Temporary foreign workers (TFWs) have been coming to Canada for nearly six decades to do work foundational to the country’s economy. Today, as political sentiments shift to the disapproval of TFWs, it is imperative that the language used to describe them and their work remains respectful. Some common critiques of the TFW program are that closed work permits tie many TFWs to their jobs with little ability to leave abusive situations and that employers can be left responsible for educating TFWs about their labour rights despite conflicts of interest. Allowing all TFWs the ability to work toward permanent residency alleviates many of these systemic abuses. Although not as empowering as permanent residency, mandated internet access in company-provided TFW homes would improve worker agency, including access to translation, abuse reporting, health-care services and so on. In democratic societies, there are significant incentives to shift blame onto populations who are unable to vote or otherwise participate in democratic processes themselves. This concerning phenomenon is observable in rhetoric used to describe TFWs in Canada today and has been a pattern in communication over a number of years with different governments in power.
