Press release: As legislature returns, migrant workers rights must be on Nova Scotia’s provincial agenda
Photo: Portraits of migrant workers from No one is illegal — Halifax/Kjipuktuk “Status for all” community art project (September 12, 2021)
Halifax/Kjipuktuk (March 24, 2022) – As the Nova Scotia legislature returns for its spring sitting, the migrant support organization No one is illegal – Halifax/Kjipuktuk (NOII-Hfx) is calling for provincial action on migrant worker rights.
A poll conducted by NOII-Hfx in August 2021 outlined the key changes migrant workers would like to see in Nova Scotia, including: a minimum wage increase that corresponds to a living wage; ten paid sick days; holiday pay; access to healthcare; and access to permanent residence. According to NOII-Hfx, additional priorities that have been raised by migrant workers include better housing conditions and improved labour protections.
“Migrant workers regularly reach out to us about concerns such as cramped or poor housing, labour and human rights violations and so on,” said Stacey Gomez of NOII-Hfx’s Migrant Workers Program. She added: “Due to their temporary immigration status, in practice migrant workers risk being fired, sent back to their home country and not able to work in this country again if they speak out, including lodging a labour standards complaint. We need a better system that works for migrant workers in Nova Scotia.”
NOII-Hfx’s Migrant Workers Program engages in outreach, education and mutual aid support with Temporary Foreign Workers throughout Nova Scotia. The majority are workers in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP), who are permitted to work in Canada for up to 8 months of the year depending on employer needs. According to the Nova Scotia government, approximately 1,500 migrant workers come to work on Nova Scotia farms, predominantly from Mexico and Jamaica.
This past year, NOII-Hfx supported eleven migrant farm and fish plant workers in situations of abuse throughout Nova Scotia to successfully apply for the Vulnerable worker open work permit. In addition, NOII-Hfx was one of the organizations providing support in a recent case involving 8 migrant workers which appeared on OMNI Filipino.
NOII-Hfx is among the organizations that will be rallying in front of Province House (1726 Hollis Street) on Thursday, March 24 at noon. They are calling for the Nova Scotia government to address poverty and the housing crisis. For more information, see here.
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Media contact
Stacey Gomez
No one is illegal – Halifax/Kjipuktuk, Migrant Workers Program
