulnerable due to their lack of immigration status or precarious immigration status. For this reason, there is a growing movement from coast-to-coast calling for full and permanent immigration status for all migrants.

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