UN Special Rapporteur's Damning Statement on Canada's Treatment of Temporary Foreign Workers
UN
Special Rapporteur Tomoya Obokata (3rd from left) holds
discussion on
situation of Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited
people in
Canada, August 25, 2023
Tomoya Obokata, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, visited Canada from August 23 to September 6. While here, he travelled to Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton.
The stated purpose of his visit was "to assess Canada's efforts to prevent and address contemporary forms of slavery, including forced labour, child labour, domestic servitude, debt bondage and sexual exploitation within its territory and abroad ... and to present constructive recommendations to address the challenges he observed."
Besides federal, provincial and Quebec government officials and department representatives, he met with trade unions, civil society organizations, academics and Canadian and migrant workers involved in agriculture, caregiving, meat and seafood processing, amongst others.
In his End of Mission Statement, the UN Special Rapporteur noted: "I am deeply disturbed by the accounts of exploitation and abuse shared with me by migrant workers."
"Employer-specific work permit regimes, including certain Temporary Foreign Worker Programs, make migrant workers vulnerable to contemporary forms of slavery, as they cannot report abuses without fear of deportation," he said.
"So-called 'temporary' foreign workers address a permanent need on the labour market and have valuable skills that are critical to the Canadian economy," he added, urging Canadian authorities to regularize the status of foreign migrant workers, and end the closed work permit system. "Canada must offer a clear pathway to permanent residency for all migrants, to prevent the recurrence of abuses," the UN expert stressed.
The Special Rapporteur is to submit his report on Canada to the United Nations Human Rights Council no later than September 2024.
(Photo: L. Groulx)
This article was published in
Volume 53 Number 10 - October 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2023/Articles/M5301011.HTM
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