NDP, labour call on Liberals to abolish closed work permits

OTTAWA—On Thursday, the NDP called for the abolishment of closed work permits that have allowed employers to trap, abuse, underpay, and exploit migrant workers in Canada.

NDP critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Jenny Kwan made the announcement on Thursday alongside NDP critic for Labour Matthew Green, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), and the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW).

“Every worker deserves to be treated with respect, paid a living wage, and allowed to work in a safe environment," said Kwan. "But the Liberals’ closed work permits are a form of indentured labour that systematically make migrant workers vulnerable to abuse and exploitation by their employers, while also driving down Canadians’ wages. There is nothing Canadian about this—the NDP is calling on the Liberals to end the abuse by ending closed work permits.”

Just last month, media reported that workers at an Etobicoke Canadian Tire quit their jobs because they were underpaid and felt trapped by their closed work permits, saying: 'It's like a cage'. A closed permit ties workers to a specific employer, so employers effectively control workers’ permission to stay in Canada.

When Pierre Poilievre was in government, Conservatives created the TFW ‘Low-Wage Stream’, which uses closed work permits to help big wealthy corporations find cheap labour. With the support of Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois, Justin Trudeau expanded those permits, allowing big businesses to use temporary foreign workers for up to 30 per cent of their workforce.

“The ongoing use of closed work permits has led to employers suppressing wages and has cynically pitted domestic workers against temporary foreign workers," said Green. Shamefully, both Liberal and Conservative governments have prioritized their corporate backers by using this program to maintain a pool of cheap labour and the price is being paid by both Canadian and foreign workers."

In 2023, a United Nations envoy found that Canada’s closed work permits allows “contemporary forms of slavery” to grow.

“The employer-specific work permit has a systemic impact of awarding all the power and control of the employment relationship to the employer,” said Elizabeth Kwan of the CLC. “The fear of getting fired and deported traps migrant workers in involuntary servitude, which generates a compliant labour force.”

New Democrats renew its call to end Canada’s reliance on temporary workers with precarious immigration status and return to a standard of landed status for the full spectrum of workers Canada needs.