The design of Canada‘s Temporary Foreign Worker program (TFWP) exposes labourers from the Global South to shocking abuse and discrimination, a report by Amnesty International has stated.
In 2023, the top countries of origin of TFWP workers were Mexico, India, Philippines, Guatemala and Jamaica, together representing almost 70% of the work permits granted.
Released on Thursday, ‘Canada has destroyed me’: Labour exploitation of migrant workers in Canada, criticises the structure of the TFWP, which allows employers to hire migrant workers, primarily for low-paid jobs, across various sectors, including agriculture, food processing, the care system, construction and hospitality.
TFWP work permits tie workers to a single employer who controls both their migration status and labour conditions, said the report.
Despite recent minor changes to the programme, labourers in the TFWP will be vulnerable to abuse as long as the closed work permit requirement and other harmful provisions remain.
In total, the report recommends 32 actions that federal, provincial and other authorities must take to eliminate abuse in the system and ensure victims can access justice.
“Exploitation, discrimination and abuse are integral features, not bugs, of the Temporary Foreign Worker program,” said Ketty Nivyabandi, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada’s English-speaking section.
“Cosmetic changes are not enough. Our leaders must implement the reforms required to bring the program in line with Canada’s human rights obligations – and, ultimately, to respect the rights of workers.”
“Every year, thousands of people from around the world leave their homes and their families to carry out essential jobs in Canada,” said France-Isabelle Langlois, executive director of Amnistie internationale Canada francophone.
“Rather than receiving a warm welcome, some are met with unsafe working conditions, racist intimidation and threats, sexual harassment and physical violence. We applaud the 44 workers who courageously shared their stories with us, and we thank them for their efforts to expose appalling human rights abuses taking place in our own backyard.”
The report’s findings are based on in-depth interviews and desk research conducted between February 2023 and June 2024, involving a total of 44 migrant workers from 14 countries. Amnesty International selected the interviewees based on referrals from partner organizations and in a few instances, from other workers interviewed by the organization.
“The abuse experienced by migrant workers in Canada is deeply troubling, especially for a country that claims to be a leader when it comes to protecting human rights,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, senior director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns at Amnesty International.
“Many migrant workers have told us they came to Canada hoping to secure a better future, yet instead, they felt they were treated like slaves. These workers are vital for putting food on the country’s tables and caring for the elderly. They deserve much better.”
Exploited and abused
Bénédicte, a woman from Cameroon, suffered racist psychological and sexual abuse at the hands of her employer as soon as she arrived in Canada in 2016 with a two-year closed work permit to work on a farm. She was made to work 70–80-hour weeks performing tasks including domestic work, was substantially underpaid, and was constantly controlled. Her employer deceived her, promising to bring her children to Canada, to continue exploiting her. She eventually fell sick and was diagnosed with severe anaemia. When she finally left the farm in July 2018, her employer cancelled her work permit, leaving her with an irregular migration status.
“I did not expect to be a slave here,” she told Amnesty International.
Most of the 44 workers interviewed by Amnesty International reported unpaid wages and excessive working hours. Some contracts seen by Amnesty International stipulated zero rest days.
Some workers reported being subjected to racist language by their employers and supervisors, including being called “donkey” or “shitty Mexican”.
A Jamaican woman said her supervisor told her to “go back to the tree you came from” and a few reported being physically assaulted by their employers.
Many lived in inadequate housing, and a few said they did not even have drinkable water in their accommodation.
Some workers suffered severe injuries or developed medical conditions as a result of unsafe working conditions.
Workers reported being threatened with repatriation by their employers, and in a few cases, were taken to the airport against their will.
Many workers reported suffering discrimination at work, including by being tasked with the hardest physical jobs, which they could not refuse.
Women reported gender-based violence and discrimination. For instance, Hélène and Sylvie* (not their real names), two Ivorian nationals working in a nursing home, told Amnesty International they had to commit to pay the recruitment fees incurred by their agency in Ivory Coast and the employer in Canada in case they failed to comply with their “commitments”.
These included not being pregnant at the time of departure, not getting pregnant and not abandoning the employment before their two-year contract ended.
No adequate remedy for abuses
Many workers fail to report the abuses they suffer out of fear of reprisals including unfair dismissal, non-renewal of their contract, and repatriation. Those who do complain are faced with Canada’s complex enforcement system, which is nor designed to protect individuals with precarious status, who often don’t have time to engage in proceedings or who may not be able to navigate bureaucratic systems in either of Canada’s official languages.
For example, Walter (not his real name) arrived in Canada to work in agriculture on a two-year closed work permit, but was subjected to long working hours and was not provided with the necessary protective equipment. He was also banned from eating, drinking or taking a break except during transportation.
Eventually, the owner of an unauthorised placement agency deceived Walter and several of his co-workers into believing he could help them change jobs lawfully.
For a year, he lived in the basement of the owner of the placement agency and was not allowed to leave except to work on jobs that the agent arranged for him.
“My work permit and work almost killed me … If we did not obey, we would be deported,” he told Amnesty International.
Walter has not yet received adequate redress for the severe abuses he suffered.
Systemic discrimination
Unlike other temporary labour schemes in Canada, TFWP closed work permits don’t allow migrants to change employers.
TFWP work permits are mostly granted to “low- skilled” workers from low- and middle-income countries in the Global South, with a majority of Black, Latin American and other racialized populations.
In 2023, the top countries of origin of TFWP workers were Mexico, India, Philippines, Guatemala and Jamaica, together representing almost 70% of the work permits granted.
Moreover, “low-skilled” racialized workers are subjected to a high risk of labour exploitation for long periods of time, as many continue travelling to Canada year after year, with little prospect of obtaining a more secure status, due to Canada’s immigration system which privileges “high-skilled” workers for permanent residence.
“The reality is that labour exploitation is a foreseeable and systemic result of closed work permits. Any reform that fails to abolish closed work permits and replace them with open work permits fails to address the root causes of the abuses and will fall short of complying with Canada’s international human rights obligations. Migrant workers should have the freedom to change jobs and employers, just as Canadians are.”
Canada’s TFWP was launched in 1973 to allow employers to bring foreign workers to Canada on a temporary basis, although the first migrant workers began arriving from the Caribbean in the 1960s. The program has gone through several reforms but closed work permits have remained a fundamental component over the years. In 2024, the Canadian government adopted additional reforms to reduce the number of migrants in the country and the length of TFWP work permits.