Ongoing concerns regarding the treatment of temporary foreign farm workers have prompted a federal committee to recommend the creation of a national migrant workers commission.
A report the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology released May 21 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program recommends the creation of a Migrant Work Commission that includes commissioners representing both workers and employers as well as representation from the federal departments of Employment and Social Development Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
It also recommends phasing out employer-specific work permits within three years and replacing them with regional work permits that would make workers less dependent on specific employers and more confident in reporting issues during the terms of their employment.
National farm groups have noted that the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program includes a mechanism allowing workers to request a transfer to a different employer and have endorsed its expansion to cover workers participating in the TFW program.
A statement on the report was not immediately available from the Western Agricultural Labour Initiative, a subsidiary of the BC Agriculture Council that works with employers on migrant worker issues.
BC farms welcomed 15,670 foreign workers last year, the majority admitted under the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program.
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