A Senate committee has issued a report that slams the 50-year-old temporary foreign workers program.
While one senator conceded that many employers treat the workers well, she said that others treat them like slaves.
Senator Ratna Omidvar, chair of the committee that prepared the report, said the program needs immediate changes.
It recommends a three-person commission to regularly review the program, one to represent the workers, another to represent the employers and the third the federal government.
The commission would gather data, issue an annual report to parliament, consult with provincial and municipal officials and serve as a single point of contact and response to reports of abuse and/or mistreatment.
Omidvar said migrant labour administration is an “alphabet soup of departments, agencies and organizations sending inspectors and inspections” to enforce various and overlapping compliance and enforcement regimes.
She said not one witness could identify a particular organization or body responsible for ensuring standards were met.
It calls for an end within three years to permits that are tied to a single employer and for consultations about changing the permits to regional ones and related to a specific industry such as farming or meat-packing.
It recommends changes that would make it easier for workers to achieve Permanent Residence Status, the first step towards becoming a Canadian citizen.
The report wants to “increase funding to the Migrant Workers Support Program and existing grassroots organizations to support dedicated services across the country to help migrant workers navigate Canadian bureaucracy before, during and after their stay, including accessing health care, social supports like Employment Insurance, and immigration needs.”
It wants the program to provide more pre- and on-arrival information about migrant workers’ rights to access health care, including what the employer is required to provide, how to access interim private health insurance, if required, and how to apply for provincial or territorial coverage and calls for a number of other changes to ensure workers have access to health care.
The executive summary of the report begins by saying “It is clear that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is neither temporary nor a last and limited resort. The program is not working for migrant workers and could work better for employers.”
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