Temporary foreign workers rally to stay

Close to 100 temporary foreign workers, mainly from China, whose time in Canada is running out, rallied on the steps of the Manitoba legislature Tuesday to raise awareness of their situation.

They arrived in Manitoba before the federal government cut immigration levels — when international students and temporary foreign workers had a shot at becoming permanent residents if they met the requirements to stay, said Ruby Lu.

“We come here for a few years and we work for a few years, pay taxes. Some of us are already bought a house,” said Lu, whose work permit expires at the end of the year.

“So if our (permit) expires, we don’t know what to do,” she said in front of demonstrators holding signs with messages including “we love Manitoba” and “bring back TPP” — the temporary public policy used by the Manitoba provincial nominee program to support open work permits and prioritize permanent residency for select candidates.

“We’re hoping that the minister will give us some opportunities,” Lu said of Labour and Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino. “We hope the TPP will continue.”

Marcelino says the province continues to go to bat for the workers who strengthen Manitoba’s economy.

“We have been pushing the federal government since last year to extend the TPP, and we will continue to advocate for more capacity so we can keep more skilled workers in Manitoba,” Marcelino said in an emailed statement Tuesday.

“Our government remains committed to advocating for the temporary foreign workers seeking a secure future in our province, and we will continue to push for change that bolsters our workforce and strengthens our economy.”

Hai Dong and his wife, who is studying early childhood education at Red River College, arrived in Manitoba three years ago. He worked as an attendant at a Winnipeg auto dealership until his work permit expired recently. He said he was unable to renew it because his passport was expiring. When his passport was renewed, he applied for a work permit extension and it was denied by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Dong said.

“I’m very sad. I cannot work, so I have no income. I have to use my savings to live here,” said the former Birchwood BMW employee. “I met lots of nice people when I came here. I learned at the language school. I learned a lot of culture here. Winnipeg is a friendly city.”

Susan Zhang said she arrived in 2024 after a friend in Winnipeg encouraged her to apply for a job in Manitoba because the air is clean and the schools are good. She worked as a housekeeper for an Indigenous organization that lodges health-care patients from the north while they’re in Winnipeg for treatment. Her work permit expired last month.

“I’m desperate,” said the mother of two school-aged children whose father cared for them while she worked. She worries that they’ll have to return to China if she doesn’t get a break soon.

Zhang said her parents in China are trying to sell their house to help her family stay afloat in Manitoba until she can get a work permit extension or an invitation from the provincial nominee program. She doesn’t want them to do that.

She said she was doing a job that her employer had a hard time filling.

“A lot of them don’t want to do the basic work like us,” said Zhang, whose employer has written to IRCC on her behalf.

A Canadian Federation of Independent Business report earlier this month found that temporary foreign workers are doing jobs that young adults — who have a higher rate of unemployment — don’t want.

“It’s a very hard time for me, actually,” she said.

Zhang shared texts from residents at the lodge where she worked offering prayers and support. She’s drawing encouragement from her downtown church, as well, she said.

“I just pray every day. I don’t know what I can do. Let’s try our best,” she said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca