Document Details

To prevent conditions of worker unfreedom in all its forms and ensure that (im)migrant workers have meaningful access to justice, Canada’s foreign worker admission schemes must include the following elements:
1. Unconditional access for all migrant workers to permanent status recognition procedures upon arrival, as well as ongoing permanent status regularization procedures;
2. Multi-year, multi-entry open work permits for all migrant workers, with open work and study permits for spouses and children;
3. Distribution of federal packages to assist with improving work conditions in key sectors and regions struggling with labour attraction and retention;
4. Bilateral co-management of state-run and state-funded international recruitment, micro-credit, immigration assistance, and international transportation programs, exclusively so for recruitment of work permit candidates for low-wage occupations;
5. Management by the government of Canada of the initial job placement and any subsequent job placement processes, exclusively so for placement of work permit candidates/holders in low-wage occupations;
6. State-funded community integration programs that are available to all migrant workers, integrating support to access initial accommodations and emergency shelters, and
7. Criminalization of the offering, to work permit candidates/holders, of placement or employment contracts integrating a debt or any other form of restrictive clause.