A national group led by migrant workers and their allies is calling out a new proposal for the federal government’s temporary foreign workers program, saying it repackages old problems as solutions and ignores the real reforms workers say they need.
After consulting more than 500 migrant workers across Canada, the Migrant Rights Network said workers rejected five of six federal proposals to reform temporary foreign worker programs, according to a report released at the coalition’s virtual news conference Wednesday.
The report said the changes fall short of addressing core issues like tied permits, low pay and pay cuts, unsafe housing, restricted health care and costly transportation.
Instead, it argues that the proposals maintain the control of employers who hire temporary foreign workers, while undermining workers’ rights.
“If they go ahead with their proposals based on what we have said, then it’s simply not good enough,” said Syed Hussan, executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.
Hussan said the government must stop with the ineffective measures, especially ones that allow employers to exploit workers and take money from their wages.
“That’s just not okay,” he said.
“The federal government is responding to criticisms made by migrant workers as well as the United Nations, but actually worsening the conditions of migrant workers.”
The coalition said it insists on fundamental transformations to the system.
Hussan says no sector-specific permits, permanent residency instead
Right now, under the temporary foreign worker program in Canada, work permits are issued to workers that tie them to specific employers.
The federal government wants to replace this system with permits for specific sectors of work, instead.
The Migrant Rights Network, however, argues in its report that sector-specific permits, or what it calls “stream-specific” permits, won’t protect workers.
They would still need approval from their employer and their home country’s representatives to change jobs.
This forces them to disclose their complaints to those they work for and risk blacklisting or being sent home, it said.
To actually help the asymmetries of power between bosses and workers, Hussan said, “the absolute first thing they should do is guarantee permanent resident status on arrival.”
“That’s actually the linchpin,” he said, “what’s necessary for migrant workers to have equal rights.”
Hussan said decades of contribution should be recognized and workers should be granted equal rights through status.
“Permanent resident status is not a question of whether you live in Canada permanently or not,” he said.
Alongside eliminating restricted work permits, the report said workers want government-funded support when changing employers, the first opportunity to return to jobs each year and protections against employer retaliation and blacklisting.
Hussan said the coalition is calling on the federal government for “a single-tier immigration system.”
“So that everyone in the country has the same rights,” he said.
“They’re doing a public relations exercise by renaming the tight permit model but keeping it still tight.”
Housing “standards” replaced with “guidelines”
Back in 2020, the coalition consulted 453 migrant workers to get workers’ input on the national housing standards proposed that year.
“We supported the housing standards and asked for the improvement,” said Hussan. “We’ve been waiting.”
But those housing standards were met with severe employer pushback and never implemented — Hussan said that’s because the federal government has yielded to what employers want.
He said in favour of vague, non-enforceable guidelines, standards shaped by input from 453 workers were scrapped.
If the new guidelines are implemented, employers could charge workers up to $12,892 a year — up from the current $30 weekly cap — making it harder for them to challenge poor conditions under looser standards, the report said.
Workers want clear, enforceable housing standards, the report said.
That means lockable bedrooms, requirements that guarantee a minimum size for their living space (and no lower than that), temperature controls, plus at least a month of free housing after job loss or eviction.
Also, zero deductions for housing or, if imposed, a 5 per cent cap applied only during work periods, protections against employer interference in inspections, and the right to choose housing, with government-provided options if employers fall short.
Migrant workers are seeking a new wage model
With these housing deductions, Hussan said, the federal government is protecting the profits of the rich while turning its back on some of Canada’s lowest-paid, yet most vulnerable workers.
“These are some of the most impoverished workers in the country,” he said.
The report said workers want a minimum wage of $20 to $25 an hour for workers, a guaranteed 40-hour workweek, total wage deductions restricted to 0 per cent — including housing and service fees — and for deductions to be banned during non-work periods and off-seasons.
And full access to employment insurance, including during off-seasons outside Canada.
One-third of workers report employers denying them health care
While employers are still required to provide private health insurance during periods when workers are uninsured, the report said there’s still no requirement ensuring workers can access that care.
What almost 80 per cent of workers are actually demanding is health cards and immediate public coverage upon arrival, unlinked to employers.
According to the report, 37.5 per cent of migrant farmworkers said employers denied them health care and 7.25 per cent said it happened more than 10 times to them.
Workers also reported long waits for coverage, privacy violations and employers interfering in their treatment.
For real change, workers want at least 12 paid sick days, guaranteed transportation to care, full coverage for treatments — including mental health and medications covered by private insurers — the option to cover dependents abroad and mandatory universal workplace injury insurance and compensation and death insurance.
And a ban on employer involvement in appointment scheduling, medical records and results — more than a third reported employer interference with their access to health care.
Covered transit costs and control over travel arrangements is key, workers say
The federal government is exploring ways to manage transportation costs, but the report said workers still lack control and are left to cover transit expenses.
Under the seasonal agricultural worker program, flights are only partially covered — workers pay 50 per cent through payroll deductions.
“Beyond employer-covered airfare, workers pay for commutes to the departure cities, hotel stays, high-priced food during transit and occasionally for travel from major hubs in Canada to employers’ homes,” said the report.
And although the air travel cost is partially covered, 16 per cent reported paying for return flights themselves and almost half complained they were not able to choose a flight that worked for their schedules and priorities.
The report said employers also often book overpriced flights and pass the cost onto workers through deductions — unfair charges that cut into already low wages.
Some employers also refuse space for luggage, barring workers’ checked bags even when they have already paid for them.
Workers said employers should assume all travel costs, including hotels, meals and ground transportation — from their hometown to the departing airport and from the arriving airport to their final destination — with no deductions.
They also want the right to choose their own flights and travel arrangements, rather than having costly options imposed.
Free access to local transportation for groceries, health care and social needs is also a key demand.
When the coalition began receiving proposed reforms one by one in May 2024, Hussan said it declined to participate, calling the piecemeal process unrealistic for gathering meaningful input.
In March, the federal government gave it three months to respond — prompting the coalition to collect data and insights through a survey and focus groups. Hussan said those voices should shape what comes next.
Now, he said, the coalition and workers are waiting to see how the government responds — but the message is clear.
“These are the words of workers themselves,” said Hussan.
