What are the Common Employment Challenges Faced By Immigrants in Canada?

While life seems to be rosy for those who are in India, it is a tough life getting employment abroad. Be it the US or Canada, many people have to work below their qualifications for a long time before they land up with their kind of job. And this seems to be one of the most common employment challenges faced by immigrants in Canada.

The situation is worse for undocumented immigrants who have to work beyond normal working hours. Many times they are not even paid properly or regularly. However, they simply cannot complain due to the fear of deportation. And the majority of employers in the labor sector from Canada take advantage of such a situation.

Immigrants Are Forced To Work in Dangerous Condition

The immigrants in Canada have to undergo a lot of hardships and even have to work in dangerous conditions many times. The situation becomes worse for undocumented immigrants. Such immigrants have to take up low-paying or dangerous jobs such as in the field of construction, agriculture, food service, or domestic work. Even though these fields often offer white-collar positions, there have been instances where the employers have taken advantage of the undocumented status of the immigrants.

Here are some of the ways in which employers take advantage of undocumented immigrants in Canada:

• They force the immigrants to work for long hours but do not pay them for the extra work.
• More often the employers do not even pay the minimum wage that has been pre-determined for a particular job.
• Many times undocumented immigrants in Canada are forced to do jobs that are beyond their work profile and are never paid for it.
• Employers do not provide proper training for jobs that require highly skilled and trained laborers for execution.
• Workers are not offered the precaution equipment or gears when they are performing dangerous tasks at work
• The employers do not introduce such immigrants in Canada with their legal rights due to which many times it is easy for the employers to take undue advantage of their employees.
• Additionally, these immigrants are exposed to sexual harassment and racial discrimination. Since the immigrants are unaware of their legal rights in Canada they continue to bear the brunt for long years suffering injustice.
• Undocumented immigrants are not allowed to form a union so that they can raise voice against the atrocities of their employers.

If such immigrants ask for raise in their wages or fair practice at work, the employers threaten them with contacting immigration authorities and revealing their illegal status. Such workers are forced to work in contaminated water and on sites with construction on the verge of collapse.

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Sangati Jogwar

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