Youssef Bouderbela left Tanzania because he didn\u2019t see a future for himself in his homeland.<\/p>\n
For people like Bouderbela, working in countries like Canada can change the trajectory of their lives. \u201cIt\u2019s really a good decision for survival.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada is very young. They cannot build their country without diversity,\u201d said Bouderbela.<\/p>\n
The Temporary Foreign Worker program has become controversial. While it is supported by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business<\/a>, some researchers have argued the program is a failure<\/a>. In 2024, the UN Humans Rights Council singled out the program in a report about contemporary forms of slavery<\/a>: \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has called for the end of the program<\/a>, saying it adversely affects domestic workers. Canada has scaled back<\/a> immigration in general but especially the temporary foreign workers.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my country, the minimum wage is about $140 (CAD) in a month,\u201d he said. That money doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n In doing so, he has noticed a certain stigma attached to being a migrant.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people might not see you as a person who is struggling to acquire a better life,\u201d he said. \u201cThey may consider you to be a criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019ve been better five years ago, before inflation hit the Nigerian currency.<\/p>\n \u201cBack then, it was way better, like maybe 500 naira to one dollar. Now it\u2019s like 1,000 naira to $1. It doubled.\u201d<\/p>\n Vassey says studying in a foreign country came with problems but also some long-term gains.<\/p>\n It is quite essential to make friends, he said. \u201cThe friends you actually make can open doors for you, especially as someone who\u2019s an international student who doesn\u2019t really have access to most of the things.\u201d<\/p>\n Mahmud Hasan, a Carleton University associate professor of law and legal studies, irregular migration is fuelled by the pursuit of safety and stability. <\/p>\n He points to Europe as the example of how dangerous routes may deprive people of rights.<\/p>\n \u201cA great many died out in the sea,\u201d said Hasan. \u201cSome 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Without documents, Hasan says migrants are often left in legal limbo. \u201cWhen people are in this situation, they begin to do this irregular migration,\u201d he said. \u201cThey can fall into certain criminal activities by choice of desperation.\u201d<\/p>\n They do not want to go back, Hassan said. \u201cThey want to be legalized.\u201d Desperation to do so, according to Hassan, usually leads to risk-taking.<\/p>\n He added that the same problems are present in Canada when people come to the country legally and then lose their status.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are hundreds of thousands of people who take these kinds of risks of life,\u201d he said. \u201cThey want to get the better living, and that\u2019s why they take the risk of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Youssef Bouderbela left Tanzania because he didn\u2019t see a future for himself in his homeland. 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