When Amnesty International Canada released its latest report on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), Canadian immigration lawyers were not surprised. Vancouver-based immigration lawyer and activist leader for Amnesty International, Katrina Sriranpong, states, “For years, those of us who work closely with migrants have witnessed the systemic flaws that Amnesty has now brought into the national spotlight.” For Sriranpong, the report is less a revelation than a confirmation of a painful truth: Canada’s TFWP, as currently structured, permits exploitation, secrecy, and abuse of some of the most vulnerable people in our labour market.
The Intended Purpose vs. Reality
The TFWP was designed to address labour shortages in critical sectors, including agriculture, caregiving, construction, and the hospitality industry. On paper, it offered Canadian employers a temporary solution while providing foreign workers with lawful employment opportunities.
In practice, however, the program has entrenched dependency. By tying a worker’s immigration status to a single employer through “closed work permits,” the TFWP creates an inherently imbalanced relationship. Losing employment does not simply mean losing income. It often means losing legal status in Canada.
Amnesty’s Findings: Exploitation as the Norm
Amnesty International’s report paints a stark picture of how the TFWP functions on the ground, showing that exploitation is not an aberration but a systemic feature of the program.
- Dependence and Power Imbalances: Closed work permits leave workers tied to a single employer for both income and immigration status. This power dynamic enables threats of dismissal or deportation, silencing those who raise concerns regarding their workplace conditions.
- Wage Theft and Unpaid Hours: Many workers reported being underpaid, denied overtime pay, or stripped of basic entitlements such as holiday pay. Efforts to demand fair wages often triggered retaliation.
- Unsafe and Degrading Conditions: Accounts included unsafe workplaces, a lack of protective equipment, and exposure to harmful chemicals in the agricultural sector. Workplace injuries were frequently unreported due to fear.
- Substandard Housing: Employer-provided housing was often overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe, with limited access to essential services, including healthcare, clean water, and transportation.
- Barriers to Healthcare and Justice: Workers avoided medical care and legal complaints due to fear of reprisal or job loss. Even when reported, inspections were rare and penalties were weak.
- Climate of Fear: The constant risk of deportation discourages foreign workers from asserting their rights, seeking advice, or organizing for better conditions.
Amnesty International Canada concluded that these issues are not isolated. They are embedded in the very design of the TFWP, which normalizes exploitation rather than preventing it.
The Lawyer’s Perspective: Common Knowledge in the Field
For Canadian immigration lawyers, Amnesty’s findings validate years of warnings. Clients often arrive with hope but quickly find themselves in a difficult situation. Sriranpong explains that many foreign workers describe being threatened with deportation for requesting overtime pay or enduring unsafe conditions without the means to speak out or knowledge of their legal rights.
Sriranpong further explains, “The foreign workers I represented complained about wage theft, excessive work hours, short breaks and even physical abuse. Some foreign workers were even charged an illegal recruitment fee in order to secure a job in Canada. This ranged from $3,000 to $20,000. The Canadian TFWP supports a contemporary form of slavery with the closed work permit. The Canadian government assigns the responsibility of educating temporary foreign workers of their rights to employers, but there is an obvious conflict of interest in this arrangement. This leads to vulnerability and the potential for exploitation.”
Structural Problems Built into the TFWP Program
The exploitation described is not incidental. It stems from the TFWP’s structural flaws.
- Closed Work Permits foster dependency and abuse.
- Weak Oversight means minimal inspections and little accountability for employers.
- Temporary Status keeps workers in a cycle of precarity, with no realistic path to permanent residency.
- Lack of Transparency shields abusive practices from public scrutiny.
Canada has international obligations to uphold labour rights and human rights conventions. Yet the TFWP falls short, undermining Canada’s global reputation as a defender of justice and equality. Exploitation of migrant workers also weakens protections for all workers. When vulnerable groups are denied fundamental rights, labour standards across the board are eroded.
The Path to Reform
Amnesty International Canada calls for urgent reform, echoing the demands of immigration lawyers and advocates that have been made for years. The most critical steps include:
- Ending Closed Work Permits: Transition to open or sector-based permits to restore worker mobility.
- More vigorous Enforcement: Increase inspections and impose meaningful penalties on violators.
- Permanent Residency Pathways: Provide realistic opportunities for workers who contribute to the economy to remain in Canada permanently.
- Independent Oversight: Establish monitoring bodies and complaint systems that workers can trust and rely on.
Legal professionals, policymakers, and civil society must work together to ensure that Canada does not continue to benefit from a system that perpetuates exploitation.
A Call to Action
Amnesty International’s report has pulled back the curtain for the broader public, but for those who practice immigration law, the reality is all too familiar. The Canadian TFWP sustains a legalized cycle of vulnerability and abuse.
Canada must now make a choice: maintain a system that tolerates exploitation in the name of economic necessity, or embrace bold reform that protects the dignity of all workers. The time for half measures has passed. Katrina Sriranpong argues that, “Migrant workers deserve more than temporary status and precarious livelihoods. They deserve rights, dignity, and a fair chance to thrive.”