The board told the company in July that it had to pay the workers $3,800 each in housing costs it had deducted from their paychecks starting in May 2021. The workers say that last spring, the company asked them to sign a contract increasing their rent from $225 to $300 per pay period. A number of the 48 temporary foreign workers from Madagascar employed at the plant at the time initially refused to sign — and asked the company if it could explain the increase. Two workers filed complaints with the Commission des normes de l’equité de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST), Quebec’s workplace health and safety board, after they said the company would not budget. A month and a half later, the two employees and three others who had raised questions about the rent were fired. “We’re struggling with this situation right now,” one of the former employees said during an interview in July. “We live in fear, we live in anxiety, we live in uncertainty.” The CBC spoke to all five fired employees and agreed not to name them because they fear retaliation for speaking out and worry that doing so could jeopardize their immigration status. The Plaisirs Gastronomiques food processing plant is located near Highway 15 in Boisbriand, a suburb north of Montreal. (Charles Contant/CBC)
The employer complains of defamation
Many of the workers live in three-bedroom units with three or four other people and have to share a bedroom. CBC visited the building and saw one of the units. It was clean and well-lit, but small for five people by North American standards, and workers said necessary repairs had been left untouched. Former Plaisirs Gastronomiques employees say they fear retaliation and how their firing will affect their immigration status in Canada. (Simon Martel/CBC) The federal government requires an employer who hires low-wage foreign workers to demonstrate that it will not deduct more than 30 percent of those wages for housing. But Quebec labor regulations limit the amount employers can charge for rent to $53.47 a week — about half of what was deducted from workers’ wages. Christophe Beauvais, president of the company, Plaisirs Gastronomiques — which makes and distributes prepared foods to major grocery chains in the province — said he understood the regulation did not apply to his employees because he was not required to provide accommodation. However, in an email to the CBC, a CNESST spokesperson said the housing costs regulation, Article 6, applies in cases “where the employer ensures that accommodation is provided to the employee without having an obligation to do so.” The labor board said it cannot comment on specific investigations, even after a decision has been made. The apartment building where workers share small three-bedroom units is located on a quiet street in a suburb north of Montreal. (Charles Contant/CBC) The federal government told CBC in an email last week that “employers participating in the TFW Program must comply with both program requirements and applicable [provincial and territorial] laws in their area”. For decades, advocates have said that overlapping jurisdictions in temporary foreign worker programs can contribute to the difficulties workers face in having their rights respected. A month and a half after the labor board’s complaints were filed, the workers were given dismissal letters claiming they had defamed their employer, aiming to obtain an open work permit claiming the company had mistreated them. The company said it had screenshots of the messages to support its claim, but would not provide them to the employees or to the CBC, citing privacy concerns. Beauvais told employees that electricity, internet, furniture and appliance costs were higher than expected. He said the company would fight CNESST’s claim in court. “We’re playing our part as good corporate citizens to fully facilitate their integration into the country,” Bovet told CBC News by phone.
Quebec is relying on the TFW program amid shortages
The five workers, who are in their early 30s and hold bachelor’s degrees, said the appeal of low-wage work away from home was a pilot program Quebec just created that allows French-speaking temporary foreign workers in food processing to apply for permanent residence. in the province after two years. “We came here to integrate into Quebec society, to be able to live like other Quebecers and hopefully integrate our family into that society and pursue our dreams — to live harmoniously here in Canada,” said another worker, who said the layoff had caused him and his family back home great distress. “I can’t sleep, I have insomnia. Sometimes, I can’t eat because my stomach turns upside down every time I think about it.” Each of the workers sends part of their earnings to Madagascar to support their families. The pilot project is one of several designed to encourage foreigners to work in Quebec in light of a severe labor shortage. The program allows employers in Canada to hire foreign nationals to work in positions they struggle to fill locally. Foreigners are issued work permits linked to their employer, although the model has once again come under scrutiny with an increase in abuses reported during the pandemic. “People like these who file complaints are the tip of the iceberg. Many refuse because they are afraid and with good reason,” said Michel Pilon, a former labor lawyer and co-founder of the Réseau d’aide aux travailleuses et travailleurs migrants agricoles. du Québec (RATTMAQ), which filed the complaints on behalf of the employees. Bovet, the company president, said the layoffs had nothing to do with the labor board complaints because the identities of the whistleblowers are confidential. He said they had overcome the comments made by the employees that put the reputation of Plaisirs Gastronomiques at risk. He said the company is now reviewing overseas hiring. Michel Pilon, the co-founder of RATTMAQ, says the immigrant rights organization is busier than ever. (Charles Contant/CBC) Eugénie Depatie-Pelletier, who has published several studies on migrant labor and is the executive director of the Montreal-based Association for the Rights of Domestic and Agricultural Workers, said the reference to open work permits in the termination letter shows that workers knew they were at risk of being fired for advocating for themselves. “The moment they put their hand up and file a complaint, there’s more than a risk they’ll get fired, it’s almost 100 percent,” Depatie-Pelletier said. He said he has heard of other cases of employers accusing temporary foreign workers of defamation and even theft of goods as ways to justify firing. The federal government made it possible for temporary foreign workers who can demonstrate they are at risk of abuse to apply for open work permits in 2019. The permits expire after one year and are not renewable. Pilon said RATTMAQ is also filing complaints with the CNESST against all five workers for unfair dismissal. Bovet said he doesn’t see a power imbalance in employer-linked permits because of how expensive it is to hire temporary foreign workers. He said he intended to pass the apartment leases directly to the workers. At least one worker told the CBC that this happened recently, and the rent now totals about $1,200 a month, plus utilities.
