Migrant workers face systemic discrimination in Quebec
Migrant workers face systemic discrimination, Que. rights commission says.
QUEBEC - Migrant workers in Quebec are victims of systemic discrimination, says the Quebec Human Rights Commission in a report calling on the provincial government to promptly change its immigration programs.
In a study released Monday, the commission noted migrant workers are discriminated against because of their national origin, their race, their social condition, their language or - in the case of live-in caregivers - their gender.
In 2010, some 7,000 low-skilled migrants from Guatemala, Mexico and the Caribbean were hired in Quebec, mostly to work temporarily in the agriculture sector. A handful of those, about 400, are live-in caregivers from the Philippines working as domestic aides, according to the report.
``Our analysis shows the severe vulnerability in which migrant workers find themselves. The situation is even more difficult for women,'' the commission noted.
``Yet, these persons are part of the social fabric and contribute to the country's economic health, in the same way as permanent residents or Canadian citizens,'' it added.
Migrant workers are hired to cope with a skill and labour shortage on Quebec farms and the commission alleges their vulnerability puts a downward pressure on the working conditions of all employees in this sector.
``Without ready access to migrant workers, many Quebec employers would be forced to improve unsatisfactory working conditions for these kinds of jobs,'' the commission said.
The report also lamented that migrant workers have a permit that restricts them to a single job and a single employer, who often is also their landlord.
``This compromises several of their fundamental rights and freedoms such as mobility rights, freedom of association, the right to dignity, the right to privacy, the free disposition of property, the right to respect of the inviolability of the home,'' the report stated.
The commission is asking the Quebec government to adopt a new law to ban the obligation for migrant workers to live with their employer. It is also calling for a better system to supervise agencies that recruit migrants, as well as an independent system to address complaints from workers before they are returned to their country.
The report also asks the province to set up a permanent immigration program limiting the use of migrant workers.
The commission also pointed out that migrant workers do not have access to the same rights enjoyed by Quebec workers because they are excluded from the protection of social programs - such as legal aid, social assistance, public education and immigration support programs.
A spokeswoman for Quebec Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil said Monday the department needs time to study the ``important'' report before making any comments.
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