Over the past 25 years, more and more Canadian employers in a variety of industries have turned to migrant labour on work permits to fill employment needs. About 22,000 migrant workers came to Canada in 2000, expanding to over 112,000 in 2009. In 2022, roughly 120,000 migrant worker permits were issued.1
With such growth in the country's Temporary Foreign Worker Program, workers experience frequent exploitation or abuse. Such exploitation is not exclusive to a single sector. Abused immigrant worker stories include nannies from the Philippines stuck in their employers’ homes and on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week; Peruvian migrant farm workers killed while being transported from work; seasonal farm labourers from Mexico poisoned from pesticides; Filipino workers at a Denny's restaurant who failed to receive overtime…
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British Columbia History (Digital) - 1 Issue, 56.4 Winter 2023