Access to Justice for Migrant Workers in BC - West Coast Domestic ...

PART THREE
Abuse and Denial of Rights: The Experience of Migrant Workers in BC
Part Two has mapped out how immigration regulations governing the TFWP foster
impermanence, insecurity and entrenches precariousness. This part of the report uses
WDWA’s research findings from its focus groups discussions, interviews with migrant
workers, and the experiences of clients who have sought WCDWA’s support in recent years,
to demonstrate how the problems identified in Part Two of the report are present both
before and during migrants’ time in Canada. The report inter-weaves WCDWA’s research
with examples from other researchers and media reports. This section focuses on several
areas of concern including abuses by recruitment agencies, the absence of an effective
regulations and employment standards enforcement mechanisms, low wages and unpaid
overtime, housing issues, health and safety issues, and the lengthy pathways to permanent
residence. WCDWA’s research and testimony from research participants highlights how the
precarious nature of migrant labor engenders vulnerability, limits opportunities to complain
and seek redress for abuses, and ensures migrant workers live a life of uncertainty and
impermanence.
Recruitment Abuses
Before migrant workers even get to Canada, our research findings indicate that they are
often subject to unethical practices of recruitment agencies and ‘consultants’. The role of
private recruitment agencies in the placement of temporary foreign workers has taken on a
greater significance globally. Flecker notes that the ILO “has documented that private
recruitment agencies provide false information about jobs, charge migrants excessive fees
for services, and send migrants to countries where they find no jobs that actually exist.” 68
BC is not immune to this trend. Our research and interviews document enduring
problems with private recruitment agencies operating both in BC as well as overseas. Due
to a weak regulatory environment and the lack of enforcement mechanisms, particularly for
off-shore recruitment agencies, many agencies engage in unscrupulous and illegal practices
with impunity. These practices include charging illegal fees to prospective workers for
finding jobs and asking workers to engage in illegal work.
68
Karl Flecker, “Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program, Model Program or Mistake,” Canadian Labour Congress, (April
2008), http://www.canadianlabour.ca/sites/default/files/pdfs/model-program-or-mistake-2011-en.pdf.
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