Fourteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

The Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP) in Canada enables Canadian companies and employers seeking cheap and reliable labor for low skilled jobs that Canadian’s are not prepared to do. Canada is a destination for migrant labor for many sending states that broker labor to alleviate unemployment in these source countries while adding to earnings from remittances sent home by these migrant workers. The TFWP, now in a phase of expansion, has been described in the early research as creating the conditions for indentured labor and the exploitation of migrant workers, while women workers make up the majorities in the sectors with the least protections, lowest wages and the most demeaning working conditions, like the Care Givers Program (CGP). This paper shares current research insights and findings on the state of precarious migrant workers in Canada in the low skills category (including the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program or SAWP) who constitute the majority and on migrant worker learning and political advocacy based on a qualitative case study of a migrant worker organization in Western Canada and its national and regional partners. Data collected and analyzed (coding and emergent themes) includes secondary documents from migrant organizations, interviews with migrant worker activists, and focus groups with migrant workers, including observation at key events geared towards public education and advocacy for precarious migrant workers.