Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program has been in the news a lot lately, including in the recent Tony Keller article published on The Squamish Chief website [The temporary foreign worker program is a scam, and almost everyone is in on it, published Aug. 16] and the Bloomberg article by Jay Zhao-Murray and Laura Dhillon Kane [Migrant Workers Lured to Canada Are Being Scammed Out of Their Life Savings, published Aug. 14]. While it’s great to see the awareness of the program increase, we can’t help but feel that the human angle is missing. Too many talk about temporary foreign workers; too few speak with them.
“Overall, the entire experience is like living in a nice scenic prison,” shares one temporary foreign worker with the Squamish Welcome Centre’s Migrant Worker Support Program. This sentiment is something we hear often at the Welcome Centre. From our experience, many people participating in the program feel frustrated.
At the heart of many of their frustrations is the lack of freedom built into the federal program. Trapped in a low-paying job; bonded to one employer, maybe at an abusive workplace; stuck without realistic access to permanent residency, the main pathway dependent on a supportive employer; barred from many services and programs, like the BC Housing Registry, while still paying taxes.
What would you do if your rent was 70% of your monthly income? If there’s no lower-cost housing available, you might consider getting a second job, or finding a new job with higher wages. If you have a closed work permit, you’re not permitted to do either of those things.
Another frustration is that the jobs themselves aren’t always secure—while the person with a closed work permit isn’t allowed to work elsewhere, the employer is not obligated to provide employment for the duration of the permit. When people make the hard decision of leaving their families and roots behind—fleeing from unsafety, corruption, crime and many other difficult situations, and dreaming of a promising future in a better country—they’re seeking safety, stability, and security in Canada. And not everyone is finding it. We are shocked at the rates of fraud and scams as well as poor working conditions, abuse from employers, racism, and discrimination they are facing here in the Sea to Sky. No one deserves to be treated like this.
Most of all, temporary foreign workers are people.
They’re your neighbours. They’re next to you, cheering on their kid and yours. They’re you. There are political and economic consequences of this program, but it’s not a purely business issue. This is a human issue. Workers are people first—no matter what passport they hold—people whose whole lives and families are deeply affected.
There are some major problems with Canada’s TFW program. But, to say that workers are “in on it” is not only incorrect, it shifts the blame to those who are most negatively impacted.
Zulma Reina and Tanager
Squamish’s Migrant Worker Support Team
