Community members gather in support of Canada’s undocumented and temporary status workers
Community members gather in support of Canada’s undocumented and temporary status workers
Organizers and community members from both Migrant Workers Alliance for Change and Jane Finch Action Against Poverty at the Jane Finch Corner Commons.
Photo: Sophia de Guzman/Philippine Reporter
Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, joined by Jane Finch Action Against Poverty, a grassroots political group working out of the Jane Finch community, held a community meeting on August 20th to discuss the challenges faced by those without permanent status.
By Sophia de Guzman
LJI Reporter
The Philippine Reporter
This meeting is a part of the Migrant Workers’ Alliance for Change’s (MWAC) ongoing campaign Status for All, one of the organization’s central campaigns. The campaign calls for pathways to permanent status for all undocumented and temporary status workers in Canada.
Currently, the focal point of the campaign is a directive issued over 20 months ago by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship asking for comprehensive expansions to existing regularization programs in Canada. Since, the Migrant Workers’ Alliance for Change (MWAC) has been organizing to hold Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accountable for the promise made to workers across Canada facing precarious status.
The latest statement from the government on the status of the promised regularization program came in November 2022, when Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada issued a response to a study conducted on the conditions faced by asylum-seekers trying to enter Canada. The IRCC committed to “implementing an initiative that will regularize those without immigration status who have been contributing to Canadian communities.”
The Philippine Reporter called the IRCC’s office to get to hear an update on their “commitment”, but did not get a response by the time of publishing.
In response to the lack of progress from the government, the Executive Director of MWAC, Syed Hussan said, “The only thing that will be enough is actually launching the program. Nothing short of that is acceptable.”
These efforts are in anticipation of the Migrant Workers’ Alliance for Chance’s rally on September 17th, starting at the intersection of Bloor St. and Yonge St. The rally is scheduled for the day before Parliament rises after the summer recess, in an effort to bring regularization reform to the top of the agenda. MWAC organized similar actions earlier this year, starting counting down before Parliament took its summer break. Most notably, thousands of activists and supporters gathered in Toronto’s Christie Pits Park and marched down Bloor Street to hold a rally in front of deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland’s office.
“[Migrants] adhere to the laws of the country and they do the things that most Canadian will not do. They work in long-term care, they work in factories, they work in construction – they do all those things. These are the people we are fighting for,” said
Florence Gerald, an organizer with MWAC.
The roughly 30 community members gathered in the Jane Finch Corner Commons, a small outdoor space across from the Jane Finch Mall in Toronto, and were led through conversations surrounding migrant workers’ lack of access to health care and higher wages by the event’s organizers. Rising housing unaffordability in Toronto was a major theme in these discussions, with the organizers pointing to the migrant workers in the city as the most affected by the crisis.
The organizers also prioritized strategizing with attendees on how to bring awareness to more migrant workers about their campaign and how to encourage them to speak out about issues caused as a result of their status.
“If you don’t speak out, no one can know about you. So, that’s why I’m encouraging [migrant workers] to come out and speak for themselves,” said David, an undocumented worker organizing with the Status for All campaign
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