Question Period Note: Tabling of Employment and Social Development Canada’s Supplementary Estimates (B) for Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2025

Why is Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) requesting $20.0 million for the
Migrant Worker Support Program in the Supplementary Estimates (B) for fiscal year ending
March 31, 2025?

The Government of Canada takes its responsibility to help protect the health and
safety of temporary foreign workers seriously.
• Budget 2024 committed $41 million over two years to extend the MWSP, and fund
community-based organizations across Canada offering support to temporary foreign
workers.
• Over the last two years, these organizations have delivered over 380,000 service
interactions aimed at helping temporary foreign workers learn about and exercise their
rights while in Canada. These interactions include on-arrival airport services, as well
as community based and emergency support services.
If Pressed (Worker protections):
• In addition to the MWSP, the Government of Canada has a number of tools in place to
protect temporary foreign workers. These include:
o A compliance regime that verifies if employers are meeting program
requirements set out in their Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)
applications. Employers found non-compliant can face significant
consequences, including penalties of up to $1 million and bans from the
Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program.
o A confidential tip line and online reporting tool where temporary foreign
workers can anonymously report situations of wrongdoing.
o Regulatory changes requiring employers to provide temporary foreign
workers with information about their rights, access to health coverage, and
measures to protect workers from reprisal if they come forward with
allegations of abuse.
• This measure builds on the Open Work Permit for Vulnerable Workers which allows
temporary foreign workers to leave bad employers if they are experiencing – or at risk
of experiencing – abuse in their job.

To support temporary foreign workers in understanding and exercising their rights,
Budget 2018 established a pilot Migrant Worker Support Network (MWSN) in British
Columbia. The pilot ran from February 2019 to March 2020, with a budget of $3.4 million. An
assessment of the pilot in 2021 found that it was effective in increasing temporary foreign
workers’ knowledge of their rights and that organizations funded under the pilot were able to
support migrant workers to report wrongdoing.
Building on the successes of the 2018 pilot, Budget 2021 committed $49.5 million over three
years to implement the MWSP, which funds community organizations across the country to
support temporary foreign workers in learning about and exercising their rights while living
and working in Canada. Budget 2024 announced $41 million to extend the MWS Program for
two years so that community organizations can continue to support vulnerable foreign
workers.
The MWSP helps to address the everyday challenges that temporary foreign workers face in
learning about and exercising their rights. Migrant worker-centric information and services,
including on-arrival airport orientation services and community-based services, are delivered
directly to migrant workers and help to alleviate barriers they face, such as isolation,
difficulties changing jobs, lack of English or French language proficiency, and difficulties
navigating government services. The Department has contribution agreements with
10 community organizations who redistribute funding to over 100 sub-agreement holders
(see Annex A for current agreement holders). These organizations have had over
380,000 service interactions with temporary foreign workers between January 2023 and
March 2024.

Table: Funding for the Migrant Worker Support Program
Funding (in $) and Full Time Equivalent (FTE)

FTE
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 0
Supplementary Estimates (B): 17
Total Funding: 17

Salary
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 0
Supplementary Estimates (B): 1,559,094
Total Funding: 1,559,094

Operating and maintenance
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 0
Supplementary Estimates (B): 486,876
Total Funding: 486,876

Total Operating (Vote 1)
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 0
Supplementary Estimates (B): 2,045,970
Total Funding: 2,045,970

Grants and Contributions (Vote 5)
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 0
Supplementary Estimates (B): 17,944,026
Total Funding: 17,944,026

Sub-Total
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 0
Supplementary Estimates (B): 19,989,996
Total Funding: 19,989,996

Employee benefit plans
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 0
Supplementary Estimates (B): 420,955
Total Funding: 420,955

Total Funding
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 0
Supplementary Estimates (B): 20,410,951
Total Funding: 20,410,951