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Established in 2009, RED Legal is a volunteer-driven and non-profit network of public legal educators and legal advocates for the rights of migrant workers in British Columbia, Canada.

We work collaboratively with academics, activists, grassroots and community service organizations at promoting and providing public legal education and information services for migrant workers in BC.

Why is Red Legal needed?

According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the number of temporary foreign worker (TFWs) permits issued in 2009 made up almost half of all the temporary resident visas in British Columbia. In 2008 and 2009, and for the first time in Canadian history, the number of migrant workers entering in Canada outnumbered the number of migrants coming in as permanent residents. Today there are approximately 280,000 migrant workers in all Canada.

The nature of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP) makes most TFWs ineligible for permanent residency in Canada. In British Columbia, immigrant settlement service organizations receive no government funding to assist TFWs. TFWs are not eligible to free programs and services for low-income immigrants with permanent resident visa. TFWs cannot access government funded programs such as employment counselling, ESL classes; legal advocacy; and help accessing food banks, housing.

We have identified three categories of TFWs extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuses of their legal rights, including human trafficking: Live-In Caregivers (LCPs), Seasonal Agriculture Workers (SAWPs), and TFWs in Low-Skills Occupations (Such as janitors, construction workers, food and beverage servers).

Our volunteer-driven network, enables us to provide free reliable support for frontline workers and community-based organizations interested at helping TFWs. know and defend their legal rights in British Columbia.

We also are collaborating with human rights organizations at researching and analyzing laws, policies and regulations that are needed to address the many well documented in-justices and problems found in Canada’a Temporary Foreign Workers Program.

Our members come from diverse and complementary expertises: facilitators, trainers, legal educators, legal advocates, researchers, analysts, legal interpreters, certified translators, communications, and social workers, and immigrant settlement counselors.