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Fundamental Rights for Household and Farm Workers

Household and farm workers provide an essential contribution to the economy and the society. For those in Canada still under foreign worker status, restrictive measures infringe on fundamental rights. The RHFW works to end that injustice.

Our Work

Through STRATEGIC LITIGATION, RESEARCH, POLITICAL advocacy-EDUCATION ACTIVITIES, AND REFERENCE SERVICES, The RHfW WORKS TO ADVANCE THE RIGHTS OF HOUSEHOLD AND FARM WORKERS – in particular on 4 CORE Issues (see 5-min presentation to the canadian senate comMittee on social affairs):

Right to change employers

No debt bondage (no facilitation of debt with private agent or employer)

Right to family unity (automatic open work/study permits for partner/children)

Independent access upon arrival to permanent status + universal procedure for status regularization

Our Main Project

Right to Change Employers: A Constitutional Challenge

A significant number of household and farm workers in Canada are employed under foreign worker status. Their right to freely change employers is negated by specific federal measures. This restricts their capacity to resign, facilitates abusive employment practices and, more generally, creates an obstacle to the exercise of rights in the country. The RHFW prepares a constitutional challenge of employer-tying measures, seeking their invalidation by courts as unjustifiable infringements on workers’ fundamental rights to liberty, security of the person and access to justice.

IMPORTANT

The RHFW is not specialized in individualized legal advice and support services. For more information on organisations operating specifically at this level, please consult our section Reference Services.

Land Acknowledgement

While the RHFW works towards increased recognition of migrant household and farm workers’ rights in Quebec and the rest of Canada, we recognize that the work and life conditions we seek to improve take place on unceded indigenous territory. We further wish to acknowledge that our headquarters are situated on the unceded traditional territory of First peoples. Tiohtiá:ke/Montréal has long served as a place for gathering and exchanging for many First Nations, in particular the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk), a founding nation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) People. We respect the continued connections with the past, present and future in our ongoing relationships with Indigenous and other peoples within the Montreal community. We stand in support of indigenous efforts, for the protection of their land and for recognition of their rights.

Association for the Rights of Household and Farm Workers (DTMF-RHFW)

1340 St Joseph Blvd E,
Montréal, Québec
H2J 1M3

info@dtmf-rhfw.org
514-379-1262