Federal reforms for migrant farmworkers draw sharp criticisms
The proposal is contained in a suite of public consultation documents — created by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and shared publicly Wednesday by the Migrant Rights Network — that outline part of the government's effort to reform Canada's migrant farmworker system.
The consultation comes a year after the UN's special rapporteur on modern slavery lambasted Canada's system for being a "breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery."
Canadian farms and food processors rely heavily on temporary foreign workers and hired more than 78,000 such workers in 2024.
'Housing is too hot'
"We've been asking workers what their main issue is and they've been consistently telling us that the housing is too hot," said Syed Hassan, executive director of the Migrant Workers' Alliance for Change. However, the government's proposal "completely abandoned the notion of indoor temperature control [which is] the way you deal with heat stress."
Under the proposed rules, the government has watered down a suite of housing standards that farmers, food processing companies and fishers would need to meet before they can hire migrant workers. Those standards were first proposed in 2020 as COVID tore through worker housing, and, initially, specified things such as indoor temperature requirements — between 20 and 25.5 degrees C — or how many workers can sleep in each bedroom.
A federal plan to reform Canada's migrant worker system would ditch proposed indoor temperature standards designed to protect workers from extreme heat while also allowing farmers and food processors to deduct thousands of dollars in worker wages.
Those details are gone in the more recent documents and are replaced by guidelines that don't have specific, measurable standards, making it nearly impossible to hold employers to account, said Hassan.
Last year, researchers at UBC found that indoor temperatures in migrant worker housing on farms in the Okanagan "consistently exceeded outdoor temperatures" during the previous summer and far exceeded guidelines established by the BC Agricultural Council and the Western Agriculture Labour Initiative.
Javier Robles, a settlement worker with KCR Community Resources, described how excessive indoor heat exacerbates the difficult work conditions the migrant workers he supports already face. "They wake up at 5 am, make breakfast, make lunch, go to the fields in 37-degree temperatures, come back home — and there's no air conditioning. Some of the workers sleep outside in hammocks," he said.
As the government guidelines abandon temperature targets, the proposed system would also let employers deduct up to a third of their employees' wages to pay for housing costs, on top of existing deductions for EI and CPP. According to projections by ESDC using farmworker wages in Ontario, that amounts to roughly $1,000 in housing deductions each month.
Existing housing deductions are capped at about $130 a month. They're only allowed under one of Canada's three temporary foreign worker streams, with some exceptions for BC. Employers there can already deduct housing costs from workers they hired under the seasonal agricultural worker program.
A survey of migrant workers by the Migrant Rights Network published Wednesday alongside the federal documents found that over 83 per cent of temporary foreign workers labouring in Canada are already struggling to afford to care for themselves and their families.
On top of the proposed housing deductions, migrant workers are still required to pay into EI — they contribute about $131 million annually, according to ESDC — but many can't access it in the case of unplanned job losses because to receive it, they must be eligible to work in Canada. It is mostly impossible for migrant workers to find other jobs in Canada, because their visas are tied to their employers.
In a statement, an ESDC spokesperson said that "all contributors, including temporary foreign workers, are entitled to EI benefits, provided that they meet qualifying and entitlement conditions … all claimants who have worked sufficient hours, meet eligibility and qualifying conditions, and are authorized to remain in Canada may continue to be paid EI. Claimants may be eligible to receive some types of EI special benefits (for example, maternity benefits) even if they leave Canada."
Hassan was unforgiving in his assessment of the federal government's proposed overhaul of its temporary foreign worker system. Canada has come under sustained criticism for its migrant worker program since the start of the pandemic — especially after the UN report last year, he said. But instead of fully reforming the system, the proposed changes amount to a "public relations exercise."
"This is capitulation to the worst kind of bosses' demands. These are not reforms — this is robbery," he said.
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National Observer
an hour ago
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Churchill's second act: From grain to critical minerals By Christopher Pollon Analysis Business August 13th 2025 #81 of 81 articles from the Special Report: Business Solutions Share this article A cargo ship carrying zinc concentrate departs from the port of Churchill in 2024. Arctic Gateway Group plans to ship 20,000 tonnes of the critical mineral from the port this year in partnership with Hudbay Minerals. Photo courtesy of the Arctic Gateway Group
Listen to article This summer, zinc from a northern Manitoba mine will travel the Hudson Bay Railway to the sub-arctic port at Churchill, where it will be shipped through a mostly ice-free Hudson Strait to a refinery in Belgium. The mine-to-refinery passage will take a fraction of the time it takes to ship it through Montreal — the usual route for Canadian exports bound for Europe. Location was a major factor in the choice to ship from Hudson Bay, said Candace Brule, vice president of investor relations for Hudbay Minerals, the Toronto-based mine owner. 'While there are challenges associated with Churchill, including a limited shipping [season], due to its proximity to the mine, we view it as a competitive logistics option, providing a degree of diversification,' she told Canada's National Observer. 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Vancouver Sun
2 hours ago
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'Dangerous decision': Telecom CEO blasts Joly's decision to uphold CRTC's wholesale internet rules
OTTAWA — A week after allowing Canada's three major telecommunications companies to resell fibre optics to Internet service providers on their respective networks and those of smaller players, Canada's industry minister is facing harsh criticism from the industry. The uproar is coming first and foremost from her hometown of Montreal, where three major telecommunication companies are headquartered and where the frustration is still intense. 'I am in shock. In shock. I am profoundly disappointed,' said Cogeco's CEO Frédéric Perron in an interview with National Post. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The Montreal-based company is not thrilled with the new minister's first consequential move. So much so that he wanted to 'ring the alarm bell' because he never thought that 'such a damaging, dangerous decision' as the one she made last week 'would or could be made.' 'We had high hopes that this new government would make better decisions for business and the Canadian economy,' Perron said. 'And what we saw last week, by the minister's decision, is more reminiscent of old Trudeau era, superficial policies.' Within the industry, Mélanie Joly was expected to announce her rebuttal of a controversial decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) that allows, for example, a company like Telus, which is strong in Western Canada, to use other providers' networks to attract thousands of customers in Ontario and Quebec instead of building its own infrastructure. The regulator said the measure was intended to reduce costs for consumers. 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'With this decision, the minister is essentially saying it's okay if the Big Three get even bigger. It's okay if the regional, local players suffer, and it's okay if there's a re-monopolization of telecoms in Canada,' Perron said. 'We don't think it's okay. Consumers won't think it's okay, and we'll fight to make sure it doesn't happen.' Cogeco and Eastlink, which announced last week it was 'suspending further planned upgrades to many smaller communities across Canada,' filed an appeal in July asking the Federal Court of Appeal to quash the decision. But in Ottawa, overriding a decision from the CRTC was seen as a 'bold move' and that could 'rattle the cage' not even six months after an election and a new prime minister in charge. Sources said the minister had a duty to ensure the sustainability of institutions and protect the national interest. Champagne, who has since become minister of finance, did not comment for this story. His office confirmed that he attended the cabinet meeting in which the decision was confirmed and that 'Canada's new government has a strong mandate to bring costs down and to build one, strong, Canadian economy.' 'We would have liked to see a lot more courage, and I'm happy to be quoted on that. It seems to me like deferring to the CRTC and maintaining the status quo was the easy way, but not the right way. Sometimes the best decision is the hard decision in life, and we are saddened that the hard decision was not made,' said Perron. Sources in the industry support Perron's comments about the decision. In a statement last week, Rogers Communications said 'the Carney government has declared its priority is to build a strong Canada and this decision does the exact opposite.' A recent PwC study shows that the telecommunication sector directly contributed $87.3 billion in GDP to Canada's economy and supported over 661,000 jobs in 2024. By 2035, the Canadian telecom industry could contribute another $112 billion to Canada's overall GDP, according to the study. But for Cogeco and other players, this decision could threaten these expectations. 'The decision from last week is not sending the right signal, and it's concerning to me,' said Perron. National Post atrepanier@ Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here .
