Canada's temporary foreign worker program promotes contemporary forms of slavery: UN investigator

Canada’s temporary foreign worker program is a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery alleged a report by UN investigator Tomoya Obokata, according to an article in Canada's leading daily Globe and Mail.

Prof. Obokata is the United Nations’ special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and a professor of international human-rights law at the University of York in Britain.

The recently released final report cements Prof. Obokata’s initial impressions, which he first expressed last year after visiting Ottawa, Moncton, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver on a fact-finding tour, Globe and Mail reported.

"The special rapporteur retains the view that the temporary foreign worker program serves as a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery, as it institutionalizes asymmetries of power that favour employers and prevent workers from exercising their rights,” states the final report, which is dated July 22 and was recently posted online.

Federal programs that allow Canadian companies to bring in foreign labour on a temporary basis have existed in various forms for decades, with numerous waves of reforms to the rules over that time. Historically, it has primarily been used in the agricultural sector to cover seasonal spikes in labour demand, according to Globe and Mail.

The program is now facing renewed scrutiny over the steep rise in a separate stream of the program focused on low-wage workers, which employers are using to fill positions such as fast-food counter attendants, according to Globe and Mail.

During the first quarter of 2024, employers received government approval to hire 28,730 people through the low-wage stream of the temporary foreign worker program, an increase of 25 per cent from a year earlier, according to figures from Employment and Social Development Canada. It was the highest quarterly number for such approvals in government records that date to 2016, according to Globe and Mail report.

The low-wage stream was allowed to grow after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in response to calls from business groups that said such measures were urgently needed to help business owners struggling with acute labour shortages, the Globe and Mail report claimed.

"Given the structural inequities between temporary foreign workers and employers and their insufficient access to justice and remedies, workers experience a wide range of abuses,” the report states.

“The special rapporteur received reports of underpayment and wage theft, physical, emotional and verbal abuse, excessive work hours, limited breaks, extracontractual work, uncompensated managerial duties, lack of personal protective equipment, including in hazardous conditions, confiscation of documents and arbitrary reductions of working hours. Women reported sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse.”

The report said that while the program does allow workers to apply for an open work permit, it said this is unrealistic for many given the rules involved.