Migrant caregivers face fear, deal with grief in pandemic
Temporary workers out thousands in lost wages, new report finds
As pandemic pressures are intensifying, so, too, are demands on low-wage migrant caregivers who are sometimes working double the number of hours they are paid for, a new report says.
The average worker accrued some $6,550 in unpaid wages over the past six months, according to the survey of 200 caregivers in Canada by a coalition of advocacy groups. On top of mounting financial stress, more than a third of workers said they were prohibited by their employer from leaving the home for fear of COVID infection, resulting in deepening isolation and anxiety.
But caregivers’ ability to leave abusive workplaces is now more limited than ever, according to the report compiled and endorsed by 10 organizations, including the Caregivers Action Centre and Migrant Workers Alliance for Change. Increased delays in processing permanent residency applications mean many workers on restricted work permits remain tied to a single employer — and risk their access to health care and income support if they leave their job.
“These experiences are not new, but have been further exacerbated during COVID-19,” said organizer Diana Da Silva at a press conference Wednesday.
“This is why care workers are calling for the federal government to immediately grant permanent residency for all: to protect themselves in a pandemic, and to be reunited with their families.”
There are around 25,000 migrant caregivers in Canada. Most come on closed work permits tied to a single employer; if they are fired or quit they cannot work elsewhere and fall off the track to permanent residency, which requires two years’ work experience.
“They are unable to complain for fear of losing their job or jeopardizing their PR application,” said Marlyn Lopez of the Careworkers Connection, Education and Support Organization, a non-profit that provides skills training and support to migrant workers.
Half of respondents in the survey said the pandemic has resulted in longer work hours; most reported working between 50 and 65 hours a week, but only being paid for 35. The average wage for a migrant caregiver is less than $17,000 a year, Da Silva said Wednesday.
Many reported increased restrictions on their movement, including increased camera surveillance and being banned from using public transit.
“Workers were barred from meeting with friends or partners,” the study says. “The racism underpinning this denial of freedom is clear: even as employers went in and out, workers — primarily South-East Asian, as well as Caribbean, African and South Asian women — were treated as vectors of disease.”
One worker in the report said she was fired because she brought home food from the outside. The consequences, the study said, can be dire: since many caregivers live with their employers, losing a job also effectively means eviction.
More than a third of workers surveyed reported losing their job during the pandemic.
Last year, the federal government announced a pilot project to make it easier for caregivers to obtain permanent residency. It requires workers to demonstrate proficiency in English or French, and accreditation for one year of post-secondary education.
That, the report notes, often requires care workers to “pay high fees for accreditation or pay high international student tuition fees to complete one year of post-secondary study, while working extremely long hours at minimum wage.”
As previously reported by the Star, the federal government is also planning “improvements” to its open work permit scheme that allows migrant workers who can document abuse to find new jobs.
Wednesday’s report says permanent-resident status is “the single most important change that would ensure migrant care workers can protect themselves against labour exploitation.”