Justice for Im/Migrant Home Care Workers in Manitoba - By Leah Nicholson and Mary Jean Hande

and dignity against all forms of discrimination, exploitation and abuse in the workplace and the The opinions and recommendations in this community and resist all anti-migrant policies. [...] The pandemic has further strained the home care sector and its workers,5 underscoring the urgent need to better understand who Manitoba’s im/migrant home care workers are and what supports they need to enhance the quality of their lives, work, and, by extension, the quality of the care they provide. [...] Such widespread challenges require a provincial strategy to adequately fund the public home care system and provide the 28 Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives–MB wages, protections, supports, sick days, benefits, and vacation time to all home care workers in order to recruit and retain the thousands of new home care workers that are needed in a hemorrhaging workforce. [...] Improved working conditions for home care workers in Manitoba The home care sector is rapidly expanding in Manitoba and all over Canada, and to keep up with the demand for care services requires that home care workers are paid adequately, providers have enough staff to keep up with demands, and working conditions enable long-term and rewarding careers in the home care sector. [...] Finally, as Manitoba’s population ages and an increasing number of older and disabled people live in poverty, the need for disabled and older people to work in coalition and solidarity with im/ migrant home care workers to create more robust, publicly-funded home care systems that centre the needs of both low-income home care clients and home care workers is urgently required.