CRA refund cheques

Temporary Foreign Workers from Guatemala received a total amount of  $32,025.13This total includes missing refund cheques dated back as far as 2013. 

The problem all have faced is not having a permanent Canadian mailing address where their tax refunds are lost or "returned to sender" once these people return to Guatemala, since the employer chose not to hold on to their mail until their back on the following year.

CCIS staff with the help of community volunteers helped in educating the workers and assisted in connecting with Canada Revenue Agency to do the paper works and coordination.

 

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Employers and Temporary Workers to Benefit From Family Work Permits to Address Labour Shortages

The Government of Canada announced on December 2, 2022  the extension of work permits to family members of temporary foreign workers. Expanding the eligibility for work permits to family members accompanying the principal applicant to Canada will help address labour shortages by assisting employers in finding the workers they need.

Starting in January 2023, through a temporary 2-year measure, Canada will expand eligibility to work in Canada to spouses and working-age children through a phased approach for workers at all skill levels.

The temporary measure will be implemented in 3 phases to ensure its successful implementation:

  • Phase 1 will enable family members of workers coming to Canada through the high-wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program or the International Mobility Program to apply for an open work permit.
  • Phase 2 aims to expand the measure to the family members of workers from the low-wage stream of the TFW Program, following consultations.
  • Phase 3 will include consultation with agricultural partners and stakeholders to assess operational feasibility for expanding the measure to family members of agricultural workers.

There will be no changes to the TFW Program, these changes will only apply to spouses and working-age children of temporary foreign workers.

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Government of Canada Strengthens Protections for TFWs

On September 26, 2022, The Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough and Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC) Sean Fraser announced that new amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Temporary Foreign Workers) are now in force. These 13 new regulatory amendments include measures to strengthen protections for TFWs and will enhance the integrity of the TFW Program and the International Mobility Program (IMP) to read more:

Government of Canada strengthens protections for temporary foreign workers as new regulations come into force – Canada.ca

 

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Alberta Temporary Foreign Workers Program

Alberta’s Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Advisory Office helps temporary foreign workers, international students (with work authorization) and employers understand their rights and find solutions to situations involving unfair, unsafe or unhealthy working conditions

Temporary Foreign Workers | Alberta.ca

 

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Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Prairie Region Project Research

Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Prairie Region Project Research

The Alberta Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies (AAISA) and the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS) jointly commissioned Pivotal Research Inc. (Pivotal Research) to conduct policy research focused on Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) in the Prairie provinces—encompassing the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan—building on the TFW Prairie Region Project to provide AAISA and CCIS with insights and opportunities to strengthen the TFW-serving ecosystem across the Prairie region.

 

>> Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Prairie Region Project

  

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First Filipino TFW Assembly successfully launched by CCIS' TFW Program

More than a hundred participants took part in the whole day Alberta Filipino Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Assembly held on September 24, 2022, at the Kerby Gymnasium in Calgary.

The assembly was a first in terms of inter-agency collaboration between CCIS , Philippine government, Alberta government, and community partners to promote the rights and welfare of temporary foreign workers.  The event was organized by CCIS in partnership with the Philippine Consulate General in Calgary, Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), Overseas Workers Welfare Association (OWWA) , and Edmonton-based Catholic Social Services (CSS). The program was opened by Labour Attaché Jainal Rasul, Jr.  of POLO, Jessica Juen of CCIS and Consul General Zaldy Patron of the Philippine Consulate General in Calgary.

Organizers and resource persons. (Firsr row , left -right: Edwin Silang, CSS; Neil Nicolas , POLO; Lilia de Guzman , OWWA; Olive Macawili, POLO, Consul General Zaldy Patron, Labor Attache Jainal Rasul Jr., Vice Consul Stephanie Cruz, Imelda CAbansag, OWWA; Second Row L-R: Edwin Chavez, CCIS;  Jessica Juen, CCIS; Paul Huismon  and Simonette PIli, Government of Alberta;; Zoe Lambert, Workers Resource Centre; Byanca Nimijean , ACT Alberta; and Lawyer Jatin Shory)

 Foreign workers and community members from Calgary, Edmonton, High River, Banff, Red Deer and as far as Camrose, were so thankful and happy to learn about their rights and welfare and their specific concerns addressed in the assembly.

In the morning, Calgary Workers’ Resource Center’s  Zoe Lambert discussed TFW Rights and Responsibilities . This topic was supplemented by speakers from Alberta’s Ministry of Labour and Immigration , Maggie Godzic of Employment Standards and Simonette Pili of TFW Advisory Office , by providing information about the role of the TFW Advisory Office and pointers on submitting complaints to Employment Standards office and conflict resolution process.

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Alberta Employment Standards

Alberta’s Ministry of Labour and Immigration. Know more about programs and policies to support a diverse workforce, promote safe, fair and healthy workplaces and attract skilled workers

Find out about Alberta’s basic employment standards, what to do if you think they are not being followed, and educational materials to help you better understand them. Know too how to make a complaint.

Link: Employment standards | Alberta.ca

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Changes in hiring agricultural workers in Canada

Changes in hiring agricultural workers in Canada.

Please visit this link to learn more: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/agricultural.html

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Regional Policy Research

Temporary Foreign Worker in the Prairie Region: Regional Policy Research released by AAISA and CCIS, conducted by Pivotal Research, Inc

The TFW Prairie Region Project presents a case study of an unprecedented regional partnership model with time-limited and pandemic-response-focused funding to support TFWs. The project provided partners the opportunity to either formalize or establish a new line of services dedicated to TFWs centered around workplace safety and public health.  This federal support was critical especially in the agricultural and meatpacking sectors most concentrated in the Prairie region that were deemed essential during the pandemic.  

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Applying for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)

Public naming of employers for contraventions and violations under the Canada Labour Code and related regulations. Effective January 12, 2022 and until June 30, 2023, Employment and Social Development Canada will suspend minimum advertising requirements for employers applying for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to hire temporary foreign workers in primary agriculture.

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/corporate/portfolio/labour/public-naming-employers-code-regulations.html#h2.3

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Spanish translation - Guide to Employment Standards in Agriculture

Guide to Employment Standards in Agriculture

Click here to open the document

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Prairie organizations connect to increase outreach to temporary foreign workers amidst COVID-19 challenges

Prairie organizations connect to increase outreach to temporary foreign workers amidst COVID-19 challenges

Sandra LeBlanc/News Editor

Anthony Huynh recalls one interview in particular in which a temporary foreign worker told him “thank you for talking to me.” 

“I’m honoured, right? But at the same time, it also shows me that it’s not right,” Huynh said. “There needs to be systemic and structural changes.”

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Executive_Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Prairie Region Support Project Phase 1

 About the Project. The Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Prairie Region Support Project included immigrant-sector Service Providing Organizations (SPO’s) and Umbrella Organizations across five project zones (Northern/Central Alberta, Southern Alberta, Manitoba, Northern/Central Saskatchewan, and Southern Saskatchewan) in a collective effort to disseminate information, form local support networks, and mitigate COVID-19-related issues. CCIS played a central role, as the contract holder and fiscal agent but also for overall project management and coordination – as well as being one of the immigrant-serving SPO’s engaged in frontline service delivery. The evaluation was completed by Habitus Collective and included a post-support survey to clients, interview/survey with employers, focus groups and interviews with SPO and Umbrella organization staff, meeting observation, document review, and data analysis.

 

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Most Canadians support permanent immigration pathways for temporary foreign workers

Most Canadians support permanent immigration pathways for temporary foreign workers | Canada Immigration News (cicnews.com)

 

 

The majority of Canadians agree that temporary immigrants are essential to the agricultural sector.

 
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The majority of Canadians want to see temporary workers in the agricultural sector become permanent residents, according to a new survey.

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Government of Canada proposes new regulations to improve protection of temporary foreign workers

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News release

July 26, 2021              Gatineau, Quebec              Employment and Social Development Canada

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for further action by the Government of Canada and its partners to improve the protection of temporary foreign workers. Year after year, these workers come to Canada to support our agriculture and agri-food industry and contribute greatly to Canada’s food security. Their hard work and expertise has been instrumental over the years and especially during the pandemic, and they deserve to be safe.

Today, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough, and the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marco Mendicino, announced proposed new regulations to help prevent the mistreatment or abuse of temporary foreign workers during their stay in Canada. They outlined 14 regulatory amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Temporary Foreign Workers), with three key objectives:

  1. Improving protections for temporary foreign workers by mandating employers to provide temporary foreign workers with information about their rights in Canada; prohibiting reprisal by employers against workers who come forward with complaints; and, putting into regulation key requirements for all employers to provide reasonable access to health-care services, and for employers to provide health insurance when needed. The proposed changes would also prohibit the charging of recruitment fees to workers, and hold employers accountable for the actions of recruiters in this regard.
  2. Improving the Government’s ability to prevent bad actors from participating in the program by providing authorities that will strengthen the assessment of applications from new employers and deferring the processing of a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) if non-compliance is suspected.
  3. Strengthening the Government’s ability to effectively conduct inspections. This includes reducing the prescribed timelines and involving third parties (e.g., banks and payroll companies) to provide documents to support inspections.

In addition to today’s announcement, the Government of Canada has launched new features on Job Bank that enable temporary foreign workers to search for jobs from eligible employers. These features will help workers, and the migrant worker organizations that support them, connect with employers through a trusted source.

The pandemic has further highlighted the need to better identify misuse of the program that puts workers in vulnerable situations and to better support workers seeking help. As part of the Government’s strengthened efforts to better support employers and workers for the 2021 season, new data capabilities leveraging payroll data are being deployed to better identify cases of fraud and misrepresentation, and improvements were made to the temporary foreign worker tip line, with the addition of live agents able to offer services in multiple languages. Since launching the enhanced tip line in March, more than 400 callers have been assisted in submitting their report of abuse, referred to other appropriate departments, or had general questions about their rights in Canada answered.

These changes complement other federal government actions introduced this year to better support temporary foreign workers. Budget 2021 announced $49.5 million over three years, starting in 2021-22, to support community-based organizations in the provision of migrant worker-centric programs and services, such as on-arrival orientation services and assistance in emergency and at-risk situations, through the new Migrant Worker Support Program. Budget 2021 also announced $54.9 million over three years, starting in 2021-22, to increase inspections of employers and ensure temporary foreign workers have appropriate working conditions and wages. Additionally, the Government launched a $35-million Emergency On-Farm Support Fund that supports employers who provide accommodations to upgrade and improve living quarters to ensure workers are safe and healthy.

Quotes

“The health and safety of temporary foreign workers continues to be a key priority for the Government of Canada. While we have made progress, there continues to be gaps. We know that temporary foreign workers need better information about their rights, and better health and safety protections. Workers also need to be protected from reprisal if they come forward with a complaint, and bad actors need to be prevented from participating in the program. Through these enhanced regulatory amendments, the Government is working towards providing stronger worker protection and ensuring greater employer compliance.”
- Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough

“The Government of Canada takes the safety and dignity of foreign workers very seriously. Everyone deserves a work environment where they are safe and their rights are respected. These amendments will help us further improve worker protection and strengthen our ability to ensure employers follow the rules governing both the International Mobility Program and the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.”
- Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marco E. L. Mendicino

Quick facts

  • The proposed regulations were pre-published on July 10, 2021 in the Canada Gazette Part 1. Canadians, employers and stakeholders were invited to provide comments within 30 days.   

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CCIS helps Brooks area ag workers through COVID

 

SANDRA M STANWAY
Brooks Bulletin

The Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS)through Brooks and County Immigration Society (BCIS)recently handed out 115 food hampers to temporary foreign workers that have been affected by COVID 19.
CCIS was funded by the federal government to support agricultural workers who were affected by the virus and although the program is nearing the end, CCIS continues to help.
“We’re still trying to see what we can continue to support now that the program is done,” said Jessica Juen, program coordinator at CCIS.
She said some people who were working the agricultural sector were laid off because some businesses closed or their hours were reduced.
There are between 800 and 1,000 temporary foreign workers in the area from Philippines, Mexico, Thailand, Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago.
Although the province is expected to substantially open on July 1 because the threshold of 70 per cent of Albertans have received at least one vaccine, less than 50 per cent of city/county residents have been vaccinated.

Source: https://brooksbulletin.com/ccis-helps-brooks-area-ag-workers-through-covid/

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MIGRATION AND PRECARITY

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The number of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in Canada surged for two decades prior to 2014, at which time Canada introduced immigration reforms aimed at curtailing their economic …

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New pathway to permanent residency for over 90,000 essential temporary workers and international graduates

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News release

April 14, 2021—Ottawa—Today, the Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced an innovative pathway to permanent residence for over 90,000 essential workers and international graduates who are actively contributing to Canada’s economy.

These special public policies will grant permanent status to temporary workers and international graduates who are already in Canada and who possess the skills and experience we need to fight the pandemic and accelerate our economic recovery.

The focus of this new pathway will be on temporary workers employed in our hospitals and long-term care homes and on the frontlines of other essential sectors, as well as international graduates who are driving the economy of tomorrow.

To be eligible, workers must have at least 1 year of Canadian work experience in a health-care profession or another pre-approved essential occupation. International graduates must have completed an eligible Canadian post-secondary program within the last 4 years, and no earlier than January 2017.

Effective May 6, 2021, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will begin accepting applications under the following 3 streams:

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COVID -19

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A guide for Temporary Foreign Workers under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program developed by Employment and Social Development Canada. It covers guidelines about COVID-19, what TFWs should know before leaving the country, rights and responsibilities, income supports and contact information of government authorities.

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/campaigns/foreign-worker-rights/covid19-guide.html

(COVID -19)

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/canadas-reponse.html

The link provides information on:

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