Temporary work permits freezing : should we really be worried?
Holders of “closed” work permits or looking for a job, foreign workers have only four days left to renew or obtain the precious paper in Montreal, otherwise their future application could be refused. For other provinces, the deadline is September 26. For The Converse, a lawyer deciphers these political decisions that took everyone by surprise.
On August 20, 2024, the Prime Minister of Quebec, François Legault, announced a partial suspension of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) for a period of six months beginning on September 3, 2024. The following week, it was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's turn to announce federal measures to reduce the number of temporary foreign workers in low-wage jobs, with an effective date scheduled for September 26.
The PTET allows businesses to hire foreigners to fill positions for which they face a labour shortage. These employees thus obtain a so-called “closed” work permit - that is, one that only allows them to work for a single employer. If they lose their job, their work permit is therefore no longer valid. A system that is regularly questioned and criticized by those who consider that it puts these people in a precarious position. With these surprise announcements, new obstacles seem to be erected by the Quebec and federal governments, who cite inflation and housing crisis to justify them.
Concretely, from September 3, 2024 to March 3, 2025, Montreal employers will no longer be able to submit job applications under the PTET for positions below the median salary of $57,000 CAD gross annually. As of September 26, several similar federal measures will apply to provinces with an unemployment rate greater than 6%. The government is reviewing the program and has not given an end date for this measure at this time.
“If my request is rejected, I will have to go back to Colombia”
At the offices of the Latin American Family Assistance Center (CAFLA), an organization that offers health support to holders of closed work permits, Malia*, a volunteer for six months, agrees to confide in The Converse. Originally from Colombia, she arrived in Montreal last March on a visitor visa. “I came to be close to my children. My son and daughter have been studying here for 3 years. My daughter is 17 and still in high school, so she needed my help with all the administrative procedures,” she explains.
A psychologist specializing in early childhood for 20 years in Colombia, Malia took the opportunity of her stay to put her expertise at the service of the Latina community by volunteering for the CAFLA organization. With her visitor visa expiring on September 21, Malia finds herself in total confusion. The CAFLA offered him a job as a psychologist but his contract stipulates an offer under $57,000 per year that would exempt him from the latest immigration measures. “Although I was offered a job here, we are a community organization... I will not be paid more than $27.47 per hour. If my request is rejected, I will have to go back to Colombia,” she whispers.
In theory, since Malia has already applied for a “closed” permit, she should fall through the cracks. However, this is not enough to ease his stress. “It's a very difficult situation. Just this morning I was on the verge of crying. It's very hard, the noose is getting tighter,” she confides with emotion.
These announcements caused “shock and panic” among foreign workers whose status is precarious, notes Cecilia Ivonne Escamilla, director of the Latin American Family Assistance Center (CAFLA), an organization that offers health support to holders of closed work permits. On social networks, some Facebook groups of foreign workers are also agitated. “Urgent: I have had a temporary foreign worker permit for 8 months, does this news concern me? ” can be read in one of these groups.
But are these people right to be worried? The Converse asked the question to a lawyer.
“Several areas of employment will not be affected”
Beyond the general measures, some details should be taken into account. “There will be very few people concerned since among these criteria, several areas of employment will not be affected. Workers in health, education, construction, food processing and agriculture are exempt, for example,” says Stéphane Handfield, an immigration lawyer based in Montreal. Indeed, the measures are mainly aimed at retail, hotel, and restaurant employees.
The expert also recalls that the new PTET rules in Quebec only apply to the island of Montreal: “A person who lives in Montreal and who finds a job in Laval, Joliette or other will have no problem”, explains Me Handfield. It is the place of employment that is taken into account and not the place of residence that is taken into account.
Although Ottawa has also announced similar arbitrations for the rest of the country, as of September 26, the immigration lawyer points out that these measures only concern provinces with an unemployment rate greater than 6%. “If we look, for example, at the greater metropolitan area of Quebec, the unemployment rate is below 6%, so the measure will not be applicable to that region. There will be a lot of exceptions,” he insists.
However, federal measures also reduce the maximum rate of workers with a TFWP per business. The percentage of low-income foreign employees that an employer is authorized to employ will increase from 20% to 10% of the total workforce. In addition, the maximum duration of these work permits will be reduced to one year instead of two years. The opportunity to obtain permanent residence after two years of employment in Canada will therefore be impossible if the renewal of a work permit is refused. “Reducing the duration of the work permit from two years to one year can actually cause problems in obtaining permanent residence. But depending on the type of job, many people already don't have access to it,” says Me Handfield.
The lawyer highlights some aspects that he considers “contradictory” in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcements. “The federal government announced this measure for September 26, but at the same time, we can see that Immigration Canada is speeding up the processing of work permit applications in order to finalize the largest number of files before the measures come into force,” he analyzes.
“We are taking measures to limit the number, but at the same time, for the days before the entry into force, we are speeding up the processing of files. Therefore, it is not impossible that, at the level of permanent residence, changes will be implemented to obtain it,” according to the immigration lawyer. Nothing to reassure the people concerned. Especially since the fear of having to leave the country could lead to excesses.
“It's akin to slavery”
Back at CAFLA, director Cecilia Ivonne Escamilla welcomes us to her office, right next to Malia's. “With these new measures, qualified professionals will find themselves forced to accept any job in order to stay here. The situation is likely to worsen, as these workers, for fear of losing their status, will not ask for their rights and will do what they are asked to do. This makes the situation even more precarious for these people,” she explains.
In his report presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council on 22 July 2024, the rapporteur Tomoya Obokata is not kind to Canada. With regard to the PTET, he believes that closed permits are “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery” and that “The government does not seem to proactively and effectively inform workers about their rights.”
“For me, it's very similar to slavery,” says Cecilia Ivonne Escamilla. In particular, she challenges the power imbalance that arises between an employer and his employee: “For a temporary worker to be able to return the following year, he must obtain a document attesting that he is authorized to do so. Without this document, they will not be able to return. If they complain or cause problems, they may not get this paper from their employer and may not be allowed to return. They pay taxes and have fees, but they are silent because they fear they will have to go back to their country.”
The director is also concerned that many workers will remain in Canada. without status if their permits are not renewed, which would further complicate their situation. “When they go from a work permit to being undocumented, they will just find themselves working under the table and employers take advantage of it, it's terrible,” she laments.
As the countdown is on, the question of the consequences of the latest migration policies on workers arises. A situation that The Converse will follow, because beyond numbers and political decisions, human lives are at stake.