“A breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.”
That’s how a statement from a UN special rapporteur described Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program last week, focusing particularly on low-wage and agricultural workers.
The TFWP allows Canadian employers to bring in workers from abroad if they couldn’t fill a position domestically, and Canada has recently expanded the program to allow more workers to stay longer. But migrant workers have complained about abuse and exploitation, as well as a reliance on employers that can leave them powerless.
Today, UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery Tomoyo Obokata explains his findings from two weeks on a fact-finding mission in Canada, and why some migrant workers’ situations amount to debt bondage and slavery.
Transcripts of this series are available here
Modern ‘slavery’ faced by Canada’s migrant workers: UN report | Front Burner podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
