COVID-19 and Temporary Foreign Workers in CanadaTravel to Canada is currently being restricted for all foreign nationals coming from any country except for certain groups such as temporary foreign workers. The Government of Canada's Emergency Order under the Quarantine Act requires them to isolate for 14 days if they have symptoms of COVID-19 or to quarantine themselves for 14 days if they are asymptomatic, to limit the spread of COVID-19. Upon arrival, they are required to confirm that they have a suitable place to isolate or quarantine, where they will have access to basic necessities, such as food and medication. Travellers who do not have an appropriate place in which to isolate or quarantine themselves must go to a place designated by the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada. They are also required to wear a non-medical mask or face covering to proceed to their final destination where they are required to isolate or quarantine, and are to be provided with a mask if they do not have one. In Canada, temporary foreign worker programs are regulated by the federal government and allow employers to hire foreign nationals on a temporary basis to fill gaps in their workforce. Quebec and each province and territory also has its own set of policies that affect the administration of the programs. Year in and year out, Canada depends on hundreds of thousands of migrant workers to bolster its economy and to support its agricultural, homecare, and other lower-wage sectors. In 2016 there were about 200,000 temporary foreign workers with employer-specific work permits, who could only work for the specified employer, and around 20,000 workers, mainly women, working under the Caregivers Program. The path to immigration for these workers has been narrowing, with fewer work permits for the low wage sector, and fewer workers being accepted as permanent residents and as a result the number of undocumented workers has increased. Undocumented workers live an even more precarious existence and are even more vulnerable to abuse by employers, and lack the most basic rights like health care. Close to 50,000 workers come to Canada each year under the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SWAP). Documented cases of abuse and rights infringements against these workers include inadequate housing, poor access to health care, inability to collectively bargain, family separation, illegal recruitment fees, and cases of violence and sexual abuse. There were also more than 600,000 people with open work permits, the majority of whom held post-graduation work permits, followed by the "International Experience Class" -- which is limited to workers 18 to 35 years of age from designated countries who must pay for their own health care through private insurance, and have no path to permanent residency. Some of Canada's temporary foreign worker programs can be considered specific bilateral agreements between nations, such as the SAWP, which was first introduced in 1966 in an agreement with Jamaica. Under the SAWP, migrant workers cannot seek employment outside their work contract and cannot apply for permanent resident status other than through a very restricted three-year pilot program launched in the summer of 2019, which requires, among other things, 12 months of full-time, non-seasonal Canadian work experience in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. To date, Canada has not signed and ratified the United Nations International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 18, 1990. It is the only international instrument specifically drafted to protect the rights of migrant workers. It entered into force on July 1, 2003. On December 10, 2018, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the United Nations' adoption and proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, Canada, along with 163 other UN member states, adopted the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. The Compact does not create any right to migrate, nor does it place any imposition on states. It does not constitute so-called 'soft' law, nor is it legally binding. In addition, it expressly permits states to distinguish -- as they see fit -- between regular and irregular migrants, in accordance with existing international law. (TML Weekly, The Canadian Encyclopedia, UNESCO, Canada Immigration Newsletter, Government of Canada)
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