A recent report from Dalhousie University found unfair treatment of temporary foreign workers in New Brunswick during COVID, especially in the seafood industry.
This report is the second in a series of community-based research projects undertaken by the Migrant Workers in the Canadian Maritimes partnership.
The first report by the same group was released in June 2021 and looked at temporary foreign workers in Prince Edward Island. That report revealed some similar challenges during the same time period.
In the second research study, interviews were conducted with 15 migrant workers in 2020 and December 2021, who arrived just after the start of COVID-19.
Interviews revealed participants paid high recruitment fees, ranging between $1,000 to$2,000, but were only paid wages of around $13 dollars an hour, which meant participants were only earning around $300 a week.
Accommodations housed up to 20 people at a time, and participants also reported dirty accommodations, no internet access, low water pressure, and low temperatures.
In the workplace, those interviewed also described long hours with few breaks, lack of health and safety training and unfair and dangerous working conditions.
Some even stated there was abuse and harassment and they were afraid to report employer abuse and were widely unaware of the support available to them if they encountered a problem.
Most workers stated they had employer-provided private health insurance, yet they lacked an understanding of how it worked and what was covered.
They also stated they felt like outsiders in their host communities while being treated differently than their Canadian counterparts at work and in the community.
The Dalhousie report also includes 12 recommendations for the federal and provincial governments, ranging from offering permanent residency on arrival to temporary foreign workers, and ensuring workers have access to safe, affordable housing and health insurance.
The full report call be found HERE.
The first report by the same group was released in June 2021 and looked at temporary foreign workers in Prince Edward Island. That report revealed some similar challenges during the same time period.
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