Precarious employment is labor that is under-paid, with minimum to no benefits, hardly no control over work schedules and often not enough to provide for a household and these employees are said to have a lack of control over these factors. As temporary and part-time jobs are on the rise in Canada it is safe to say that Canada’s labor force is becoming more and more precarious. Countless employees live and function in precarious locations mainly because precarious employment is made up of immigrants, women, and minorities. Unfortunately, precarious employment is becoming the new norm in cities such as Toronto with a spiking 18.4% of the GTA population. These kind of jobs cause a significant amount of stress on the individual and because of …show more content…
These vulnerable workers are more subject to illnesses and injuries. Immigrant workers have a higher chance of participating in physical labor than those who were born in Canada therefore making them more susceptible to labor that has high health-risks. Occupational Health and Safety risks are just one of the many issues that vulnerable workers have to face. These workers are more susceptible to health problems then those with permanent full-time jobs because they have little to no access to complain against the working conditions and to form unions. As a result of the lack of health benefits and no paid sick days the workers have to choice but to neglect their health conditions and ignore their injuries for the fear of getting let go or not making enough income while they seek medical treatment. Migrant workers specifically, may have trouble reaching a medical clinic because their employers did not go through the proper channels to get them OHIP cards. These workers live insecurely because their contracts with agencies can end with very short notice or in some cases no notice at
Canada is a country that was built by immigration. Every year, thousands of hopeful immigrants come to Canada in order to have a better life. And for some, a better life can be achieved. However, for many others, this is simply not the case. In recent years, the number of visible minority immigrants has increased. And while this country’s ethnic diversity has benefitted from this influx, the economic landscape has shifted in a way to disfavor them. This economic disparity can be found through the income inequality that many immigrants face due to their educational background, low social and cultural capital, and occupational choices. It is these factors that have led to an overqualified work force, higher unemployment rates, and a widening
Porter, A. (2003). Consolidating Neoliberal Reforms: Globalization, Multi-Earner Families, and the Erosion of State Support for the Unemployed. Gendered States: Women, Unemployment Insurance and the Political Economy of the Welfare State in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Ultimately, temporary foreign workers and unemployment are two interweaving issues that Canadian businesses and government officials will have to deal with as the economy seeks to be restarted and refreshed. Though TFWs do not have a strong effect on unemployment—due to their need for unappealing jobs in inaccessible locations—they still spring open a debate on what the government should do in regards to foreign workers and immigrants, how to ensure that Canadians are always considered first for jobs, and what sort of “skills gap” really exists in the country and how it can be dealt with. Canada’s wide and vast geography and numerous natural resources are both a blessing and a curse for its economy and employment. If politicians and business leaders can effectively manage both, it will make the country all the better.
Precarious employment, also known as precarious work, is a type of employment that is unstable, doesn't provide job security, may have high risk working conditions, often does not provide much in the way of benefits nor the option for workers to join a union, and typically provides low wages that usually are, on their own, insufficient to support a basic household. Precarious employment can include part-time, temporary, self-employment and contract work categories. In recent years during tougher economic conditions, this type of employment has become more and more common in some of Canada’s most populated major cities, such as Toronto and Hamilton, and it continues to be on the increase. Employers are taking advantage of this less expensive
Canadian workplaces today seem to be a fairly diverse place, with a blend of many religions, ethnicities, and genders present. However, although people preach affirmative action and melting pots in current times, many inequality and power issues still abound. One strikingly noticeable example is gender discrimination. Women in the workforce face many challenges like smaller wages, harassment, male privilege in hiring or promotions, and lack of support when pregnant or raising children. One half of the planet is women, and it can be assumed the same for Canada, but they still face judgment at work because they lack the authority to dispute against big corporations or even their male supervisor. It cannot be argued that Canadian women’s status has worsened over the past hundred years, of course, thanks to feminism and activism. However, their status is not as high as it could be. Women as a group first started fighting for workplace equality during the second wave of feminism, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Legislation was approved during the second wave to try to bring gender equality to the workplace. Feminists both collided and collaborated with unions and employers to ensure women received fair treatment in an occupation. Quebec had the same issues, only the province approached the conflict differently than English Canada with its own unique viewpoint. It became clear that women were entering the workplace and did not plan on leaving. Second-wave feminism in Canada shifted power from the government and businesses to women in order to try to bring equality, although the discrimination never completely disappeared.
Gaining access to health care can be rather difficult for immigrants. There always seem to be some sort of obstacle in the way. For example, the cost of health care is skyrocketing. Immigrants whether they are legal aliens or illegal aliens are impacted the most by high health care costs. Each year the numbers for health care change but they never seem to get lower. Immigrants lack health care insurance due to the high cost of health care.
Employment discrimination includes unequal treatment in employment decisions, opportunities, hiring and firing, compensation, promotion done by the supervisor and management on the basis of nurses’ race, origin, color, religion and language (Walani, 2015). In some cases even the patients refuge to be treated from a nurse with certain ethnic or national background. In Primeau’s study (2014), one IEN reports that a patient denied her care and said, “I don’t want to be treated by a terrorist”. Moreover, immigrant nurses are often employed in less desirable areas, lower positions and are excluded from the opportunities which could promote them easily to higher positions ((Li, 2014). Discrimination is not only unethical but also an illegal practice at any workplace. However, sometimes the IENs themselves acknowledge that they have less confidence and take inequality for granted. So, they do not report some cases of discrimination. Moreover, even the colleagues, patients and families treat the IENs with aggression, resentment, less trust and uncooperative manner (College of Nurses of Ontario [CNO], 2007). Sometimes, the coworkers intentionally misunderstand and underestimate the IENs’ education and skills and bully them (Kingma, 2007). A study by Hagey shows that immigrant black nurses also face racial discrimination in nursing employment in Canada (2001).
Teelucksingh, C., & Edward-Galabuzi, G. (2005). C. Teelucksingh & G. Edward-Galabuzi (Eds.), Working Precariously: The impact of race and immigrants status on employment opportunities and outcomes in CanadaToronto: The Canadian Race Relations Foundation.
Based on the preliminary research I conducted, I have been able to identify two key topic areas that are of interest to me and these include: immigrant women attaining jobs in Ontario and violence experienced by women in Canada. In regard to immigrant women attaining jobs, there are significantly higher unemployment rates and lower wages that they are faced with, in comparison to other immigrant men and Canadian-born men and women. The debate circulating around this issue seeks to answer whether gender, immigrant class, age, ethnicity and sexuality all play a role in an immigrant woman’s ability to be employed (TIEDI, 2010, p.1). Some key questions that have arisen focus on workplace policies and programs that create further disparity within the gender gap, rather than aiding immigrant women who have differing needs in the labour market. Questions posed, seek to find the contributing factors to lower wages and what can be changed in the regulations to create equity (TIEDI, 2010, p.6). As well, a study conducted by Anucha et al. (2006) examines what are the outcomes of immigrant women participating in the economy and how this varies from other males, along with the social impacts of being employed (p.5).
Legislation in Ontario affects human resources. Some can be bad well others can be beneficial to the workplace. My paper will be focusing on the federal legislations in Ontario and how it is improving various non-unionized workplaces. At the end of my report I will be summarizing the concept of family status related to the 11 prohibited grounds in a case study regarding a single mom and how she almost lost her job with CN Rail.
Currently, the immigration and refugee protection act of 2002 is the one that guides immigration in Canada. According to the act, immigration to Canada has three primary objectives which are to unite families, for economic growth and development and to protect refugees. According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, The number of people moving into Canada has averaged at 257,957 every year since 2006 (CIC, 2015, p. 3). The information represents 0.7% of the population. In other words, every year the 0.7% of the population growth in Canada comes from Immigrants. The implication here is that this is a significantly high number of people, and it has resulted in concerns among the Canadian-born Citizens of Canada. One primary concern is that these immigrants lead to displacements of natives in the labor market and that such a heavy flow people into Canada create an excess supply of labor which translates to reduced growth of wages and increased unemployment. According to (IWC, 2016), immigration to Canada has led to unlimited supply of labor in the markets but on the other, suppressed wages in the country. There are also Several Studies which show a negative relationship between immigration and wages. Some of these studies include (McNichol & Health and Welfare Canada, 1991) and (Elrick & Lightman, 2014). However other studies like (Jiong, 2008) found a positive relationship between wages and
Racial discrimination in the workplace has been a persistent theme in Canada’s history as well as present-day times. The occurrence of actions and attitudes that impose a sense of one being less equal than another on the basis of one’s race in Canada’s workplace inhibits both our nation’s ability to move forward as well as strengthen unification within our country. The belief in a more egalitarian society, where one’s race and ethnic background have little to no impact on employees (or potential employees) standings within the job market, would seemingly be reinforced by the majority of Canadians, who consistently show support for Canada’s multicultural identity. Couple that with the noticeable strides Canada has made in the past several decades through legislation, in order to eliminate discriminatory practices and actions within the workplace, and one would likely assume that racial discrimination within the workplace is largely a concern of the past. However, current research supports the argument that the level of which racial discrimination occurs today is increasing, and as such it persists to be a key problem in the current workplace of the nation. In the workplace, racial discrimination is often seen with regard to uneven access to jobs, unfair selection and promotion criteria (as well as access to the means in order to meet this criteria), and workplace harassment. This paper compares similar findings of two articles; the first, Racial inequality in employment in Canada, as was published in the Canadian Public Administration (CPA), and the second, What Are Immigrants’ Experiences of Discrimination in the Workplace?, published by the Toronto Immigrant Employment Data Initiative (TIEDI).
Schlosser talks about how meatpacking is the most dangerous job in the United States. He says “The injury rate in a slaughterhouse is about three times higher than the rate of a typical American Factory” (172). Every year more than forty thousand meat packing workers get injured (beyond first aid) in the US alone. That is a lot of people getting hurt for just doing their jobs. Some of the injuries that get reported are fatal, but “thousands of additional injuries and illnesses most likely go unrecorded” (172). The workers who apply for such jobs tend to be illegal immigrants who try to earn some money to send back home to their families. Because these immigrants do not “exist”, there would be no problem if one might get into an accident and die.
Work is more than just a way of earning money to pay the bills; it is also a key feature of our culture and provides people with purpose and dignity. Many people define themselves by what they do. Thus, determining the future prospects for the job market in Canada is very important (Watson 2008). For the most part, Canada’s economy has done relatively well during the recent economic crisis, especially when compared to some other nations. However, the economic and technological trends that have driven changes in the workforce in recent years are likely to continue for the near future. These shifting trends will affect Canadian society and its workers in a number of areas, and it is vital that steps be taken to deal with any problems that result.
Firstly due to the Canadian employer disregard for foreign certifications and qualifications, new comers find it hard to find employment. Professional immigrants could not find jobs in their field because Canadian companies don't take the time to evaluate international credentials "Many skilled immigrants arrive armed with an impressive résumé, only to learn that their foreign credentials are not recognized by Canadian employers" (Chapin, A.). And the lack of information about getting licensed puts many of the professional out of their fields. According to statistics Canada, professionals who are trained in Canada have validate work experience and have studied recognized programs where they perform in a higher standers. Therefore newcomers must obtain their licensed or to have their degree evaluate through professional associations and this is conducted because it is to assure the Canadian's public health safety (Statistics Canada) . In conclusion many newcomers found it difficu...