When Black and Brown field hands were recruited to Canada to fill labor shortages in the 1960s, a migrant worker program was established to inextricably tie workers to their specific employers. The tied visa program for migrant workers still stands today. However, as reported by Al Jazeera, a light has been shone on the “racist and discriminatory” origins of this tied employment scheme and the modern slavery conditions it props up by a proposed class-action lawsuit.

“Tried and true way” of maintaining a power imbalance

The proposed lawsuit alleges that Canada’s migrant worker program violates the country’s constitution, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that racism was intentionally baked into it from the start. By tying visas to specific employers, the program could ensure Canada would benefit from the labor of temporary workers while assuming none of the responsibility for them as for citizens. In cases of exploitation, they could simply ship them home.

Chris Ramsaroop, an activist with the group Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW) said:

“The system treats Black and Brown workers differently than Canadian workers… (the system) works against the interest of migrant agricultural workers, this is designed.”

Ramsaroop points to the fact that employers can terminate migrant agricultural workers’ contracts early if a weather event hits crops and their work is no longer needed. Instead of compensating the workers, as with a Canadian citizen facing similar conditions, they are sent home with nothing. There are also many documented instances of migrant workers being forced to live in crowded, substandard housing and work long hours in unsafe conditions for low wages. If they raise a complaint workers fear being deported or barred from coming back to Canada for the next season as the current system offers little to no protection.

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