Finding help in a strange land
Migrant worker assisted by Charlottetown group following workplace complaints
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part 2 of a three-part series following the story of a migrant worker and her efforts to get an open permit to work in P.E.I. after filing a complaint against her employer.
THREE RIVERS, P.E.I. — A Charlottetown organization that supported a temporary foreign worker who faced the threat of losing her ability to work in Canada says the need for advocacy is likely far greater than the data shows.
Lude Meng sought assistance from the Cooper Institute, a non-profit advocating for temporary foreign workers in P.E.I., following her layoff from North Lake Fisheries on Nov. 6, 2023.
A week prior, she had emailed the company detailing harassment she allegedly endured from her supervisors.
Meng told Saltwire that without a job, her Canadian permanent residency application could be jeopardized, and that might even force her to return to China and abandon the life she has built for herself and her daughter in P.E.I.
Saltwire contacted the company for comment regarding her allegations, but a representative said via email that the company cannot provide comments on specific matters relating to individual employees.
Ryan Macrae, a migrant worker program co-ordinator at the Cooper Institute in P.E.I., has been working closely with Meng for months to assist her in navigating her options.
“It’s pretty jarring. In this role, we do hear from a lot of workers going through a lot of different issues. So hearing things that are jarring is not uncommon,” Macrae told Saltwire in a recent interview.
“It's scary to think that every time that Cooper Institute hears from a worker about one of these situations … there's probably a dozen more that are happening that we don't know about.”
Back in 2021, researchers from the Cooper Institute, Dalhousie University and St. Thomas University conducted interviews with 15 migrant workers who had arrived in P.E.I. The result of their investigation was a report that outlined the difficulties these workers faced, such as overcrowded living conditions.
The report also pointed out some employers’ “unscrupulous” practices, such as withholding contracts from employees, which made the workers hesitant to speak up for fear of having their contracts revoked or being deported.
OPEN WORK PERMITS
At the time of her layoff, Meng was in Canada under a closed work permit tying her to North Lake Fisheries, which meant she was unable to seek employment elsewhere in Canada. But
“It’s scary to think that every time that Cooper Institute hears from a worker about one of these situations … there’s probably a dozen more that are happening that we don’t know about.”
Ryan Macrae
maintaining her permanent residency application required her to stay employed.
Macrae offered Meng an option: applying for an open work permit.
There's a federal program tailored for this: the open work permit program for vulnerable foreign workers. It's a temporary fix, typically offering a one-year permit that cannot be extended beyond expiry.
Applying for this program is also no easy feat. Macrae said it’s a complicated process that includes writing detailed explanation letters, filling out complex immigration forms and compiling lots of evidence and documents, not to mention computer skills.
“It's very labour-intensive. So typically for one of those applications, you're looking at about two full days nonstop of work,” he said. “I also think they're not accessible at all. I can only imagine it'd be that much more difficult if you didn't speak English or French fluently.”
CHANGING JOBS
The Cooper Institute has long been advocating for scrapping the closed work permit condition in the temporary foreign worker program. This condition creates power imbalances, making it challenging for workers to voice concerns due to fear of employer retaliation, Macrae said.
“The existence of the open work permit for vulnerable workers is, in my opinion, an admission from the federal government that there are issues with the temporary foreign worker program,” he said.
However, in a statement to Saltwire, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said foreign workers on closed permits “are able to apply for a new permit and change jobs, provided they meet eligibility criteria.”
Fay Faraday, an associate professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, said while workers technically have the option to apply for a new work permit to switch employers, in practice, they often end up with another closed permit tying them to the new employer.
And for migrant workers, changing jobs isn't as simple as it seems on paper, she said. They must find employers that are both eligible for the program and willing to hire them. Then applying for a new permit involves extensive paperwork, requiring access to technology and, in many cases, even legal representation.
“That takes many months, sometimes over a year,” Faraday said. “They also need help navigating it, especially if English is not their first language, which for most of them, is not.”
‘A LOT OF FEAR’
Brenda Picard, executive director of the P.E.I. Human Rights Commission, agrees migrant workers often hesitate to speak up due to fear of reprisal.
“We hear from people that there's a fear if I make a complaint, I'm going to lose my job and be sent back home, or my family at home is going to be targeted. So people have a lot of fear about things happening that are certainly not within our control of what can happen,” Picard told Saltwire in an interview April 8.
Picard said foreign workers and newcomers are often not familiar with the commission. To address this, the organization has partnered with immigrant settlement groups in P.E.I. to raise awareness about the commission's role and complaint procedures within the newcomer community.
Complainants do have up to a year after an incident to file a human rights complaint, allowing them time to address past experiences of harassment when they feel safe to do so, she said.
CONCERN FOR OTHERS
In November 2023, Macrae helped Meng prepare an application for an open work permit, which included details on the sexual harassment allegations. It was approved by the federal government shortly after.
Meng is now free to work anywhere for any employer. But she said she can’t help but think about other migrant workers from her country who may face similar issues but are unable to speak up. One of the reasons could be language barriers.
“Most Chinese people have no good English ... and they can’t do anything and say anything.”
In part 3 of this series, Saltwire attempt to find answers about what P.E.I. is doing to increase protections for temporary foreign workers.