Event Date: December 2, 2011 - 9:00 am to 5:30 pm
Location: Social Sciences Building, 120 Universi

Presented by CIPS and the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
Free. In English. Observers welcome; registration not required. For more information, please contact [email protected].

In 2008, for the first time in the history of Canadian immigration, the number of temporary migrant workers admitted in Canada was higher than the number of admitted permanent residents applying under other categories of migration, such as family reunification. Whereas immigration to Canada has historically emphasized attracting high-skilled and educated migrants, the newest, expanded programs are now designed to attract low-skilled migrants from developing countries to work in Canada on a temporary basis. The worry is that the increasing Canadian reliance on temporary foreign labour migrants, who hail from developing nations, is producing two tiers of immigrants; those who are desirable as citizens and those who are not.

During this workshop, participants will be invited to critically assess the present implementation and operationalization of those temporary foreign labour migration programs in Canada, in particular, the Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Program, the Live-in Caregiver Program, the Low Skilled Pilot Project, and some Provincial and Territorial Nominee Programs.

Program:

9:00 – 9:15 : Introductory Remarks

9:15 – 10:15 : IRPR and its impact on TFW

• Nadine Faulkner, Integrity Division, HRSDC – “Temporary Foreign Worker Program: Employer Compliance”

10:30 – 11:30 am: Live-In Caregiver Program

• Daiva Stasiulis, Carleton University – “Plus ca change: Recent Reforms to the LCP and the Persistence of a Policy of Unfree Labour”
• Denise Spitzer, University of Ottawa – “Re-Visioning Canada’s Live-in Caregiver Program”
• Cecilia Diocson, National Alliance of Philippine Women – “Breaking the Cycle: From Temporary to Permanent”

11:45 – 12:45 pm: Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program

• Christina Gabriel & Laura MacDonald, Carleton University – “New Directions for the Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program:  Thinking Outside the Box”
• Chris Ramsaroop, Justicia for Migrant Workers – “Resistance and Resilience: Migrant Worker Organizing Under Contemporary Forms of Indentureship”

1:30 – 2:30 pm: Low-Skilled Pilot Program

• Kerry Preibisch, Guelph University – “Removing Unfreedoms and Reducing Vulnerabilities: Policy recommendations for a less exploitative temporary migration program in agriculture”
• Christine Hughes, Carleton University – “Restricted freedoms as “taking care”: Mobility and association among female farmworkers”

2:45 – 3:45:  Provincial/Territorial Nominee Program

• Delphine Nakache, University of Ottawa – “Two-step migration for migrant workers: an analysis of Provincial and Territorial Nominee Programs”
• Tom Carter, University of Manitoba – “From Temporary to Permanent Resident Status: TFW Experience Under the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program”

4:00 – 5:30: Temporary Foreign Work in Canada: Asking the Hard Questions

• David Manicom, DG, NHQ-Immigration, CIC – “Key Facts, Trends and the Hard Questions”