Why open work permit for migrant workers is an inadequate solution – Dal News

Kate Swanson is Professor of International Development Studies and Chair of Canada Studies at Dalhousie University; Alyssa Weeks is a research fellow in international development studies at Dalhousie University and Elizabeth Fitting is a professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Dalhousie University.

Every year thousands of migrant workers come to Canada to grow, process and prepare our food. But in July 2024, a United Nations report called Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP) a “breeding ground for contemporary slavery.”

New research from Dalhousie University supports the findings of this report. Master’s research by Alyssa Weeks, one of the authors of this article, shows that stakeholders in the maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have significant concerns about the TFWP. They are calling for comprehensive reforms to better protect migrant workers from abuse and exploitation.

Researchers have long criticized Canada’s TFWP, particularly because migrants’ jobs are tied to employers through closed work permits.

In practice, this means that migrants are often afraid to speak out against abuse and exploitation because it could mean not only losing their job but also deportation. A recent lawsuit by two temporary foreign workers illustrates this, claiming lost wages and wrongful termination from a lobster factory in New Brunswick.

To address some of these concerns, Canada introduced open work permitting for vulnerable workers in 2019. This policy allows immigration officials to grant open work permits to vulnerable migrant workers in abusive situations. The permits are valid for up to 12 months and are exempt from the government’s labor market impact assessment.

Major defects

Despite the intentions of this program, our research reveals significant flaws.

Based on secondary literature, policy analysis and interviews with migration experts across the Mediterranean, our findings suggest that open authorization policies are an inadequate solution when it comes to relieving migrant workers from abusive situations. Instead, it serves as a temporary solution that often forces workers back into precarious and abusive situations.

Maritime actors – including migrant worker support staff, academic experts in migration studies and an international consulate official – point to systemic problems with open licensing for migrant workers.

First of all, the application itself is cumbersome and very difficult for migrants to fill out themselves. Technological and functional issues complicate the application, including mobile device incompatibility, upload limitations, and limited language options. Processing times are also inconsistent: some migrant workers receive a response within days, while others have to wait months.

Poor government oversight and enforcement exacerbate the vulnerability of migrants. Open work permits for vulnerable workers are subject to confidentiality. But in smaller communities, several stakeholders reported cases in which government employees personally contacted employers to let them know that one of their employees had applied for the permit.

To make matters worse, government inspections are often announced in advance, allowing employers to temporarily adjust living and working conditions and ensuring that workers are absent during inspections, preventing them from speaking out.

While a successful open work permit application can help migrant workers leave abusive workplaces, they are often stigmatized because these permits are different from general open work permits. The migrants who apply can be perceived as “troublemakers” or “whistleblowers,” which can make it difficult to find a new job. For this reason, many migrant workers prefer to accept mistreatment from employers rather than apply for an open work permit.

The July 2024 United Nations report cites similar concerns about the program, emphasizing that it “does not provide an effective solution” and that migrants must “remain in a precarious situation until they receive a positive decision,” putting them at further risk of abuse suspends.

The UN report also points to the stigma associated with open work permits, as well as bureaucratic hurdles, including the high amount of detailed evidence required, which can be difficult for migrant workers to collect.

Major reforms necessary

Effective September 26, 2024, the Government of Canada will implement a series of reforms “to root out abuse and fraud of the TFW program.” But none of these reforms will address the shortcomings of open work permits for vulnerable migrant workers.

There are several practical ways to immediately improve open approval, starting with:

• Revising the application portal to make it more accessible to migrant workers;
• Providing the application in multiple languages, including Spanish and Tagolog;
• Ensuring faster processing times to protect migrant workers from further abuse;
• Expand the approval criteria of the license to cover all forms of abuse and mistreatment.

Advocacy groups also want stronger sanctions for employers guilty of abuse and exploitation. Currently, employers are rarely or only slightly penalized.

More inspectors to monitor employers and working conditions would help protect migrant workers, particularly in remote and rural workplaces in the Maritime regions. Inspectors, immigration officers and government officials must also be held responsible for ensuring the privacy and anonymity of complainants.

Hold employers accountable

Data transparency would help hold the government and employers accountable. Canada should disclose and publish statistics on the number of open work permit applicants by branch, the types of mistreatment and abuses reported, and the number of applications approved.

Without the support of migrant workers throughout the coastal area, many migrant workers would not be able to complete the permit application process, let alone achieve a positive outcome.

Migrant aid organizations are making enormous efforts to support migrants, although funds and resources are limited. More government funding would allow organizations to hire lawyers, translators and staff to assist with applications.

Finally, many experts advocate completely eliminating closed work permits and expanding rights for migrant workers by creating a clear path to permanent residency upon their arrival in Canada.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.