Canada’s temporary foreign worker program promotes contemporary forms of slavery: UN investigator
temporary foreign worker program is a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery alleged a report by UN investigator Tomoya Obokata, according to an article in Canada's leading daily Globe and Mail.
Prof. Obokata is the United Nations’ special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and a professor of international human-rights law at the University of York in Britain.
The recently released final report cements Prof. Obokata’s initial impressions, which he first expressed last year after visiting Ottawa, Moncton, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver on a fact-finding tour, Globe and Mail reported.
«The special rapporteur retains the view that the temporary foreign worker program serves as a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery, as it institutionalizes asymmetries of power that favour employers and prevent workers from exercising their rights,” states the final report, which is dated July 22 and was recently posted online.
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Federal programs that allow Canadian companies to bring in foreign labour on a temporary basis have existed in various forms for decades, with numerous waves of reforms to the rules over that time. Historically, it has primarily been used in the agricultural sector to cover seasonal spikes in labour demand, according to Globe and Mail.
The program is now facing renewed scrutiny over the steep rise in a separate stream of the program focused on low-wage workers, which employers are using to fill positions such as
