Canada鈥檚 Temporary Foreign Worker program has been in the news a lot lately, including in the recent Tony Keller article published on The 撸奶社区 website [The temporary foreign worker program is a scam, and almost everyone is in on it, published Aug. 16] and the Bloomberg article by Jay Zhao-Murray and Laura Dhillon Kane [, published Aug. 14]. While it鈥檚 great to see the awareness of the program increase, we can鈥檛 help but feel that the human angle is missing. Too many talk about temporary foreign workers; too few speak with them.
鈥淥verall, the entire experience is like living in a nice scenic prison,鈥� shares one temporary foreign worker with the . This sentiment is something we hear often at the Welcome Centre. From our experience, many people participating in the program feel frustrated.
At the heart of many of their frustrations is the lack of freedom built into the federal program. Trapped in a low-paying job; bonded to one employer, maybe at an abusive workplace; stuck without realistic access to permanent residency, the main pathway dependent on a supportive employer; barred from many services and programs, like the BC Housing Registry, while still paying taxes.
What would you do if your rent was 70% of your monthly income? If there鈥檚 no lower-cost housing available, you might consider getting a second job, or finding a new job with higher wages. If you have a closed work permit, you鈥檙e not permitted to do either of those things.
Another frustration is that the jobs themselves aren鈥檛 always secure鈥攚hile the person with a closed work permit isn鈥檛 allowed to work elsewhere, the employer is not obligated to provide employment for the duration of the permit. When people make the hard decision of leaving their families and roots behind鈥攆leeing from unsafety, corruption, crime and many other difficult situations, and dreaming of a promising future in a better country鈥攖hey鈥檙e seeking safety, stability, and security in Canada. And not everyone is finding it. We are shocked at the rates of fraud and scams as well as poor working conditions, abuse from employers, racism, and discrimination they are facing here in the Sea to Sky. No one deserves to be treated like this.
Most of all, temporary foreign workers are people.
They鈥檙e your neighbours. They鈥檙e next to you, cheering on their kid and yours. They鈥檙e you. There are political and economic consequences of this program, but it鈥檚 not a purely business issue. This is a human issue. Workers are people first鈥攏o matter what passport they hold鈥攑eople whose whole lives and families are deeply affected.
There are some major problems with Canada鈥檚 TFW program. But, to say that workers are 鈥渋n on it鈥� is not only incorrect, it shifts the blame to those who are most negatively impacted.
Zulma Reina and Tanager
厂辩耻补尘颈蝉丑鈥檚
