Submission to federal government consultation on temporary foreign worker housing highlights the need for better regulations

The SFU Morgan Centre made a submission in December 2020 to the federal government’s consultation on Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) accommodation. The consultation sought feedback on proposed federal accommodations requirements for the TFW program, including potential impacts and considerations for transitioning to new requirements, and potential approaches to strengthening the oversight of worker accommodations, both prior to and after the worker’s arrival.

The submission was co-authored by Dr. Kendra Strauss, Program Director, Elena Pennell (SFU MA 2019), and Cathy Walker, past Director (retired) of the Health, Safety and Environment Department of Canadian Auto Workers (CAW, now Unifor). In it they draw attention to the ways that worker accommodation is regulated in other sectors, such as oil & gas, to show that it is possible for governments to mandate and proactively enforce higher quality housing for the workers who come to Canada to do essential jobs in agriculture, accommodation and food services, and other sectors.

The full submission can be found here.