Temporary foreign workers will still be at risk after new P.E.I. safeguards take effect, advocate says
‘We have to start addressing these injustices, and that means open work permits’
P.E.I.'s Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act, which was passed nearly three years ago, will finally take effect next month, but advocates say the legislation doesn't go far enough to address the systemic injustices faced by this vulnerable population.
Starting April 1, the first phase of the act will introduce new regulations for people who recruit foreign workers, requiring them to be licensed.
The act will also prohibit recruiters from charging foreign workers fees for recruitment services and ban practices such as providing false or misleading information or withholding workers' official documents, including passports.
The province's website says the second phase of the act will introduce an employer registry and administrative penalties, though the site does not mention a timeline for when this phase will be implemented.
Joe Byrne, who runs the Migrant Workers Resource Centre at the Charlottetown-based Cooper Institute, said the act does not address one of the biggest vulnerabilities temporary foreign workers face — the closed work-permit system, which ties them to a single employer.
He said this system creates an environment where workers are more susceptible to abuse and mistreatment.
"We've heard about harassment and actually sexual assault. Why people are scared to report it is because if they report it, they can lose their job. Once they lose their job, they lose their pathway to permanent residency and everything. Their dreams are shot," he told CBC's Island Morning.
"That is still the same kind of indentureship that we need to address. I don't think the act is designed to even begin to address that, because it's a systemic thing."
Addressing systemic issues
The federal government issues closed work permits to people who come to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
However, a report last year from the United Nations' special rapporteur said the program is a "breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery" due to the widespread mistreatment, exploitation and abuse of workers.
Byrne said that while the new provincial act may provide some protections, it does not address the core issue and requires action from the federal government.
For years, he and other advocates for temporary foreign workers across Canada have been calling on Ottawa to give all temporary foreign workers open work permits, allowing them to leave abusive situations without risking their ability to remain in the country.
"We have to start addressing these injustices, and that means open work permits," he said.
Reliance on temporary foreign workers
Temporary foreign workers make up an estimated 40 per cent of P.E.I.'s agricultural workforce.
When you add in employees in seafood processing, the trucking industry and other jobs, the number of temporary foreign workers arriving on the Island every year has grown from about 400 in 2015 to nearly 1,500 in 2024.
"If they're not here, that means the fish plants don't work and the grocery stores don't stay open," O'Leary Mayor Eric Gavin told CBC News recently. "That is a very big concern."
Given the province's significant reliance on these workers, Byrne said protections should have been in place much sooner, rather than not coming into force until nearly three years after the act was passed in the provincial legislature.
"Why does it have to take so long if something's going to be a priority? And we see when government puts a priority on things, they can actually get things done efficiently and quickly. This cannot be considered quick."
Byrne said he looks forward to seeing how well the act can protect temporary foreign workers after April 1.
One of his biggest concerns is how the act will be enforced.
"It doesn't matter what kind of regulations you have, unless you put resources into enforcement, then the act is not going to be able to be applied," he said.
With files from Island Morning