Labour mobility in Canada

Chapter 7 of the AIT, the Interprovincial Labour Mobility Initiative (ILMI), was explicitly designed to “enable any worker qualified for an occupation in the territory of a Party to be granted access to employment opportunities in that occupation in the territory of any other Party”.6 Among other provisions, it largely eliminated residency requirements for interprovincial work. [...] TILMA and the NWPTA harmonized certification rules through the principle of mutual recognition, which ensured that “professionals and skilled tradespersons certified in one province will be recognized as qualified in all three provinces”.8 Motivated by the success of these agreements, the AIT was amended in 2009 to extend the principle of mutual recognition to every province in Canada. [...] This increase is due in large part to a deliberate widening of the “pipeline” for migrant workers under the Conservative government.22 The number of temporary migrant workers entering Canada every year has more than doubled in the past decade, from approximately 103,000 to over 213,000. [...] First, the increase in the number of migrant worker entries only explains part of the rise in the absolute number of migrant workers in Canada. [...] Some critics argue that programs like the SAWP are effective precisely because the rights of workers are restricted, which allows employers to squeeze out more labour hours at a reduced cost.29 To make matters worse, the complaints system available to workers in the TFWP is inadequate and largely inaccessible.30 The lack of pathways to permanent residency for migrant workers is perhaps the biggest