Labour Trafficking
in Canda
Areas
Service.
Manufacturing.
Agricultural.
Conditions
Construction sectors.
Limited access to services.
Precarious situation.
Limited protection of their rights or opportunity to complain about mistreatment.
Physical and social isolation.
Predominantly affected migrant workers.
Come with valid work permits under the “low-skilled” streams of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP).
No access to education.
Means are used as a way of controlling someone in order to cause them to believe that they have no choice but to carry out a specific work or service
Difficult to establish community connections.
Deceived through attractive promises.
Isolated in order to control her/his freedom.
Unable to speak with family and other
members of society.
Constantly monitored.
Constantly monitored.
Passport, identity documents and work
permit taken from them.
Has specific vulnerabilities taken advantage of.
Is forced to participate in illegal activities.
Forced to make a refugee claim so that they are subject to removal (facilitates traffickers’ ability to threaten and control).
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act bar people whose refugee claims have been rejected, withdrawn or abandoned, from applying for status, including the Temporary Resident Permit intended for victims of trafficking. This has made it harder for trafficked persons to escape their traffickers
and easier for traffickers to control them through threats of denunciation and deportation.
Precarious immigration status
Insecure immigration status or no status at all are particularly vulnerable.
Whether they enter as a Temporary Foreign Worker, a refugee claimant, a student, a tourist or irregularly, traffickers may take advantage of their limited rights.
Due to changes in immigration policy, more people are in Canada with temporary and precarious status.
Possible solutions
Increasing access to permanent status.
Expanding the rights of those with temporary status.
Enforcing laws to protect them from abuse.
Introducing legal protections for trafficked persons.