Please add your organizational endorsement by September 6, 2024. Only organizational names will be shared in the final letter when sent. For questions, please contact info@migrantrights.ca.

Please forward to migrant worker supporting organizations across Canada, but please do not post on social media. We will be in touch with you after September 6 to share our launch plans.

The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A2, Canada
pm@pm.gc.ca, justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca

The Hon. Marc Miller
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
229 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6, Canada
minister@cic.gc.ca, Marc.Miller@parl.gc.ca

Re: Urgent Changes Needed to Protect Migrant Workers

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Miller,

We are organizations that support migrant workers across Canada. For decades, migrants and their allies have raised concerns about the exploitation and abuse resulting from employer-restricted work permits, employer-controlled housing, lack of permanent resident status, and inadequate labour protections.

The Vulnerable Worker Open Work Permit was created by the federal government as a measure to provide some protection for workers within a system biased against them. However, it fails to address the fundamental and systemic inequities inherent in the temporary foreign workers regime. It has also failed as a stopgap measure “to provide migrant workers who are experiencing abuse, or who are at risk of abuse, with a distinct means to leave their employer.”

The program has many shortcomings. The evidence and effort required to apply are beyond the capacity of most migrant workers and necessitate support from legal, labour, or migrant organizations. The program’s guidelines are unavailable, and decision-making is arbitrary. Applicants are asked to participate in interviews, provide evidence that is simply not available, or undergo further medical tests. Many are rejected, including spouses, while some are randomly accepted after applications for reconsideration. Although applications are supposed to be processed within five business days, some cases have taken over five months. The definition of abuse is unclear, and not all abuses are considered, including common ones like no employment provided on arrival or abuse by the temporary help agency that placed them. Workers forced to leave the country by their employers are not allowed to apply.

Workers waiting for their applications to be processed are sometimes forced to remain in abusive situations. Those who leave often find themselves without housing, employment, or income for months while awaiting a decision, forcing them into even more vulnerable situations.

Even when the Open Work Permit for Vulnerable Workers is granted, it is only for one year, and sometimes only for six months. Many workers, particularly in rural areas and those who do not speak English or French, have no choice but to move to another abusive employment situation. The permits are non-renewable, and most workers cannot find an employer willing to hire them after their vulnerable worker open work permit expires. As a result, many become undocumented or are forced to leave the country.

Federal inspections are supposed to occur when a vulnerable worker open work permit is issued, but there is limited or no coordination with provinces and territories, which are primarily responsible for employment standards, health, human rights, and housing inspections. Results of inspections are not shared with workers, and there is no reparation. Workers are not provided with support to file complaints, recoup stolen wages, or access justice.

The UN Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery called Canada’s migrant worker programs a breeding ground for exploitation. The Vulnerable Worker Open Work Permit program fails to stop the exploitation inherent in the program.

We are calling for the following immediate changes:

1. Open Work Permits for Vulnerable Workers (OWPVW) should be valid for at least four years.

2. OWPVW should be renewable.

3. Migrants with OWPVW are whistleblowers and must be granted permanent residency.

4. Family members of migrants with OWPVW should also receive work and study permits.

5. Employers of migrant workers with OWPVW must be automatically investigated by federal and provincial governments, and workers must be supported in obtaining reparations.

6. OWPVW applications must be processed within five business days.

7. Immigration Canada’s rules for processing applications should be made public, apply uniformly across Canada, and data on approvals and denials should be made public.

8. Migrants who have become undocumented or left Canada should be able to apply for OWPVW.

9. The burden of proof should be reversed—employers must prove that no abuse has occurred, instead of the worker having to provide proof.

10. Approvals must include access to housing and employment support.

11. No closed, tied, or sectoral work permits should be issued to employers or temporary help agencies.

12. Permanent residency must be granted upon arrival to all migrants, and undocumented migrants must be regularized.

List of signatories:

Migrant Rights Network - Canada
Cooper Institute, PEI
Immigrant Workers Centre, Quebec
FCJ Refugee Centre, Ontario
Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre, New Brunswick
Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, Canada
Sanctuary Health, British Columbia
Butterfly (Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network), Ontario
RAMA Okanagan, BC
RAMA Isla, BC
Sanctuary Students Solidarity & Support Collective, Ontario
Centre for Migrant Worker Rights, Nova Scotia

Chinese Canadian National Council (Toronto Chapter), Ontario
BIPOC USHR, PEI
Worker Solidarity Network, BC
National Farmers Union, Ontario
National Farmers Union, New Brunswick
Niagara Workers Welcome, Ontario
Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network, New Brunswick
Southridge Community Church, Ontario
Worker Solidarity Network, BC
Niagara Community Legal Clinic, Ontario
Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre, Ontario