Honorable Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino,
Care Work is the important work done by in the home; often by migrant workers. This Care Work is the backbone of Canada’s labour market and social support systems. Without Care Work, the economy doesn’t work. Canada must create a national care strategy to ensure quality care for children, the elderly and people with disabilities. Decent work and permanent landed status on entry for the workers providing that care labour must be the foundation of Canada’s care system.
The Interim Pathway created in 2019 supported some workers who were tricked by previous laws, but the program was closed too soon and thousands of racialized women may still become or remain undocumented. They need a path to stability and justice!
I am calling on you to ensure all migrant Care Workers get permanent resident status. This includes those that have become undocumented, and those that have not finished 12 months of official service. Workers in Quebec should not be unfairly shut out. Most importantly, unfair language requirements and educational requirements must be removed. There should be no second medical exam.
It is critical that Canada create a Federal Workers Program for Care Workers as proposed by Care Workers organizations across the country to ensure that migrant Care Workers come to Canada with their families and permanent resident status (PR).
I strongly urge you to read what Care Workers are saying and implement their recommendations as soon as possible. Granting landed status on arrival to Care Workers should be the first step to granting landed status on arrival to all migrant workers, migrants and refugees.
I will be watching closely in 2020 to see what actions you take.
Landed Status Now: Care Workers Organize! Members – (email [email protected] to join)
Caregivers Action Centre (Toronto); Caregivers Connection (Toronto); Alberta Careworkers Association (Edmonton); Migrante Alberta; Migrant BC, Migrante Canada; Migrante Ottawa; PINAY Quebec ; Immigrant Workers Centre (Montreal); Association for the Rights of Household Workers (Montreal), Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregiver Rights (Vancouver), Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (Canada) and Migrant Rights Network (Canada).
