Thank you for this opportunity. My name is Denise Valdecantos. I'm a board member at the Philippine Women Centre of B.C.
Since 1989, the Philippine Women Centre of B.C. has educated, organized, and advocated for migrant and immigrant women of Philippine origin and their families. Our long-standing advocacy campaigns have critiqued and called for the scrapping of the live-in caregiver program.
As you know, Citizenship and Immigration statistics show that the overwhelming majority of women coming in under the LCP are from the Philippines. Our research studies and organizing work in the community, along with numerous academic studies, have documented the negative physical, social, economic, and political impacts of the LCP on the Filipino community in Canada at individual and community levels.
Yet despite the long history of lobbying work, the LCP remains intact, particularly its four pillars, which are the mandatory live-in requirement, temporary immigration status, employer-specific permit, and the 24 months of work that needs to be completed within three years. Without the removal of these pillars, the situation of the live-in caregivers will never improve due to the systemic context of their abuse. Their vulnerability remains intact when unregulated work conditions and cases of abuse and exploitation for foreign live-in caregivers are rampant.
Another challenge faced by these women and their families is the long process involved in the sponsoring of their children and the dues and fees involved. Often the years of separation result in trauma of these Filipino youth. A recent study with UBC found that family reunification and family separation have resulted in the youth's lack of integration and isolation here in Canada.
We are deeply concerned about the expansion of Canada's temporary workers program without the full and critical examination of the negative impacts of existing temporary workers programs like the LCP. We are further concerned about the potential short-term and long-term negative impacts on the Filipino community.
The Philippines is a top-source country for temporary foreign workers in Canada, yet there are not sufficient safeguards to protect the rights and welfare of these migrant workers and their families. Many of the women are trained as Filipino nurses, and they are often tasked to perform nursing care duties for the elderly and disabled. With the current nursing shortage in Canada, we call for the full accreditation for these nursing professionals.
We stand firm in our position that permanent residence should be given to these workers coming from the Philippines to Canada, and they should be allowed to bring their families with them. We also support the call of SIKLAB, which is the Filipino migrant workers' organization, that Canada should ratify the UN convention on protection of migrant workers and their families.
Thank you.