Evidence of meeting #83 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was employers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
3:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
We have quorum. I'm going to call the meeting to order.
I have Mr. Redekopp.
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
Thanks.
Before we get going, I want to quickly talk about the minister's visits. We have three on the books right now, and time is quickly running out. A lot of them are very time specific. I'm curious as to whether we've been able to schedule the minister three more times before the end of December.
3:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
I will ask the clerk to get a hold of the minister to see when he is available and when we can get him.
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
I just want to emphasize the importance of this, because these are time—
3:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
I totally understand. I totally supported it the other day. That's why I did not interrupt. In fact, I was the one who actively asked for your motion to come forward and to get it through. That is the understanding.
You know that the minister is very accessible. He's already been here twice in a short period of time, and I'm certain that he and his staff will accommodate the times that work for him.
Before I start the meeting, I would like to welcome some of the new members who are with us today.
Madam Lewis, welcome.
Mr. Melillo, welcome to you as well.
I know that Mr. Albas is online. Welcome to this committee, Mr. Albas.
Welcome to meeting number 83 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. We are continuing our study of closed work permits and temporary foreign workers.
I am pleased to welcome, for the first hour, the following witnesses. From the Canadian Labour Congress, we have Madam Kwan, Mr. Escobar and Mr. Anavisca, and from the Canadian Bar Association, we have Madam Ramo. Welcome.
I have a request to make of honourable members. We will have a Spanish speaker today: Mr. Anavisca. You will have to be a little patient. The work by our interpreters is going to be good. We will be interpreting from Spanish to English and from English to French so that it can be accommodated simultaneously. Please be a bit patient. I will try to accommodate members' time, for sure.
With that, I will go directly to the Canadian Labour Congress and—
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
3:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Okay. We'll get the screen on. Give me a couple of seconds.
I will suspend the meeting for now before we start.
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
I call the meeting back to order now. The technical difficulty has been fixed.
I will give the Canadian Labour Congress and the Canadian Bar Association five minutes each.
Please go ahead with your opening statement.
3:40 p.m.
Elizabeth Kwan Senior Researcher, Canadian Labour Congress
Good afternoon, Chair and committee members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.
The Canadian Labour Congress advocates on national issues on behalf of three million working people. Today, I am here with members of UFCW, an affiliate of the Canadian Labour of Congress.
For this study, the CLC recommends the following for the temporary foreign worker program, especially the low-wage streams. First, replace the employer-specific work permits with open work permits. Second, provide permanent residency streams for low-wage workers. Third, provide permanent residency streams for former low-wage workers who are undocumented.
In the UN envoy's report, he stated, “the agricultural and low-wage streams of the...(TFWP) constitute a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery”. We concur with that statement. The key reason lies with the impact of the employer-specific work permits that tie migrant workers to one employer.
The employer-specific work permit has a systemic impact of awarding all the power and control of the employment relationship to the employer, including employment of the migrant worker, compensation, working conditions and immigration status. It simply renders migrant workers vulnerable, and open to abuse and exploitation by employers, labour recruiters and labour traffickers.
The government says TFWP workers have the same rights and protections as Canadians and permanent residents. However, the employer-specific work permit takes away the ability of migrant workers to exercise those rights. The fear of getting fired and deported traps migrant workers in involuntary servitude, which generates a compliant labour force.
Easy access to vulnerable migrant workers has resulted in TFWP employers using the program as an ongoing business model, as opposed to a program of last resort to fill acute and temporary labour skill shortages.
I'm going to hand it over to Santiago now.
3:45 p.m.
Santiago Escobar National Representative, United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada, Canadian Labour Congress
Good afternoon, Chair and committee members.
UFCW Canada advocates for workers representing over a quarter of a million Canadians, including temporary foreign workers. For over 30 years, we have supported migrant workers in 80,000 cases that have addressed open border permits for vulnerable workers, worker compensation, the Canada pension plan, EI benefits, and health and safety training, all in their languages, at no cost.
In 2010, the UN's International Labour Organization found that Canada and Ontario violated the rights of over 100,000 agricultural workers by banning farm unions. Sadly, the response was no response. Canada has an obligation to protect human rights, which include the labour rights of all workers.
As it currently stands, the temporary foreign worker program system is a very poor reflection of Canada's stated commitment to human rights. The net effect is the creation of an environment where human trafficking is a shameful reality in our country. In June of this year, Jose and Karin Callejas were convicted of human trafficking in London, Ontario, and there is a survivor present here today. We aided the workers who sought our help back in 2019 and fought for justice for five years. Such suffering underscores the need for workers' representation and for power balance mechanisms.
Thank you for your work and for this opportunity.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Thank you to the Canadian Labour Congress.
I will go to Ms. Ramo for five minutes.
Please go ahead.
3:45 p.m.
Gabriela Ramo Chair, National Immigration Law Section, The Canadian Bar Association
My name is Gabriela Ramo, and I am the chair of the national immigration law section of the Canadian Bar Association. The CBA is a national association of 37,000 members, including lawyers, judges, notaries, academics and law students, with a 120-year-old mandate to seek improvements to the law and the administration of justice.
Thank you for inviting the CBA to comment on the implications of closed work permits in the temporary foreign worker program. The observations we make today have been communicated to IRCC in written submissions, all of which are available on our website.
The number of temporary foreign workers entering Canada on an annual basis continues to grow exponentially. The share of workers entering Canada through the agricultural and low-wage streams is quickly increasing. These workers are among the most vulnerable and at risk of abuse and are often disproportionally racialized. We must ensure they are protected from exploitation and abuse and provided with opportunities for becoming permanent residents of Canada.
The CBA agrees with the finding of the UN special rapporteur that the issuance of closed work permits to these workers, which prevents them from changing employers, increases their vulnerability to abuse. However, the issuance of open work permits may also open workers to exploitation. While open work permits allow nationals to change employers, they provide no compliance mechanisms to ensure that employers provide foreign nationals with acceptable terms and conditions of employment. As they are also fully open with respect to position and industry, they may also do little to address the labour shortages in particular industries that the temporary foreign worker program is intended to address.
We make six recommendations today.
Our first is that sector- and occupation-specific work permits for low-wage and agricultural occupations be established. Sectoral work permits would allow individual foreign workers to work in a particular occupation in a particular sector for any employer in the sector who had registered with the program. Workers could move from employer to employer within the sector without having to obtain a new work permit by simply notifying the authorities of the change. The ability to change employers without having to wait for the issuance of a new work permit would prevent the creation of a dependency relationship in which the foreign national’s immigration status is tied to remaining with the employer named on their closed work permit.
A set number of LMIAs per occupation could be issued, allowing employers in the sector who have been pre-approved to hire workers for the specific occupation. To be approved, employers would need to undertake to provide workers with the terms and conditions of employment set out in the LMIA. A website or portal would list employers participating in the program as well as the terms and conditions of employment.
Our second recommendation is that employers in the program be subject to frequent and unannounced in-person inspections to review their compliance. Those found to be non-compliant and exploiting workers should face substantial penalties. To address the governance gap, the federal government should conduct inspections in coordination with provincial authorities responsible for enforcing employment standards and occupational health and safety.
The current employer inspection regime follows a one-size-fits-all approach for high-wage and low-wage foreign workers. Given that high-skill workers under the international mobility program are not vulnerable in the same way, we recommend that inspection and compliance resources be shifted to the low-skill program to allow for increased and more thorough inspections.
Our third recommendation is that specific PR programs for low-wage workers, with substantial annual targets, be established. The majority of low-wage and agricultural workers are generally unable to qualify for permanent residence because they cannot obtain the same level of points in areas such as education, language and arranged employment that high-wage workers can. Allowing the annual admission of large numbers of low-wage temporary foreign workers who then have to compete with high-wage workers for a limited number of permanent residents spots available each year creates permanent guest workers who can never advance to permanent residence status.
Our fourth recommendation is that the government implement tougher controls on recruiters and agents and work closely with local governments in source countries to enforce the prohibition of fees payable by foreign workers. This would address the serious issue of debt bondage. As the number of low-wage and agricultural temporary foreign workers in Canada has continued to increase, so have the numbers of recruiters, consultants and other agents who assist in recruiting foreign workers. Often they charge the foreign workers large fees to assist them in obtaining work permits.
Our fifth recommendation is that foreign workers have access to clear and transparent information, in their own language, on how the program works, on the prohibition on the payment of fees to recruiters and agents, on their rights while in Canada and on how they can report abuse. The government should also be transparent and ensure that vulnerable foreign nationals understand up front that entering the program is not a guaranteed path to permanent residence.
Our final recommendation is that this committee expand its study to address the other substantial issues raised in the special rapporteur’s report.
Thank you for the opportunity to address the committee.
3:50 p.m.
Conservative
Greg McLean Conservative Calgary Centre, AB
On a point of order, Mr. Chair, I noticed that one of the witnesses took photos during testimony. I'd like you to speak to the witnesses about the impropriety of taking photos in this session.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
I want to thank Mr. McLean for bringing that forward.
I would request, if someone has taken photographs, that they please delete them, because photographs are not allowed. We would really appreciate that. We totally understand that the witnesses might not know the process. The proceedings are available online. This is a public meeting.
Honourable members, before I go to you, I request that you point out the particular person your questions are for. That will help with the interpretation as well.
I will go to Mr. Redekopp for six minutes and then to Mr. Chiang for six minutes.
Mr. Redekopp, the floor is yours.
3:50 p.m.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all of you for being here today.
Ms. Ramo, in your legal opinion, is slavery against the law in Canada?
3:50 p.m.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
Is slavery practised in Canada? Have there been convictions of slavery in Canada?
3:55 p.m.
Chair, National Immigration Law Section, The Canadian Bar Association
I'm afraid I do not know the answer to that question.
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
Okay. It's probably safe to assume that, if it has occurred, it's been pretty rare.
3:55 p.m.
Chair, National Immigration Law Section, The Canadian Bar Association
Yes. It's a very rare occurrence. I'm not aware of any.
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
Okay. Thanks.
Is a Canadian farmer paying wages to foreign workers who are here on closed work permits issued by the NDP-Liberal government breaking the law, then?
3:55 p.m.
Chair, National Immigration Law Section, The Canadian Bar Association
If they are paying the wages set out in the LMIA that backs up their work permit and they're meeting their commitment to pay the wages and to the hours and all the other terms and conditions of employment that are listed in that LMIA, they're not breaking the law.