Auditor general cites problems with 'quality and rigour' of safety inspections for temporary workers
Ottawa is promising further changes after a scathing report from the auditor general about the treatment of temporary foreign workers in Canada’s agricultural sector.
When it came to protecting the heath and safety of these workers during the pandemic, there were many problems, says Karen Hogan.
“Overall, we found that the Employment and Social Development Canada’s inspections — whether they targeted quarantine, outbreaks or basic living conditions — provided little assurance that the health and safety of temporary foreign workers were protected during the 2020 and 2021 growing seasons.”
From March 2020 to June 2021, more than 79,000 workers arrived to work in Canada’s agricultural sector.
The audit found significant problems in the “quality and rigour” of these inspections meant to verify if employers followed requirements put in place during the pandemic. For example, inspectors frequently said employers were compliant with the COVID-19 rules even if they had little evidence to show this.
And even though the auditor general told the department about these shortcomings in December 2020, the situation worsened: in 2021, 88 per cent of quarantine inspections examined were problematic, up from 73 per cent in 2020.
There were also problems with inspections of outbreaks, with “little assurance that employers provided sick or symptomatic workers with accommodations that allowed them to properly isolate,” says the auditor general.
The government’s inspections of basic living conditions — such as running water and occupancy levels — also fell short, with inspectors collecting no information in almost all cases, but then finding employers compliant.
“These findings point to a systemic problem across the department’s inspection regime that needs immediate attention”, says Hogan. “It’s long past time to fix the situation for temporary foreign workers in Canada.”
In July, Ottawa announced that it was looking to provide better protections for temporary foreign workers with new regulations.
Recommendations for change
The auditor general made several recommendations for the government:
- Re-examine its system for identifying and assigning inspections to factor in the collective workload capacity of inspectors to complete them in a timely manner.
- Train and support inspectors to collect sufficient and appropriate evidence, as outlined in the department’s policies and procedures.
- Improve its quality control system to monitor the progress and quality of inspections at various stages of completion and to ensure timely follow-up and application of appropriate corrective actions or consequences, as outlined in the department’s policies and procedures.
Ottawa is rebuilding the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program compliance regime, and the auditor general's recommendations will guide this work, says Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough.
It has already taken steps to improve the quality and timeliness of the inspections, reduce backlogs, and increase resources, and is now better able to support inspection staff, she says, adding the deputy minister is being asked to commit to the following:
- Ensure all staff responsible for inspections have received supplementary training by no later than March 2022.
- Implement renewed guidance to ensure that if ever a worker's health and safety is at risk, necessary action is taken within 24 hours and no later than 48 hours, including the notification of appropriate stakeholders, authorities and jurisdictions.
- Develop a plan to target higher risk areas to reduce backlogs and ensure inspections are timely.
- Reach a rate of 80 per cent of inspection files without substantive errors by March 2022, and reach 90 per cent by no later than September 2022.
When the pandemic hit, Ottawa immediately strengthened conditions for the TFW Program and brought in even stronger penalties for failing to comply, says Qualtrough.
“We continued to listen and adapt ahead of the 2022 season, investing in migrant worker organizations, working closely with partners at home and abroad, and doubling the number of inspectors.”
Despite these efforts, the auditor general’s report shows that more must be done, she says.
“At the same time, the pandemic has further highlighted the systemic challenges and inherent inequities that exist within the TFW program that need to be addressed – and that work is ongoing.”
In November, Quebec added over 30 new occupations that will be eligible for simplified processing under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).
