Youssef Bouderbela left Tanzania because he didn’t see a future for himself in his homeland.

For people like Bouderbela, working in countries like Canada can change the trajectory of their lives. “It’s really a good decision for survival.”

At 38, he is a temporary foreign worker. Before coming to Canada, he tried to enter countries illegally for opportunities he said felt impossible to find in Tanzania.

“Canada is very young. They cannot build their country without diversity,” said Bouderbela.

The Temporary Foreign Worker program has become controversial. While it is supported by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, some researchers have argued the program is a failure. In 2024, the UN Humans Rights Council singled out the program in a report about contemporary forms of slavery: “The Special Rapporteur retains the view that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program serves as a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery, as it institutionalizes asymmetries of power that favour employers and prevent workers from exercising their rights.”

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has called for the end of the program, saying it adversely affects domestic workers. Canada has scaled back immigration in general but especially the temporary foreign workers.

When Bouderbela decided to leave his country, he promised his mother he would avoid sailing through the Mediterranean. Instead, he said. he travelled by land through Turkey, Greece and the Balkans, until finally emigrating to Canada.

“In my country, the minimum wage is about $140 (CAD) in a month,” he said. That money doesn’t go far because everyday costs are high, he added. Only able to save enough money to pay for transportation and food, Bouderbela said he felt the only way to get ahead was to relocate.

In doing so, he has noticed a certain stigma attached to being a migrant.

“Some people might not see you as a person who is struggling to acquire a better life,” he said. “They may consider you to be a criminal.”

Reductions in immigration have also hit students who want to come to Canada to study. Kevin Vassey, a Nigerian international student studying engineering at Carleton University, feels lucky that he applied for his visa when he did. However, it would’ve been better five years ago, before inflation hit the Nigerian currency.

“Back then, it was way better, like maybe 500 naira to one dollar. Now it’s like 1,000 naira to $1. It doubled.”

Vassey says studying in a foreign country came with problems but also some long-term gains.

It is quite essential to make friends, he said. “The friends you actually make can open doors for you, especially as someone who’s an international student who doesn’t really have access to most of the things.”

Mahmud Hasan, a Carleton University associate professor of law and legal studies, irregular migration is fuelled by the pursuit of safety and stability.

He points to Europe as the example of how dangerous routes may deprive people of rights.

“A great many died out in the sea,” said Hasan. “Some of them have been able to get inside, and upon doing so, they are arrested by the security agencies in Italy and other European states.”

Without documents, Hasan says migrants are often left in legal limbo. “When people are in this situation, they begin to do this irregular migration,” he said. “They can fall into certain criminal activities by choice of desperation.”

They do not want to go back, Hassan said. “They want to be legalized.” Desperation to do so, according to Hassan, usually leads to risk-taking.

He added that the same problems are present in Canada when people come to the country legally and then lose their status.

“There are hundreds of thousands of people who take these kinds of risks of life,” he said. “They want to get the better living, and that’s why they take the risk of their lives.”