Question Period Note: Vulnerable Workers

Open Work Permit and other measures for Vulnerable Workers

• Foreign workers have the same rights to workplace protections under federal, provincial and territorial labour laws as Canadians.

• Employers hiring temporary foreign workers on an employer specific work permit are subject to an employer compliance regime to promote safe and fair working conditions.

• Employers found to have broken regulatory conditions may be subject to consequences such as monetary penalties or being banned from employing foreign workers and may be identified on the Government’s website.

• Temporary foreign workers on a valid employer-specific work permit experiencing or at risk of experiencing abuse in their job may apply for an Open Work Permit for Vulnerable Workers (OWP-V). This allows foreign workers to quickly leave the abusive situation and start working for a different employer.

• OWP-V applications are assessed on a case-by-case and urgent basis, with a lower burden of proof compared to most immigration programs.

• This program is aligned with other worker protection tools that the federal government has in place.

If pressed
• After a worker is approved for an open work permit for vulnerable workers, an inspection is conducted to verify the employer’s compliance with regulatory conditions.

• On September 26, 2022, regulations came into force to help prevent the mistreatment or abuse of temporary foreign workers during their stay in Canada. The new regulatory requirements improve protections for temporary foreign workers and strengthen the Government’s ability to effectively conduct inspections.
• Some of these changes include prohibiting employers from charging and recovering fees associated with the recruitment of foreign workers, and from hiring third parties who charge or recover these fees under both the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the International Mobility Program.

Open Work Permit for Vulnerable Workers

• The Open Work Permit for Vulnerable Workers (OWP-V) was launched in June 2019 and allows workers on valid employer-specific work permits who are experiencing or are at risk of experiencing abuse in the context of their employment in Canada to apply for an open work permit.

• With an open work permit, workers are able to exit abusive situations quickly and work for almost any employer in Canada. This permit mitigates some of the barriers that migrant workers have previously faced in reporting abuse, such as loss of their work authorization, fear of deportation, and employer retribution.

• The OWP-V is temporary and generally non-renewable. It is typically issued for 1 year and is intended to give workers enough time to find a new job and apply for another work permit before the OWP-V expires.

• Foreign workers at risk of abuse may be eligible for this type of work permit, so that no one would have to stay in an abusive situation in order to qualify for this work permit. “At risk of abuse” is defined as a situation where a temporary foreign worker has left their abusive situation and would be at risk if they returned, or at risk in the context of other coworkers experiencing abuse. Officers require, at minimum, a description of the abuse or risk of abuse.

• For the purposes of assessing eligibility for the OWP-V, “abuse” is defined in regulations as consisting of any of the following:
o physical abuse, including assault and forcible confinement;
o sexual abuse, including sexual contact without consent;
o psychological abuse, including threats and intimidation;
o financial abuse, including fraud and extortion; or
o reprisals.

Processing times:

• In Budget 2021, the Government committed $6.3 M over three years, to support faster processing and improved service delivery of Open Work Permits for Vulnerable Workers.

• Many factors can contribute to variations in processing times, such as the extent to which an application is complete, the quality and speed with which applicants respond to IRCC requests for additional information and biometrics (where applicable), the ease with which we can verify the information provided, and the complexity of an application.

• IRCC has undertaken various measures to improve the processing times of applications for the open work permit for vulnerable workers (OWP-V), including
o centralizing processing under one unit to enhance oversight and ensure consistency
o delivering updated operational training to officers
o refreshing standard operating procedures
improving program delivery instructions
• As of March 2024, processing times were at 163 days for 80% of cases

Metrics

• Since the launch of the program in June 2019 up to December 2023, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued over 4,800 open work permits for vulnerable workers (OWP-Vs).

• In 2023, IRCC issued 2,044 OWP-Vs (compared to 1,087 permits issued in 2022)

Employer Compliance Regime

• The Employer Compliance Regimes are applicable to employers in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and International Mobility Program (IMP) who employ workers on employer specific work permits. Employers of workers on open work permits (offered through the IMP only) are not subject to the Employer Compliance Regimes.

• These Regimes seek to ensure the protection of temporary foreign workers’ rights through a suite of requirements on employers under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. Conditions imposed on employers under the IMP and TFWP are very similar and include being compliant with employment standards legislation, providing a workplace free of abuse, and ensuring that the foreign worker is working in the occupation and for the wages identified in the job offer. Employers under the TFWP have additional conditions which do not apply to IMP employers, including conditions regarding accommodations provided to workers and conditions relating to commitments made in the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) (e.g., job creation or retention for Citizens and permanent residents).

• The Government of Canada (IRCC for IMP and ESDC for TFWP) undertakes inspections on employers of foreign workers on employer specific work permits and, if found to have broken the rules, employers may be subject to consequences such as monetary penalties and bans from hiring foreign workers.

Metrics

• From the inception of the International Mobility Program (IMP) in 2015, to September 30, 2023, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has imposed 138 Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs), totaling over $670,000.

• As of September 30, 2023:
o 310 employers are ineligible to access either the IMP or the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP) due to non-payment of their AMP.
o One (1) employer has received a permanent ban as a result of an inspection under the TFWP.
o 18 employers have active temporary program bans as a direct result of inspections under both the IMP and TFWP. These program bans range from one year to 10 years.

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