Canada’s Immigration Minister, Marc Miller, said that his country’s temporary foreign program is not fatally flawed, but is in need of reform.
Miller’s comments came following a report from the UN that dubbed the scheme “a breeding ground for modern slavery”, VisaGuide.World reports.
Through the scheme, non-Canadians are eligible to work in Canada temporarily. In spite of the fact that the main purpose of the scheme is to fill in labor shortages, according to local media reports, the number of these workers has increased significantly recently, leaving workers vulnerable to abuse.
The Minister said that the low-wage temporary foreign worker stream, in particular, is among the ones that the country needs to take a more careful look at.
According to a report from Reuters, its ranks have increased significantly, from 15,817, registered in 2016, to a total of 83,654 registered last year.
In this regard, the Labour Ministry spokesperson Mathis Denis said that Labour Minister Randy Boissonnault is considering a refusal process in the low stream if the abuse and misuse do not improve.
Even when the program is working as intended and there’s no abuse, the low-wage stream absolutely suppresses wages. It’s kind of designed to
Moffat said that he does not believe that employers have some constitutional right to low-wage workers.
Underpayment & Wage Theft Among Main Problems of Temporary Foreign Program
According to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery last week’s report, Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program serves as a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.
Among the problems mentioned in the report are underpayment and wage theft, as well as physical, verbal and emotional abuse. The report also said that workers find it difficult to access healthcare.
The special rapporteur found that reducing the number of temporary residents, as planned by authorities in Canada, will not address problems making these migrants vulnerable.
The structural precarity for temporary foreign workers would be mitigated by systematically providing workers with a pathway to permanent residence.
Miller said that is not to deny the allegations that are happening in some cases and abuses occurring in this country. He said that is not right when there are abuses, and there are abuses.
Earlier this year, Canada’s Immigration Minister, Marc Miller, unfolded plans to introduce several new measures in order to reduce temporary immigration. The Minister also discussed introducing new measures that would help to deal with the housing situation as well as the affordability crisis.