Question Period Note: Protections for Temporary Foreign Workers

while working in Canada during the COVID-19 Pandemic?

• The Government of Canada takes its responsibility to protect the health and safety of temporary foreign workers while they are in Canada very seriously.

• The Government of Canada has been
working towards ensuring the safety of all workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Early in the pandemic, and following the advice of medical experts, the government ensured that various health and safety measures were put in place to protect the health and safety of temporary foreign workers.

• We are committed to maintaining a whole of Government approach with our federal partners, as well as with our provincial counterparts, to continue protecting the health and safety of Temporary Foreign Workers.

While in Canada, Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) have the same rights to workplace protections under applicable federal, provincial and territorial employment standards and collective agreements as Canadians and permanent residents.

Employers are expected to uphold certain Program conditions and be aware of their responsibilities and obligations. They must regularly review the activities related to the employment of the TFW to ensure they continue to uphold Program requirements. They must also take action to rectify errors and/or non-compliance as soon as it is discovered, and must inform Service Canada of these issues and the actions taken.

The Program has a comprehensive compliance regime in place to protect TFWs by verifying that employers are meeting their obligations under the Program. If an employer fails to meet Program conditions, or does not cooperate during an inspection, they could face administrative penalties of up to a maximum of $1 million and temporary or permanent bans from the Program.

This is, however, a complex, multi-jurisdictional space, with labour laws and workplace safety rules for most employers being established and enforced by provincial governments. The Department works closely with its provincial partners to share information and to collaborate on inspections to verify compliance with the TFW Program.

As part of the Government’s broader commitment to protecting TFWs from mistreatment and abuse, Budget 2021 committed $49.5 million over three years to implement a new Migrant Worker Support Program (MWSP) to better support TFWs by addressing the power imbalance between employers and workers. This commitment builds on the $19.3M directed to non-profit organizations since 2019 to support TFWs in Canada by informing them of their rights and responsibilities, by providing community-based and emergency supports, and by supporting vaccination efforts, isolation and quarantine, and airport orientation throughout all waves of the pandemic. ESDC held a solicited call for proposals from April 21 to May 18, 2022 and aims to implement the new MWSP in October 2022.

In addition, new Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations were published in the Canada Gazette, Part II on July 6, 2022. These Amendments will come into force on September 26, 2022, and provide the Program with important new authorities to implement front- and back-end measures that will enhance the protection of migrant workers in Canada, and address persistent gaps with respect to employer compliance. Some of the changes include requirements for an employer to provide the most recent information to workers about their rights in Canada, have a signed employment agreement with their workers, and provide access to health care services when the worker is injured or becomes ill at the workplace. The proposal would also mandate that employers in the TFW Program obtain and pay for private health insurance that covers the fees of emergency medical care for their workers if the worker is not already covered.

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