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The New Precariousness: Temporary Migrants and the Law in Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2013

Sarah Marsden
Sarah Marsden
Affiliation:
Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia, 1822 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
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Abstract

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In this article, I argue that precarious migration status can be used as an organizing concept for an analysis of (im)migration law in Canada. After situating the regulation of precarious migrants in the historical context of the liberal/neo-liberal shift of the 1970s, I argue that the increase in migrant precariousness over the past few years is likely to increase as a result of recent legislative changes in both refugee and migrant-worker law. Finally, I offer a critique of the traditional liberal argument for migrant rights, inviting an alternative approach to establish migrant rights on the basis of economic participation.

Résumé

Dans cet article, je soutiens que le statut précaire d'immigrant peut être utilisé en tant que concept organisateur dans l'analyse des lois sur la migration et l'immigration au Canada. Après avoir situé la réglementation des migrants précaires dans le contexte historique des années 1970, période marquée par le passage du libéralisme au néolibéralisme, je soutiens que l'accroissement de la précarité des migrants au cours des dernières années pourrait augmenter à la suite des changements législatifs récents apportés aux lois sur les réfugiés et les travailleurs étrangers. Finalement, je porte un regard critique sur l'argumentation traditionnelle libérale liée à la défense des droits des migrants, et propose une approche alternative afin d'établir les droits des migrants sur la base de leur participation économique.

Keywords

refugeetemporary foreign workerlabour migrationneo-liberalismemploymentwelfare stateréfugiétravailleur étranger temporairemigration de la main-d'œuvrenéolibéralismeemploiÉtat providence
Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , August 2012 , pp. 209 - 229
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Law and Society Association 2012

References

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11 Precarious migration status may also function similarly to racialization in terms of the longevity of its effects; there is evidence even after obtaining permanent residence, many migrants who experienced precarious status continue to experience its detrimental effects. Landolt, P. and Goldring, L., “The Long Term Impacts of Non-Citizenship on Work: Precarious Legal Status and the Institutional Production of a Migrant Working Poor” (Paper presented at York University, September 16, 2010), http://www.yorku.ca/rapsl/events/pdf/Landolt_Goldring.pdfGoogle Scholar.

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32 Although a perfect data comparison is not available because of the lack of data on the number of undocumented migrants in Canada, and also because of the likelihood that people are working without SINs, the CRA data give a rough low estimate of the number of precarious migrants with status of some kind, of which the number of refugee claimants and the number of temporary foreign workers would cumulatively form a majority. Undocumented migrants are included not only because of the number of migrants with this status but because of the particular risks associated with absolute lack of migration status.

33 Temporary work permits are issued pursuant to labour-specific programs, such as the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program and the Live-in Caregiver Program, as well on the basis of individual employment relationships in both high- and low-skilled categories of labour. Temporary work permits may also be issued to people who are awaiting the finalization of their permanent residence under humanitarian, refugee, or spousal sponsorship; to students; and to spouses of authorized workers and students.

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39 This is underscored by the fact that each person claiming refugee status in Canada is issued a deportation order when a claim is made, which disappears only if the claim is successful: Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, SOR/2002-227, ss 228(3), 206(a).

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48 Although refugee claimants do not have status in Canadian migration law for the purposes of, for example, accruing work experience toward permanent residence, they do possess an identification document as refugee claimants, and are entitled to various social benefits on this basis; for the purposes of this analysis, to distinguish them from migrants entirely without status, refugee claimants are thus considered to have a form of migration status.

49 Pursuant to s 24(4) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (already in effect), a person “may not request a temporary resident permit if less than 12 months have passed since their claim was last rejected or determined to be withdrawn or abandoned”; pursuant to the new s 112(3) of the amended Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (in effect as of June 2012), pre-removal risk assessment will not be available for 12 months after a claim for refugee protection has been withdrawn, refused, or abandoned. An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, s 15(3), http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Docid=4617288&file=4.

50 Sean Rehaag, “2008 Refugee Claim Data and IRB Member Grant Rates” (Canadian Council for Refugees, 2009), http://ccrweb.ca/documents/rehaagdatamarch09.htm.

51 Bill C-4, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Balanced Refugee Reform Act and the Marine Transportation Security Act, 1st Sess, 41st Parl, 2011, http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=5093718&File=30#2.

52 Ibid., s 5.

53 Ibid., s 18(1).

54 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, SC 2001, c 27, s 133.

55 An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Docid=4617288&file=4, ss 5–7.

56 Ibid., ss 10(2), 17.

57 Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, SOR/2002-227, ss 200(1)(c), 200(2)(g), 200(2)(h).

58 Another recent policy change has seen “high-skilled” migrants in Canada as PhD students at Canadian universities obtain more direct access to permanent residence as Federal Skilled Workers, a category to which migrants whose labour is classified as “low-skilled” are categorically denied access: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, “Fourth Set of Ministerial Instructions: New PhD Eligibility Stream under the Federal Skilled Worker Program” (Operational Bulletin 351, November 4, 2011), http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/bulletins/2011/ob351.asp.

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