Immigrants’ rights at Canadian workplace

Canada has been the top priority among immigrants across the world because of its conducive and friendly environment. Post COVID, the economical situation of the country might be different, but Canada had once welcomed over 1 million immigrants under its fold in the next three years.But is the working environment in Canada really conducive? While experts harp on the fact that immigrants should ensure that they know enough about their job responsibilities and working environments, there are many who still face issues getting opportunities and sustaining if they get one.

The challenges and difficulties for Immigrants while settling in Canada:

Canadian workplace legislation can be difficult to understand if English is the second language. It becomes even more troublesome considering the differences in workers’ rights between provinces and territories.  It must, however, remember that even though the Canadian Workflow Legislation is difficult to understand, it aims to protect the workers’ rights.

All Employees in Canada have right to know about their Health and Safety Rights at Workplace

All workers in Canada have the right to know about their health and safety and have the right to decide to take up a work beyond their responsibilities. They, however, have the right to time offs, days off and right to be paid for their work. No company has the right to hold back money at their own discretion if the employee is laid off.

Some Major Workplace rights that an Employee in Canada is entitled to:,

• Workers have the right to stick to the stipulated number of working hours as agreed upon.
• They are bound to be heard if they are facing issues at work, if not, they have the right to file a case.
• No gender discrimination is entertained

As per a recent statistics, provided by the Canadian Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development, Ontario has recorded over 3,000 complaints of workplace harassment each year for the last couple of years. The ministry refers workplace harassment as:

• Offensive comments and jokes
• Bullying or aggressive behavior
• Inappropriate staring
• Sexual harassment
• Isolating or making fun of a worker because of their gender identity

What immigrants could do in case of harassment at Canadian Workplace:

Every Canadian province and territory has an office that deals with labour and employment laws, providing information with workers about fair pay, hours of work, rest periods, leaves, and working condition in the city.

Anyone having issues with working in Canada can visit these offices for legal help. A number of organizations offer self-help kits, resources and tools to help navigate the human rights system.

It is also important to know that some settlement agencies that deal with employment can often provide you with a list of resources in the province.

Meanwhile, if you are facing any harassment, it is better to document your experience by sending a mail to yourself or speaking to someone in details about the same. Lastly, you can push the higher-ups to act on the issues. If they ignore, an application should be sent to the Human Rights Tribunal.

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Pallavi Sen Gupta

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