A new report from the Migrant Rights Network warns that proposed reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program could force migrant farm workers to pay more for their substandard living conditions. .
Controls Not Protection: New Federal Proposals Set to Worsen Migrant Worker Crisis features the voices of 514 migrant workers, who have spent an average of 6.2 years experience in Canada under temporary foreign worker programs.
The report also looks at six internal documents from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) that outline proposed changes to the program. These include increased wage deductions to pay for housing, new housing standards guidelines and stream-specific work permits.
The Migrant Rights Network says workers overwhelmingly reject these changes, saying they only provide superficial changes to a deeply exploitative program. The Migrant Rights Network (MRN) highlighted that a 2023 report by the UN special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery called Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP) a “breeding ground” for modern slavery.
Reforms don’t address root issues
Housing conditions for migrant farm workers have long been criticized by advocates. A 2023 academic study by researchers from Western University, the University of Victoria and the University of Toronto found migrant agricultural workers face various health inequities, often linked to unsafe or unsanitary housing conditions.
While the federal government claims their proposal for new housing guidelines will improve living conditions for migrant agricultural workers, the Migrant Rights Network says the proposed changes are too vague. They say the new guidelines use subjective terms like, “adequate” and “reasonable” which makes the guidelines difficult to enforce or measure.
“I sleep eight to a room with no locks. We have to pee in bottles at night. It’s hotter than an oven,” said a temporary foreign worker and mushroom harvester who was quoted anonymously in the report.
The network also raised concerns about a proposed increase in housing deductions, which would allow employers to deduct up to 30 per cent of workers’ wages for housing. That could amount to as much as $1,307 per month, or more than $15,000 per year, depending on income.
“Instead of fixing the root cause of migrant exploitation by granting permanent resident status, the federal government is putting forward changes that will let employers steal more than $15,000 a year from hundreds of thousands of workers—that’s well over $1 billion taken from some of the poorest people in Canada,” said Syed Hussan, executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.
“These aren’t reforms; they’re a capitulation to the agri‑business lobby, which gets to rob wages from food workers while jacking up food prices and pocketing profits at both ends.”
According to the network, more than 83 per cent of surveyed workers said their wages are not enough to support themselves and their families. As well, workers pay a median travel cost of $880 per trip despite the employer being required to cover travel.
“Whenever wages go up, the boss finds a way to take away the raise through deductions,” said another worker, employed in poultry processing, who was also quoted anonymously.
The Migrant Rights Network and its member organizations are calling for a ban on housing deductions and permanent resident status upon arrival for migrant workers. They argue that such changes would help ensure workers retain their wages and provide the ability to more easily leave abusive employers.
