Temporary Foreign Workers In Canada Know These Rights In 2026

Last Updated On 27 January 2026, 10:29 AM EST (Toronto Time)

As a temporary foreign worker in Canada, you’re entitled to the same workplace rights and protections as Canadian citizens and permanent residents, including fair pay, safe working conditions, and protection from retaliation.

This includes protections against employers holding your passport, withholding wages, forcing unsafe work, or threatening you for speaking up.

Whether you’re under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or the International Mobility Program, Canadian laws protect your rights and there are enforcement tools to help you act when something goes wrong.

Understanding your rights is crucial to avoiding exploitation and ensuring your well-being if you’re new to Canada or already working here.

This comprehensive guide breaks down your rights, employer obligations, and how to seek help if things go wrong—all in simple language to help you stay informed and protected.

If You Have a Closed Work Permit Read This First

If your work permit is employer-specific, you usually cannot start working for a new employer immediately.

In many cases, you need new authorization before you can switch jobs.

If you are experiencing abuse or you are at risk of abuse, you may be eligible for an open work permit for vulnerable workers, which can let you leave an abusive employer and work for another employer.

This option exists specifically to help workers exit unsafe or exploitative situations.

Your Workplace Rights as a Temporary Foreign Worker

Canada’s laws protect all workers, including temporary foreign workers, and require employers to treat you fairly and with dignity.

Here’s what you’re entitled to:

• Right to information: Your employer must provide clear information about your workplace rights in English or French, based on your preference.
• Signed employment agreement: Your employer must give you a signed employment agreement, but the timing can differ depending on the program.
  • Temporary Foreign Worker Program: you must receive it on or before your first day of work.
  • International Mobility Program: you must receive it before you apply for your work permit. The agreement should clearly outline your job duties, wages, hours, and working conditions and should match the job offer.
• Fair pay: You must be paid as agreed in your employment agreement, including overtime when applicable under provincial or territorial rules. Your employer cannot withhold or reduce your wages unfairly.
• A safe and abuse-free workplace: Your workplace must be free from physical, sexual, psychological, and financial abuse. Employers cannot threaten, intimidate, control, or mistreat you.
• Access to healthcare when you need it: If you are sick or injured, your employer cannot stop you from seeking medical care. If the situation is urgent, you have the right to call for help. Your privacy matters when speaking with healthcare providers.
• Protection against retaliation: You cannot be punished for reporting unsafe conditions, abuse, wage issues, or for cooperating with government inspections.
• Retention of personal documents: Your employer cannot take or hold your passport, work permit, or other personal identification documents.
• Your employer cannot deport you: Your employer cannot deport you or change your immigration status. Only the government can decide immigration status.
• No recruitment fee repayment: You are not responsible for paying back recruitment fees your employer incurred to hire you.

If This Is Happening Do This Now

Use this quick checklist if you are worried today.

• Your passport or work permit is being held: Ask for it back immediately. Write down what happened, when, and who was involved. If you do not get it back, report it.
• You are not being paid properly: Keep screenshots or notes of hours worked, pay received, pay stubs, and messages. Then report wage issues through the proper channels.
• You are being forced into unsafe work: Tell your supervisor you believe the work is unsafe. You can refuse unsafe work until the hazard is addressed.
• You feel threatened, controlled, or trapped: If you are in immediate danger, call 9-1-1. If you are not in immediate danger, seek confidential help and get advice on next steps.

What Your Employer Cannot Do

Canadian rules prohibit employers from engaging in unfair or harmful practices, including:

• Forcing you to perform unsafe tasks or work outside your employment agreement
• Making you work when you’re sick or injured without allowing you to seek care
• Requiring overtime in a way that violates your agreement or local labour rules
• Punishing you for reporting workplace issues or unsafe conditions
• Taking your personal documents, such as your passport or work permit
• Forcing you to commit fraud or pressuring you to misrepresent information
• Controlling your personal life, including threats about who you meet or where you go
• Withholding your wages, stealing tips, or making illegal deductions

If your employer violates these rules, you have the right to take action and you are protected from retaliation for reporting.

Your Employment Agreement The Key to Fair Treatment

Your employment agreement is one of your strongest protections. It should clearly state:

• your job title and duties
• your wages and pay schedule
• your hours of work and overtime expectations
• your working conditions and any deductions

Both you and your employer should sign it. Keep a copy (paper and digital).

If your employer changes your duties, hours, or pay in ways that don’t match the agreement, document it and report it.

Access to Healthcare Your Right to Care

If you’re injured or become sick due to work, you have the right to seek medical attention without needing your employer’s permission.

Your employer should not interfere with you getting care. In practical terms, employers should support access by:

• allowing time to visit a healthcare provider
• providing access to a phone for emergency services
• sharing information on how to access healthcare locally
• not insisting on being present when you speak to a doctor or nurse

If you feel unsafe asking your employer for help accessing care, you can seek help privately and contact support services.

Workplace Safety Your Right to a Safe Environment

Canada takes workplace safety seriously. Your employer must:

• train you to perform your job safely, including proper equipment use
• provide necessary protective equipment
• investigate hazards and address dangers you report
• comply with provincial or territorial workplace health and safety rules

If you believe a task is unsafe, you have the right to refuse unsafe work until the hazard is addressed through safer conditions, proper training, or appropriate protective measures.

If you’re injured or sick due to work, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, which can provide wage replacement and support for recovery.

Workers’ compensation rules vary by province or territory.

Protection Against Workplace Abuse

Abuse is unacceptable and illegal. Abuse can include:

• physical harm or threats
• sexual harassment or unwanted touching
• psychological intimidation, bullying, or isolation
• financial exploitation, including wage theft
• taking your passport, work permit, or phone
• threats of firing or punishment for reporting concerns

If you’re experiencing abuse, contact Service Canada’s confidential tip line at 1-866-602-9448.

For immediate danger, call 9-1-1 or your local police.

If you are experiencing abuse or are at risk of abuse, you may be eligible to apply for an open work permit for vulnerable workers so you can leave the employer and work elsewhere.

This can be a critical option when your permit is tied to one employer.

What Happens If You Lose Your Job

If you lose your job, you may be eligible for Employment Insurance, depending on your insurable hours and the reason your employment ended.

If your work permit is employer-specific, losing your job can create urgent pressure because your ability to work may be tied to that employer.

You may need new authorization to work for a different employer.

If you are actively job searching, use the Government of Canada’s Job Bank to find employers hiring workers, but remember that starting with a new employer may require a new job offer and possibly an LMIA depending on the situation.

How to Get Help

If your employer violates your rights or you’re facing abuse, seek help quickly.

Start here:

• Service Canada confidential tip line: Call 1-866-602-9448 to report concerns confidentially. This is the fastest starting point for many workplace abuse and employer-compliance issues.
• Online reporting: Use the official Government of Canada reporting form to submit details if calling is not possible.
• Immediate danger: Call 9-1-1 or your local police.
• Open work permit for vulnerable workers: If you are experiencing or at risk of abuse, consider applying so you can leave an unsafe employer.
• Human trafficking support: Call the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-833-900-1010 if you need help or suspect trafficking.

For wage or safety complaints in your province or territory:

• Employment standards office: Handles pay issues, hours, contract violations, and illegal deductions.
• Workplace health and safety authority: Handles unsafe work, hazards, injuries, and safety retaliation.

Tip for speed: search “employment standards” plus your province, and “workplace health and safety” plus your province to find the correct government contact page and current phone number.

As a temporary foreign worker in Canada, you have real protections: fair pay, safe working conditions, the right to keep your documents, and the right to report abuse without retaliation.

If your permit is expiring soon or you are tied to one employer, the most important move is to document issues early and use confidential reporting channels before the situation escalates.

Save this guide, keep your employment agreement handy, and reach out for help if something feels wrong. Your safety and dignity matter.

Your safety and dignity matter—stand up for your rights today!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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