Who we can help

Our organization provides assistance to low-wage (below $27 per hour in Vancouver) Migrant Workers with closed work permits, Migrant Care Workers, and Migrant Workers without status who live in British Columbia.

*If you have an open work permit and are facing severe exploitation and/or sexual harassment at work, we may also be able to help you.

What we can help with

  • Provide information about  rights and obligations under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program
  • PR applications under care giver pilot programs
  • Work place injuries
  • WorkSafeBC claims
  • Missing wages and hours
  • Poor working conditions
  • If you’ve been forced to pay fees to get a job
  • Labour exploitation
  • Sexual harassment at work
  • Getting fired from work
  • Employment Standards Branch complaints
  • Closed Work Permit applications
  • Francophone Mobility Program work permit applications
  • Open Work Permit for Vulnerable Workers
  • Work Permit Under Special Programs
  • Employment Insurance
  • Judicial Reviews of Immigration applications
  • Others

What we can’t help with

Unfortunately, we are unable to assist you if you are one of the following:

  • Refugee or refugee claimant;
  • International student;
  • Co-op permit holder;
  • Canadian Citizen;
  • Permanent resident;
  • Divorce and other family law cases;
  • Open work permit holder, including
    • Post-grad work permit;
    • International Experience Canada work permit;
    • CUAET work permit;
  • Living outside of BC;
  • Your issue happened outside of BC;
  • Applying for PR under Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds;
  • Applying for the BC Provincial Nominee Program;
  • Applying for PR under Express Entry, International Experience Class, or Canadian-Experience Class ;
  • Applying for Family Sponsorship; or
  • Applying for Canadian Citizenship.

Migrant Workers Centre has limited funding; for this reason, we are often forced to prioritize clients who do not have access to other resources. We use Living Wage BC’s hourly rates per city as well as the number of hours worked to determine who is able to pay for private services – workers making more than the living wage at full-time employment are not considered eligible.