Edmonton Social Planning Council

Author: Brett Lambert

  • fACT Sheet — WINning: The Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs of Opening a Women’s Shelter

    fACT Sheet — WINning: The Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs of Opening a Women’s Shelter

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    Introduction

    To coincide with the 50th anniversary of the founding of what would become known as WIN House (Women in Need), a new book by Marsha Mildon, WINning: The Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs of Opening a Women’s Shelter, was released in June 2020. The book chronicles the storied history of how the women’s shelter movement took hold in Edmonton. In the late 1960s, a group of concerned citizens came together to start what was a new concept at the time: a dedicated women’s shelter to serve as a safe place. First for any single woman in need, then opening to women with children who were living in unsafe conditions—such as those experiencing intimate partner violence (physical, mental, or emotional)—and had nowhere to go. The Edmonton Social Planning Council (ESPC) played an important role in helping to establish the shelter, which included administrative and staffing support.

    More information about the book, including how to order, can be found here: http://www.enable.org/winning/

    The following is a timeline of notable events and developments that mark the history of WIN House.

    Spring 1968: Daisy Wilson, Diocesan President of the Catholic Women’s League (CWL), reads an article in the Edmonton Journal about the plight of girls and women (particularly Indigenous women) arriving at the bus and train stations, especially late in the evening, having no contacts, no resources, and no place to stay.

    May 1968: Daisy speaks out about her concern for these women at the CWL’s Social Action Committee meeting, the Women’s Inter-Church Council’s meeting, as well as the YWCA—who tell her that housing these women is not in their mandate.

    June 20, 1968: YWCA hosts a meeting with 28 organizations, agencies, and concerned citizens in attendance.  A decision is made to do some research on the issue.

    1969: The Mossman Report is completed, which explored the needs of transient women, services currently available, and what additional services may be needed.

    November 29, 1969: All Saints Anglican Cathedral offers space in their basement and bell tower for a three-month trial run. Lynn Hannley and Bettie Hewes from ESPC are involved in the planning process from the beginning working alongside the YWCA, which was the umbrella organization for the first four months.

    January 23, 1970:  The Overnight Shelter for Women opens with donations from church and community groups. The Junior League is the largest donor, providing $500 a month.

    May 1, 1970: ESPC takes over from the YWCA as the umbrella organization for Edmonton Women’s Shelter (EWS), under the guidance of Bettie Hewes, Executive Director of ESPC.

    July 1, 1970: The Women’s Emergency Shelter moves to a former pawn shop location on 101 Street and 102 Avenue on a monthly rental basis.

    Note: The Edmonton Women’s Shelter used a variety of names—including the Edmonton Women’s Emergency Shelter, Overnight Shelter for Women, or Edmonton Women’s Overnight Shelter—as it was being established.

    August 31, 1971: The shelter moves to a city-owned house in the 102 block of 108 Street.

    May 1, 1973: Another move, this time to the 103 block of 101 Street – a second store front location.

    July 1, 1973: A three-storey house on 98 Avenue in the river valley is rented to use as Sheltered Accommodation to shelter women who needed “acceptance and safe time to figure out what they might do next” (i.e. longer term users).

    By this point, EWS had spent nearly 5 years moving the shelter around downtown Edmonton from one rental to another, including city owned properties.

    September 26, 1973: A non-profit corporation is registered as Edmonton Women’s Shelter Ltd. The EWS officially becomes its own entity. ESPC is no longer the umbrella organization, but continues to provide advice and support.

    September 30, 1974: EWS closes due to a lack of suitable accommodation.

    October 30, 1974: The Government of Alberta announces funding for the Edmonton City Centre Church Corporation (e4c) to operate a service for transient women. This shelter becomes the Women’s Emergency Accommodation Centre (WEAC) and is now the responsibility of e4c—an organization of white male Protestant ministers. WEAC opened in October 1974.

    January 15, 1975: WEAC has official public opening in the renovated Immigration Building.

    1975—76: The original EWS group is devastated but continues to meet and research what to do for women next.

    May 1977: EWS announces their new project is a shelter for battered* mothers and their children. They enter the family violence field.

    *Note: The use of battered, although now dated and potentially triggering, reflects the terminology of the era and is used here contextually.

    May 1, 1978: Clifford E. Lee Foundation offers $100,000 for the purchase of a house for EWS.

    September 1978: Clifford E. Lee Foundation purchases a house and leases it to EWS for 10 years at $1 a year.

    December 6, 1978: WIN House I opens and is quickly at capacity. This is the first Women’s Shelter in Alberta that specializes in taking in women with their children.

    Atonement Home offers space to overflow applicants from WIN House. Eventually, the Franciscan Sisters open Lurana Shelter—the second shelter for battered women and children in Edmonton. One EWS board member becomes chair of their advisory committee.

    Note: Catholic Social Services will assume full operational responsibility for Lurana Shelter by April 1, 2021.

    April 1980: Ronald Dyck, University of Alberta academic, is hired to study the actual needs of battered women.

    July 11, 1980: Dyck’s report and recommendations are released. An EWS Expansion committee begins work on the design and construction of housing that is deemed suitable to their clients’ needs.

    May 1982: An anonymous donor covers the cost of building WIN House II—the first purpose-built shelter for women and children in Canada.

    November 12, 1982: WIN House II is opened with no mortgage thanks to community donors.

    1983: Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (eight shelters and one second stage housing, which provides housing and supports for women who have left abusive relationships as they make plans for independent living) is incorporated. EWS ex-president becomes president.

    1984: The EWS Board researches and proposes another second stage housing project.

    1985: The EWS Board determines that a separate organization should take on this housing project.

    1986: WINGS (Women In Need Growing Stronger) second stage housing is formed, supported by the Sisters of Providence with a number of former EWS board members.

    1987: EWS hires ESPC to evaluate service and organization. ESPC recommends a move from a hands-on board to a governance board. Over the next few years, EWS manages this change in structure.

    1985—1989: EWS studies the abuse of the elderly and initiates EARS (Elderly Adult Resource Service).

    1990: EARS and Catholic Social Services collaborate to work on providing this service.

    2006: A building is purchased for the EWS office.

    2008: Studies and research continue on what the needs of women experiencing family violence are.

    2009: A four-bedroom house is purchased to shelter immigrant, refugee, and women escaping human trafficking.

    2010: WIN House III opens. It is the first house world-wide to focus on the needs of immigrant women.

    2013: WIN House III closes due to funding shortfalls.

    November 2014: WIN House III re-opens in thanks to a large private donation and increased funding from the government. The donor family asks that the shelter be named Carol’s House.

     

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    • fACTivist Feature Article: Economic Insecurity Concerns During COVID-19

      fACTivist Feature Article: Economic Insecurity Concerns During COVID-19

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       Note: this is excerpted from Summer 2020 edition of our fACTivist publication. The Edmonton Social Planning Council, in collaboration with volunteers and colleagues within the sector, strives to provide stakeholders and community members with updates on ESPC’s activities and projects, including articles and initiatives that address a variety of pertinent issues that affect our community

      During the height of the pandemic, Alberta’s unemployment rate went as high as 15.5%, according to Labour Force Survey results for the month of May 2020, as businesses were forced to close due to public health restrictions. This excludes those who did not lose their jobs entirely, but rather saw their hours and income drastically reduced; some experts believe the true unemployment rate could be as high as 30%. 

      This major disruption has laid bare who some of the most financially vulnerable are during this pandemic and has exposed holes in our social safety net. According to Statistics Canada’s recent report, Work Interruptions and financial vulnerability, single mothers are some of the most vulnerable individuals when faced with work interruption of two months, with 56% of them unlikely to be able to make ends meet. Commentary that the current economic downturn has disproportionately affected women, at time referred to as a “she-cession,” means this development is not a complete surprise. Other highly vulnerable households include those headed by Indigenous people or newcomers. Financially vulnerable families would need approximately $1,745 per month, on average, just to stay above the poverty line. 

      In addition, these work interruptions have laid bare the vulnerability of workers engaged in precarious work, especially those in the so-called “gig economy,” where unincorporated self-employed workers enter into various contracts with firms to complete specific tasks for a negotiated sum. These include the use of online platforms such as Uber, Lyft, TaskRabbit, Skip the Dishes, and Upwork. While some take on gig work as a supplemental source of income in addition to standard employment, nearly half of Canadians who take on gig work do so as a primary source of income.  These types of working arrangements do not provide adequate job security, health benefits, or consistent income, nor do they support opportunities to save money. 

      When the pandemic hit, it became abundantly clear that a lot of Canadians who found themselves out of work faced barriers to accessing benefits, especially when their situations did not meet the threshold for obtaining income supports such as Employment Insurance (EI). The federal government reacted by creating benefit programs designed to help those who would otherwise fall through the cracks, such as the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit and the Canada Emergency Student Benefit. They also provided temporary boosts to existing programs for parents of children, seniors, persons with disabilities, and gave out additional GST rebates. 

      While these relief measures are welcome and much-needed for vulnerable low-income Albertans and Canadians, the pandemic has made clear that we need to rethink our safety nets not only for public health emergencies, but for all times. 

      Robust conversations have been had on whether a universal basic income would be needed to address this shortfall. While the precise details of what a basic income would look like, and how it would be incorporated within our existing social programs, is still an open conversation, it is abundantly clear that we need to ensure there is a floor built for our society’s most vulnerable. By ensuring they can access the most basic of needs—nutritious food, shelter, medicine, clothing, access to transportation, and others—they will never be forced to go without or fall through the cracks. 

       

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    • fACT Sheet — Child Benefits in Alberta and Canada

      fACT Sheet — Child Benefits in Alberta and Canada

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      Introduction

      Child benefits have been demonstrated to be an important tool for alleviating and reducing child poverty. A recent report from UNICEF highlighted that in 15 high-income countries, delivering universal child benefits alone led to a five percentage point reduction in child poverty on average. In light of the economic toll the COVID-19 pandemic is having on low- and middle-income families coupled with recent changes to benefit programs, our fACT Sheet assesses the current state of provincial and federal child benefit programs for Alberta and Canada, respectively.

      Alberta Child and Family Benefit: Overview and History

      Child benefits in Alberta were initially introduced as the Alberta Working Family Supplement by Premier Jim Prentice in March 2015. At the time, the tax credit would provide working families earning less than $41,220 an annual benefit of $1,100, and an additional $550 for each of the next three children. This was set to take effect July 2016.

      When Rachel Notley became premier in May 2015, the program was revamped and implemented as the Alberta Child Benefit (ACB).

      This was done in conjunction with an enhanced Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit (AFETC), which provided a maximum annual benefit of $754 for the first child, ranging up to $1,987 for families with four children of more. Families had to earn at least $2,760 in employment income to receive the credit. The “phase out” threshold was $41,250, and families earning above that threshold were to receive less of the credit proportionately to their income, becoming zero when their income reached about $77,000.

      In its first year of implementation (2016-2017 benefit year), the ACB reached 245,060 children in 127,345 families while the AFETC reached 359,790 children in 178,745 families. The average annual amounts families received for each benefit were $1,145 and $780, respectively.

      In the years following, these benefits were indexed for inflation. By 2019, the maximum benefit for the ACB was $1,155 for one child and $2,886 for four or more children. For the AFETC, families could receive a maximum benefit of $783 per year for one child, and $2,604 for four or more children. 

      The New Benefit Program

      After Jason Kenney became premier in April 2019, his government’s first provincial budget saw the ACB and AFETC combined into a single program called the Alberta Child and Family Benefit (ACFB). The ACFB took effect in July 2020 and provides direct financial assistance on a quarterly basis to low- and middle-income households. The benefit is divided into two components: the base component and the working component. The base component is available to families regardless of employment status and gives up to $1,330 annually for the first child, all the way up to $3,325 for four or more children. This component starts to decrease after families make $24,467 and ends once families make $41,000 in household income. The working component applies to families who make over $2,760 a year, and provides up to $681 annually for the first child, or $1,795 for four or more children. This component starts to drop after families make $41,000 and ends at $61,000 in household income.

      What the New ACFB Means for Low-Income Families

      The threshold for receiving provincial child benefits drops off drastically at a relatively low-income cut-off, and families who are barely making enough to support themselves will not get sufficient benefits. Once a household income reaches $41,000, a family is no longer eligible for the base component of the ACFB, while the working component simultaneously begins to decrease. This means that a dual income family where both parents work full-time at minimum wage ($15 per hour) would not receive the base component and would see a reduced working component.

      In comparison, under the previous ACB and AFETC benefit schemes a dual-income family with two children that made $41,000 would have received $3,187 in benefits, while under the new system they will only receive $1,886. This is a significant reduction in benefits and undermines the progress previously made in alleviating child poverty. Families losing out on government transfer income will likely have to make more employment income to support their families in order to provide a modest existence and reach financial security.

      Canada Child Benefit: Overview and History

      Child benefits delivered by the federal government have been in existence in some form since 1945. The most recent incarnation is the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), which was introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016 to replace its predecessor, the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB). The UCCB initially provided a taxable $100 per month benefit to every child in the country under the age of six. By 2015, the benefit had increased to $160 per month, just before Justin Trudeau was elected Prime Minister.

      Trudeau’s revamped CCB increased federal spending on child benefits, making them more generous for low- and middle-income households, and less generous for higher-income households. At the CCB’s inception, households with an annual income of $30,000 or less received a maximum of $6,400 per year for each child under the age of 6, and $5,400 per year for each child between the ages of 6 and 17. Higher household incomes received progressively smaller benefit amounts, up to a maximum of households earning more than $200,000 annually, which did not receive any benefits. All of those benefits were tax-free.

      Since 2016, the CCB has been indexed to inflation to keep up with rising costs of raising children. As of July 2020, the maximum child benefit families receive is $6,765 per child under the age of 6 and $5,708 per child between the ages of 6 and 17.

      In the 2018-2019 benefit year, nearly $24 billion in benefits reached more than 3.6 million recipients in Canada. In Alberta, nearly $3 billion in benefits reached over 445,000 recipients in the province.

      Recent Developments

      As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Trudeau issued a number of relief measures to help Canadians financially impacted by the economic downturn caused by the virus. This included a one-time extra payment of $300 to families for each child under the age of 18 allocated via the CCB.

      The Trudeau Liberals also campaigned during the 2019 federal election on a pledged 15% increase to the CCB for children under the age of 1, giving families up to $1,000 more annually. Despite their re-election, this campaign pledge has yet to be implemented for the 2020-21 benefit year.

      Areas of Concern

      While the CCB has been lauded for reducing child poverty across Canada and lifting nearly 280,000 children out of poverty, questions persist about whether further investments are needed to address child poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some advocacy groups, including Campaign 2000, have argued that the one-time $300 top-up to the CCB should be continued for at least the duration of the pandemic and its economic fallout as an important income security tool.

      In addition, the distribution of child benefits for both provincial and federal programs to those who qualify is contingent upon filing a tax return. An average of 12% of adult Canadians do not file tax returns (15.3% for Albertans). A large portion of those who do not file are among the most vulnerable populations, with estimates showing that roughly one-third of social assistance recipients do not file taxes. As many as 40% of eligible First Nations families do not receive the CCB. This lag in distribution undermines the intended poverty reduction goals of these programs.

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    • Op-Ed: All parties must be prepared to compromise to prioritize human-rights approach to affordable housing (July 9, 2020)

      Op-Ed: All parties must be prepared to compromise to prioritize human-rights approach to affordable housing (July 9, 2020)

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      Note: This op-ed was originally published in the Edmonton Journal on July 9, 2020.

      by Sandra Ngo and Brett Lambert

      We’ve seen the headlines before: vocal members of the community expressing their opposition to a proposed affording housing development.

      Stories of home owners’ associations taking developers to court, protests organized, and heated discussions at city council hearings are all commonplace occurrences during the public engagement process.

      Recently, Edmonton City Council voted in favour of selling four parcels of land to Homeward Trust to build permanent supportive housing, which are located in Terrace Heights, King Edward Park, McArthur Industrial, and Inglewood. These sites will build a total of 150 units, which represent a portion of the 900 housing units the city needs to build by 2024 as part of their goal to end chronic homelessness.

      Permanent supportive housing is a type of continuous care that combines subsidized housing with support services. These services can run the gamut, from innocuous programs such as community support groups and child care, to full-time, in-house registered nurses and psychologists. These investments are lauded for saving taxpayer money by reducing pressure on health and emergency services, the justice system, and reducing social disorder.

      Despite these tangible benefits, some concerns over neighbourhood safety have been expressed. Does it always have to be this way? We don’t think so. The Edmonton Social Planning Council recently published a report, Public Engagement on Affordable Housing in Edmonton, which explores best practices for how a robust public engagement strategy can address these concerns and offers a number of recommendations to community league members, city administration, and affordable housing developers.

      Good public engagement helps to find common ground between groups which may have different interests and leads to a development that is better integrated with the neighbourhood while benefiting the vulnerable populations who will be housed in these units in the long-term.

      The key to a successful public engagement process is to start early and be transparent about the use of public input. Early and ongoing engagement allows for a dialogue to be created, and facilitates a deeper understanding of affordable housing within a community. This makes for more meaningful negotiations, where developers are able to gather feedback and reflect it back to the community, who in turn reciprocate the process.

      The notion of feeling heard early on builds trusting relationships, dispels misunderstandings, and the lack of delay reduces discord among the community. Here the engagement process becomes meaningful and is not simply a formality.

      Incorporating a human rights approach in the public engagement process is also a crucial component in increasing support for affordable housing. By framing the conversation around someone’s right to have adequate housing, the average person can recognize the role they play in helping marginalized populations and confronting stereotypes and prejudice against impoverished communities. Public engagement based on this premise can bust myths related to crime, safety, housing prices, and overcrowding.

      Innovating the public engagement process is another way to bring about a successful outcome. Each neighbourhood has a different dynamic, with preferences varying widely according to the community. A non-traditional engagement format can include walking tours of successful affordable housing developments. These neighbourhood walkthroughs were cited as effective tools for increasing understanding and acceptance of developments and allowed for innovative ways of hearing community feedback.

      When it comes to the planning process of an affordable housing development, change can be an inherently uncomfortable process and concerns from community members need to be addressed in order to move forward for a mutually beneficial result. All parties must be prepared to compromise while prioritizing a human rights-based approach whereby the most vulnerable are afforded their right to safe and adequate housing.

      The four permanent supportive housing developments represent an important step forward for ending homelessness in Edmonton. They help people who have complex needs stay safe, healthy, and build community. As the next steps are undertaken, we hope that the best practices as outlined in our report will help facilitate a robust public engagement process resulting in housing stability for those who need it most.

      Sandra Ngo is Research Coordinator of the Edmonton Social Planning Council.

      Brett Lambert is Community Engagement Coordinator of the Edmonton Social Planning Council.

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    • Blog: Universalizing child benefits as a means of promoting social cohesion

      Blog: Universalizing child benefits as a means of promoting social cohesion

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      Child poverty continues to be a persistent global problem. While the rates of people living in extreme poverty observed worldwide have declined significantly—the United Nations has noted 10% of the world’s population lives on less than $1.90 USD a day as of 2015, which is down from 36% in 1990—children experience poverty at twice the rate as their adult counterparts around the world. About 385 million children are still struggling to live on less than $1.90 USD a day.

      A proven and effective poverty reduction tool is the implementation of child benefits, which provide direct financial relief for families in the form of cash or tax transfers. They have been demonstrated to drive down poverty rates and help children flourish, improving their overall well-being, health, education, food security, productivity, and ability to contribute to their societies and economies when they reach adulthood. Indeed, these investments to families has been something the Edmonton Social Planning Council has long been recommending in our yearly Alberta child poverty reports (you can view our most recent report here) co-published with Public Interest Alberta and the Alberta College of Social Workers.

      A new report, Universal child benefits: Policy issues and options, jointly released by UNICEF and the Overseas Development Institute, makes the case for universal child benefits and provides practical recommendations and key considerations for governments embarking on policy decisions regarding benefits for children. These considerations include taking into account different policy priorities and trade-offs (e.g. child rights, costs and financing, child poverty demographics, and administrative capacity).

      Child benefits can take on a number of characteristics, but a universal child benefit is typically paid on a regular basis as a cash or tax transfer to the primary caregiver for dependent children under 18 years of age and paid for a minimum of 10 years (this constitutes a meaningful period and more than half of childhood). Quasi-universal child benefits differ when they are designed to be short-term and age-limited allowances (e.g. paid to children aged 0 to 3 years), means-tested (e.g. they cover the majority of households and screen out high-income households), and/or mixed-schemes allowances that combine social insurance and social assistance schemes to achieve universal or close to universal coverage of children. These programs typically cover citizens and legal residents of their country, excluding children with refugee or undocumented status. Nevertheless, some countries like Denmark, Estonia, and Hungary extend these benefits to refugee children with a certain recognized status.

      In the case of Canada, the Canada Child Benefit is considered a quasi-universal child benefit where families with the lowest incomes receive the maximum amount (which is currently an annual $6,765 per child under age 6 or $5,708 per child age 6 to 17) while those with higher incomes receive progressively less until the benefit is phased out entirely for the wealthiest households.

      The report found that in 15 high-income countries, delivering universal child benefits alone led to a 5-percentage point reduction in child poverty, on average. The targeting of disadvantaged households within a universalistic system can also be highly effective in reducing poverty. When higher benefit levels were targeted towards the bottom 40% and taxed back from high earners, it was shown to have the highest poverty reduction impact. The most effective designs for benefit programs were those that achieved high population coverage, indexed for inflation, and delivered regularly had a higher impact on lowering poverty. These benefits, acting alongside the availability of quality public services (i.e. schools and health care) and complementary programming, were critical in ensuring that cash transfers lead to improvements in non-monetary outcomes such as education, health status, and nutrition.

      Policy coverage of children remains comparatively low. It is estimated that around 35% of these benefits reach children and families on a global scale, and the coverage varies considerably across regions. While almost 90% of citizens in Europe and Central Asia receive child benefits, only 16% in Africa receive them.

      Despite the importance of the Canada Child Benefit as a poverty reduction tool, the program still leaves out vulnerable Canadians. Since receiving benefits is contingent upon filing a tax return every year, around 10% of eligible households do not receive these benefits as they are unable to file their income taxes. This is especially the case for those living in remote areas or on First Nations reserves. In addition, Canada’s level of investment is average when compared to other rich countries. This is a particularly pressing concern in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the detrimental effects it has had on the economy. As the economic fallout threatens to roll back years of progress in reducing poverty, universal child benefits can be a lifeline, protecting vulnerable families from deepening levels of poverty and deprivation. Insuring the Canada Child Benefit is adjusted to provide sufficient relief during times of crisis is vital to the success of the initiative.

      The report highlights that universalizing benefits reduces risks often associated with narrow means testing where some families in need are left without financial support. The universalization of these programs also helps to remove the stigma associated with benefit schemes in general.

      Overall, the report provides a comprehensive roadmap and guidance for policy planners all over the world seeking to overhaul existing child benefit programs or develop new schemes in order to achieve universal child benefits. It takes into account the financial situations of individual countries along with various trade-offs and priorities to consider and balance.

      When supported by comprehensive social protection systems and quality social services, universal child benefits are integral to promoting social cohesion and public support for social protection.

       

       

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    • Blog: Parkland Institute report on migrant workers living without status

      Blog: Parkland Institute report on migrant workers living without status

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      The beginning of the 21st century saw a surge in migrant workers coming to Canada to take on various jobs under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). At its peak, there were as many as 400,000 Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) in Canada, with about 77,000 of them residing in Alberta. Alberta had the most TFWs in the nation per capita. Within the last five years, due to economic downturns and changes in federal policy, the TFWP has been severely curtailed with many migrant workers losing their status, with just 32,000 migrant workers holding a work permit by 2018. While a number of people returned to their country of origin, a smaller contingent decided to stay.

      The Parkland Institute’s recent report, In the Shadows: Living and Working Without Status in Alberta, seeks to understand the situation for those who have remained in Alberta who have lost their status and offer ideas for how their lives can be made better, both in the short-term and the long-term. It is estimated that there are between 10,000 to 20,000 migrant workers from the TFWP living in Alberta who have lost their status.

      Prior to changes in policy, TFWs in Alberta were most commonly working jobs in construction, retail clerks, light housekeeping, cooks, and food servers. The most common countries or regions of origin included those from the Philippines, India, Central America, and Eastern Europe.

      For the report, authors Marco Luciano (of Migrante Alberta) and Jason Foster (professor at Athabasca University) interviewed 32 undocumented migrant workers, 17 women and 15 men. Of the 32 participants, 29 came from the Philippines while the remaining three came from Mexico, Chile, and Ukraine. The majority of occupations the participants worked in were retail or fast-food employment as well as construction or landscaping labourers.

      Participants spoke in great detail about their experience, highlighting a number of issues they faced when working with status. These ranged from receiving less pay and fewer hours than promised, unsafe working conditions, and abusive working environments. If they wished to leave their employer to take on a different job, the onerous process of changing their permit made it a difficult process.

      Many lost their status in 2015 when their employer failed to apply to renew their work permits or their renewal was denied due changes in federal policy that made the TFWP more restrictive as a result of worsening economic conditions. In other instances, worsening health conditions were another reason for not renewing their work permit.

      While it’s believed most migrant workers in the TFWP returned to their country of origin, a small contingent chose to stay. The reasons for staying including a lack of opportunity back home, the need to support their family abroad, and building a life for their Canadian-born children.

      While they no longer have a valid work permit, many of them do remain in Canada legally, although with a different visa (e.g. visitor or student). While formalized employment relationships are largely out of reach, many find work in the informal sector doing tasks for cash for friends, neighbours, and family members. These jobs include house cleaning, babysitting, cooking, and casual labour jobs. Due to the informal nature of the work, hours and pay are inconsistent and the jobs are temporary or fleeting. These working arrangements compound their marginalized status as they try to survive. Issues arising from this working relationship include not being paid in a timely manner or being forced to accept unfairly lower wages. Outside of the workplace, access to health care and education become a barrier to access, as they become ineligible for government-funded programs and services. While hospitals are obligated to treat any patient regardless of status, migrant workers without status will get billed for treatment, racking up large expenses. Other services, such as libraries, income support programs, child and family benefits, banking, and obtaining a driver’s license, become out of reach or precarious as a result of their work permits expiring. All of this results in negative impacts on their physical, financial, and mental well-being.

      Despite all of these hardships they have endured, the participants demonstrated a resilience in their hopes for the future, and still possess a faith that things will work out in the future.

      The report concludes with 27 recommendations that federal, provincial, and municipal governments can pursue to make the lives of these migrant workers better. These recommendations are divided between immediate actions that can be taken as well as systemic and long-term changes that can be implemented. These recommendations include amending rules to ensure migrant workers can receive income support benefits, overhauling Canada’s migrant worker programs to eliminate exploitation and abuse, issuing open work permits with mobility rights in the labour market, ensuring all medical services are provided free of charge regardless of status, municipalities declaring themselves as a “Sanctuary City” among various other recommendations.

      The Parkland Institute’s report sheds some much-needed light on the circumstances these workers face and the need for a comprehensive reform of these immigration policies so that humane practices are prioritized is certainly urgent. The fact that so many of these migrant workers cannot earn a living wage (which the Edmonton Social Planning Council calculates it to be at $16.51 per hour in Edmonton as of 2019) only compounds the great difficulty these workers have in eking out an existence where they can survive, let alone thrive.

      While the Temporary Foreign Worker issue has receded from our attention in recent years, this report makes a strong case for renewed attention and action.

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