Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program has recently come under intense scrutiny, with a new United Nations report by a Special Rapporteur characterizing it as a systemic “breeding ground for contemporary slavery.”

The report criticizes the Temporary Foreign Worker Program for limiting workers’ freedom of movement by tying their immigration status to a single employer.

In contrast, regional or sectoral contracts could offer workers more flexibility in the labour market, reduce existing power imbalances, and enable them to push for better working conditions without fearing deportation.

The UN report overlooked how similar mobility restrictions imposed on internationally trained physicians (ITPs) could be aggravating Canada’s health-care crisis, tarnishing our international standing and intensifying our ongoing doctor shortage.

These mobility restrictions largely stem from what are known as practice-ready assessment programs that evaluate the clinical competence of ITPs to ensure they meet the standards required to practice independently in a specific province.

Compounding this issue, return-of-service contracts — often tied to the assessment programs — further limit ITPs’ mobility by mandating that they work in designated, often under-served, areas for a set period of time.

These policies aim to address regional health-care shortages but create significant mobility barriers for ITPs. This deters many from entering the workforce through these pathways. It also intensifies competition for limited residency positions, which Canadian-born medical graduates clamour for.

This restrictive environment........

© BIV