November 18, 2024 – The Federal Government’s Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration recently released a report on Conditions for Growth: Reconsidering Closed Work Permits in the Temporary Foreign Workers Program. This report is the result of the Committee’s study on closed work permits and temporary foreign workers; UFCW Canada has argued for decades against the closed work permit system for temporary foreign workers. In 2023, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Tomoya Obokata, criticized the Agricultural and Low-wage streams of Canada’s TFWP as “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.”
UFCW Canada has fought for changes in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program for decades, documenting abuses against migrant workers and lobbying for reform in our annual Status of Migrant Workers in Canada reports. Labour market mobility is a fundamental freedom, and reform is vital for building a strong vital agri-food sector in Canada. It is crucial that the recommendations for reform be adequately implemented.
Reforms to the TFWP must prioritize social dialogue: social dialogue is a core pillar of the International Labour Organization’s right to decent work. Social dialogue brings together labour, employers, and the government in a tripartite structure to explore and discuss issues of common interest and discover solutions. This is crucial for any sectoral model to have representatives from all social partners working together at the table.
The report notes that guaranteeing the ability of temporary foreign workers to unionize would “remove [the] harmful power imbalance between employers and migrant workers that facilitates labour trafficking.” The ILO found in 2010 that Canada and Ontario violated the rights of agricultural workers by banning farm unions. If workers have the ability to join unions, they have the ability to defend themselves. In provinces that enable agricultural workers to join a union, such as British Columbia, hundreds of mushroom workers joined UFCW 1518 this year.
Lastly, UFCW Canada agrees with the Committee Report’s recommendation that IRCC develop a comprehensive plan to provide more pathways to permanent residency for temporary foreign workers in the agri-food sector. The Agri-Food Pilot was the result of many years of UFCW advocacy work for pathways to permanent residency: our union is actively guiding many of our members through the process with our Migrant Member Support Program. Migrant agri-food workers have few other options to obtain permanent residency in Canada, and many work here full-time, year-round without any way of changing their status. It is crucial that more pathways to permanent residency be open to temporary foreign workers.
