Sudbury migrant workers demand ‘status for all’ as part of rallies across Canada
Migrant workers and supporters in Sudbury, Ont., and other Canadian cities are gathering Saturday to celebrate International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
The Status for All gatherings for migrants, refugees and international students will also be held in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton and Niagara Falls, Ont., and will highlight personal stories of injustice and discrimination while living in Canada.
Migrant workers can be hired under the federal Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), which was established in 1966. Temporary foreign workers can also be hired under the agricultural stream of a federal immigration pilot for occupations that require a lower level of formal training.
Canada is increasingly relying on temporary foreign workers to fill labor shortages, with the number of workers rising from about 111,000 in 2000 to 777,000 in 2021, according to Statistics Canada.
“We will join thousands of migrants across Canada in holding rallies and events to raise awareness of the need for status for all,” said Scott Florence, executive director of the Sudbury Workers Education and Advocacy Center (SWEAC).
The organization is behind the local Saturday afternoon event at the Greater Sudbury Public Library headquarters.
According to Florence, many migrant workers have to deal with racism.
“Let’s say your employer is abusive or exploitative and you decide you want to quit. You now have 10 days to leave the country, so it doesn’t really give you access to justice or any stability.” ,” he said.
Florence said many migrant workers, undocumented workers or international students who want to work part-time are too afraid to be accountable to an exploitative employer.
Saturday’s events across Canada are designed to raise awareness about that injustice and call on the federal government to create a regularization program, something advocates have been calling for for years.
In December 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked his Secretary of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship “to build on existing pilot programs to further explore ways to regularize the status of undocumented workers who contribute to Canadian communities.”
Florence said some people without status end up working under the table and risk being evicted to make ends meet.
“Anyone who comes to Canada, in the present day, comes for the same reason all our ancestors did: to build a better life for themselves,” said Florence. “It’s only fair that they have the same access to services and support as our grandparents, our great-grandparents and ourselves.”
He said that “the pressures, the struggles and the stresses” that people exert are “fundamentally unfair from a human rights perspective”.
Immigration Minister has met with migrants, says IRCC
In an email to CBC News, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said work is underway to fulfill the prime minister’s mandate commitment.
The email also said Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Secretary Sean Fraser has met with about 100 undocumented migrants from across the country.
In January, it was announced that IRCC is expanding the Out-of-Status Construction Workers Pilot program, doubling the scope and extending the initiative through January 2024. Approximately 1,000 individuals will be accepted through this initiative over the next year.
.