Ontario still considering whether foreign workers need extra protection

It is against the law to charge money from nannies while recruiting them in the Philippines and all the provinces located to the west of Ontario have also banned it.

But its usual business and exploitation in the province and the fact is that Ontario has become a center for human trafficking. And the provincial government is doing nothing to address this issue.

It has been learned recently that a large number of vulnerable women from foreign nations fall through the crack of the federal and provincial regulations. All this makes these women easy target for dishonest recruiters who charge them thousands of dollars in the name of placement fees. This results in many of the aspiring nannies to going into debt in order to pay to these recruiters.

The Live-in Caregiver Program which was introduced seventeen years ago, not only benefits the children of rich people but many senior citizens who need special attention are also benefited. With the support of these live-in helpers, their lives are enriched and this is one of the reason there has been a quick rise in the number of permits. But the program is generally associated with abuses by some unregulated agencies that take undue advantage of the loopholes in the current system.

According to one source with the Canada Border Services Agency, this is nothing else but human trafficking.

The recruiters initially promise that they will provide firm employment but later use bait-and-switch approach. Most of the workers recruited reach Canada only to discover that the job offer is simply not there, or may be it never was. A memo list of the federal government named twenty agencies in Toronto-area and individuals for suspected fraud.

Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said that he asked officials to suggest ways that would tighten the system. Manitoba is the first one to introduce tougher new laws starting next month aimed at targeting corrupt recruitment of foreign workers. According to the new law, recruitment of foreign workers must be through approved associations and fees can be charged only to employers and not from foreign workers.

But nothing is changing the mind of the Peter Fonseca, the Labor Minister of Ontario, who still prefers the wait-and-see approach. In spite of huge growth in recruitment in the province, a spokesperson says that it is still being analyzed whether there is need of additional protection for foreign workers.