Undocumented Workers Speak OutMigrant rights organizations estimate that there may be as many as 500,000 to 800,000 undocumented workers living in Canada. In 2008, there were 58,000 temporary foreign workers living and working in Alberta. In 2019, there were only 10,000, but this number does not count the many thousands of workers who have fallen out of status and become undocumented. With 475 occupations now deemed ineligible by the Kenney government, this number is expected to grow as work permits expire. Some workers have fallen out of status because of delays in processing applications during the pandemic. Many were victims of Jason Kenney's 4 and 4 program when he was Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. Under the new rules Kenney brought in, after working in Canada for four years, migrants had to leave Canada for four years before making a new application. Although the Trudeau Liberals cancelled this directive, nothing was done for those who lost their status and who have no path to permanent residency from within Canada. Other reasons for falling out of status include work permits not being renewed, or workers fired for defending their rights and standing up to abuse. Many undocumented workers acquired debts to human traffickers, and/or paid exorbitant fees to "immigration consultants," or to schools, some of which fraudulently claimed that they would be eligible on graduation for a post-graduation work permit. Health care for all and regularization of undocumented workers is a debt owed by Canada, which engages in human trafficking of migrant workers. Undocumented workers are courageously speaking up and they deserve the full support of all Canadians in their fight for Health Care For All! and for regularization and Status for All!
An undocumented worker spoke out about his experience at Migrante's Healthcare for All! forum. He explained that he came to Canada in 2014 as a skilled industrial technician. After leaving the Philippines and working in Hong Kong for 12 years, he paid a broker US$3500 just to get an interview for a job in Canada. He was successful and came to Canada on a two-year contract, with assurances that he was now on the path to permanent residency. Instead, with the downturn in oil and gas, none of the temporary foreign workers hired by his employer had their contacts renewed, and in 2017 he lost his status. An immigration consultant promised to help and scammed him for $5,000, all of his savings, with no results to show for it. Now both the worker and his partner are undocumented, with two Canadian born children who are citizens. He explained that the pandemic has made life even more difficult for undocumented workers, with many workers losing their jobs and their access to health care, more vulnerable than ever to super-exploitation by employers. Migrant workers contribute immensely to Canadian society, yet they and their families face blatant discrimination and are treated as disposable by the Canadian state. They struggle to survive, living with the stress and anxiety that they will be given a removal order or be detained and sent to remand. This state-organized discrimination and violation of their rights has to end. No more empty promises and platitudes! Status for refugees, students, workers and undocumented people -- Status for All! - is a legitimate demand to humanize our society. The Fight for Health Care for Canadian-born Children of Undocumented WorkersMany undocumented workers have children born in Canada who are Canadian citizens. Migrante Alberta waged a successful campaign for health care for the Canadian-born children of undocumented workers. Now it appears that the Alberta government has concocted some undisclosed criteria to deprive even these children of health care.
On what grounds is the Alberta government saying that a Canadian citizen living in Alberta "might" be eligible for health care coverage? It does not say. This compounds the difficult decisions of undocumented workers facing deportation. CBS agents have cruelly told undocumented women workers in Alberta that while they face deportation, their children do not. They are given the "option" of voluntary removal, which holds out a possibility of returning to Canada in the future, or facing deportation with basically no chance of ever returning. Now it seems that if the children remain in Canada for their education, staying with extended family or other caregivers, they can be deprived of health care. This is a sign of a government out of control, for whom migrant workers and their families are not human beings, but things to be used and discarded, and legal entitlements something to be violated with impunity. This must end! Immediate regularization and Status for All! (Photos: WF, Migrante Alberta)
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At
a recent forum organized by Women for Rights and Empowerment, a worker
explained that he came to Canada on a work permit, working for a
company that abused his rights as a worker and those of all the
temporary foreign workers the cleaning company hired. Together with
other workers he played a leading role in the successful
campaign to organize a union. But he lost his status in 2017, and
remains undocumented. Despite his undocumented status, he continues to
speak out, advocate and organize migrant workers to defend their rights
and the rights of all.
The
AHS website states that, "If a child is a Canadian citizen and the
parent is physically present in Alberta and intends to remain in
Alberta, the child might be eligible for AHCIP coverage, regardless of
their parent's eligibility."