Migrant Justice
KAIROS unpacks Budget 2023
April 5, 2023
Budget 2023 was delivered at a time of high inflation and national debt – and a challenge from Canada’s largest trading partner to step up investment in clean energy. It was no surprise then that the budget, announced on March…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice, Indigenous Rights, Migrant Justice
KAIROS Wish List 2023
February 1, 2023
KAIROS 2023 WISH LIST As we emerge from a year of mounting crises, we are encouraged by the growing calls to center the leadership of Indigenous peoples, women, and youth in decisions related to transitioning to a just and sustainable…
Post filed in: Corporate Accountability, Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Migrant Justice
KAIROS urges full regularization of the undocumented from federal government
December 16, 2022
The federal government is discussing the terms of a regularization program for people who are undocumented in Canada. KAIROS Canada has been calling for Status for All for years. On December 15, Aisha Francis, KAIROS’ Executive Director, sent a letter…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
Connecting the dots
September 28, 2022
Remember connect-the-dots pictures? Many are incredibly simple (like this bunny) – the image sometimes could even be discerned without drawing the lines between dots. But some pictures are much more complicated, with the picture emerging from all those unconnected points…
Post filed in: Corporate Accountability, Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Migrant Justice
Ecumenical support for migrant rights and status for all
September 20, 2022
Four denominations involved in the global movement of Churches Witnessing with Migrants (CWWM) wrote to the Canadian government on September 8 in support of permanent residency for migrant workers and the regularization of undocumented migrants. The heads of the Anglican…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
Join the Rally & March: Rights, Regularization, Status for All!
September 6, 2022
The Migrant Workers Alliance is building a massive mobilization on Sunday, September 18 in cities across Canada. Please join this unprecedented opportunity to win permanent resident status for nearly 1.7 million migrants and stop deportations. You are encouraged to organize…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
Post-COVID, migrant worker issues remain
May 17, 2022
by Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
MEDIA RELEASE: KAIROS’ Empowering Temporary Foreign Workers during COVID-19 project will fund migrant justice program partners to September 30, 2022
May 11, 2022
(Ottawa – unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabek (original) People’s) – The Government of Canada has extended the successful KAIROS-run Empowering Temporary Foreign Workers during COVID-19 (ETFW) project until September 30, 2022. The Government of Canada has provided an additional…
Post filed in: Media Releases, Migrant Justice
KAIROS launches new resources for the health and safety of migrant agricultural workers
March 24, 2022
KAIROS Canada’s Empowering Temporary Foreign Worker (ETFW) Project will be hosting a special event to launch new resources for temporary foreign workers. These resources, developed with community partners in the project across Ontario and the Maritimes, represent a diverse range…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
Online ecumenical meetings in solidarity with migrant workers
February 24, 2022
An invitation to all churches and church representatives We invite you to be part of a network of solidarity. Migrant workers – on the farms and elsewhere – are feeling the stress of going into the third growing season of…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice, Regional News
KAIROS wish list 2022
February 1, 2022
As Canada and the world grapples with multiple crises, including pandemic related impacts and extreme weather events fueled by global heating, KAIROS calls on all levels of government in Canada to prioritize a just and equitable recovery. This includes a…
Post filed in: Corporate Accountability, Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Migrant Justice
Migrant food providers thanked through gratitude dinners
December 22, 2021
As the end of the year draws near, organizations in Ontario held dinners to show support and gratitude to the temporary foreign workers who play a vital role during the harvest season. As the migrant workers prepared to head home…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
20 years of kairos moments for migrant justice #KAIROS20
December 21, 2021
I started working for KAIROS in November 1997 when it wasn’t yet called KAIROS. I was employed by the Inter-Church Action for Development, Relief and Justice (ICA), which served as the ecumenical funding arm of the churches and was one of the ten ecumenical organizations that became KAIROS in 2001. I served as…
Post filed in: #KAIROS20 Anniversary, Migrant Justice
Welcoming new partners to the ETFW project
November 2, 2021
With the next phase of the Empowering Temporary Foreign Workers During COVID-19 Project in progress, KAIROS Canada would like to highlight new partners that have joined us for Phase 2! The Windsor-Essex Bilingual Legal Clinic/C.A.R.E for International Workers Program assists temporary foreign…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
A day of thanks for Uxbridge Nurseries farm and its migrant workers
November 2, 2021
It was a beautiful day on October 17 for a drive to the Uxbridge/Brooklin area to partake at a Thanksgiving lunch for migrant workers, hosted by KAIROS’ Community Partner, Migrant Worker Solidarity Program at ACDR (Aids Committee for Durham Region), one of 15 partners of KAIROS’ Empowering Temporary…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
KAIROS Mandate Letters to the Prime Minister of Canada
October 25, 2021
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, We at KAIROS write to you during a kairos moment, when multiple crises have converged and opportunities arise for transformational change. In our work we advocate for such change in elevating the rights and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples, women, temporary foreign workers, and ecological systems. The climate crisis and COVID-19,…
Post filed in: Corporate Accountability, Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Migrant Justice
Giving thanks to migrant workers, meaningfully
October 4, 2021
Migrant workers were very much present in Leamington when I drove through its streets one Sunday in September. It was their day off, and they were busily grocery shopping, banking and socializing. These workers are vital to this agricultural community, located south of Windsor and home to the…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
MEDIA RELEASE: KAIROS’ empowering migrant workers project receives new federal funding
October 1, 2021
Government of Canada injects $1.896M into KAIROS’ Empowering Temporary Foreign Workers during COVID-19 project (Ottawa – unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabek (original) People’s) – The Government of Canada has awarded KAIROS Canada $1,896,308 to continue its successful Empowering Temporary Foreign Workers during COVID-19 project to support…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
Celebrating migrant workers in Leamington, ON
September 23, 2021
On Sunday, September 12, the KAIROS Canada Migrant Justice team traveled to Leamington, Ontario to celebrate Grito de Dolores, or Mexico’s Independence Day. Hosted by the Migrant Worker Community Program, the event was an opportunity for migrant workers from the farms around Leamington to enjoy the summer evening, relax, listen to…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
In loving memory of Francisco Rico-Martinez
August 25, 2021
For everything there is a season,A time for every activity under heaven:A time to be born and a time to die.Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 KAIROS joins the refugee, migrant, and social justice community in Canada in expressing our heartfelt condolences to Loly Rico, her family, and the staff and community of the…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
Migration and Precarity Policy Brief
June 13, 2021
In partnership with Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS), the Health and Immigration Policies and Practices Research Program (HIPP) recently completed a study on the transition of temporary foreign workers to other statuses, including permanent resident, student and undocumented migrant status. The report…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
Invaluable foreign migrant workers need status
June 9, 2021
Permanent residency would mean: full benefits; the freedom to leave abusive employers without fear of deportation and lost income; and a gateway to citizenship. Foreign migrant workers are integral to Canada’s economic and social fabric. This became obvious when the…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
Letter to PM on a Regularization Program for Non-Status Temporary Foreign Workers
May 25, 2021
KAIROS applauds the Government of Canada for recently opening permanent residency applications to 50,000 temporary foreign workers (TFWs) with status in health care and other essential sectors. KAIROS, however, recognizing the urgent need to broaden the scope of this opportunity…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
KAIROS supports temporary foreign workers at Toronto Pearson Airport
May 18, 2021
New offering part of the federally funded Empowering Temporary Foreign Workers during COVID-19 project (Ottawa, ON) – KAIROS is adding airport support services to its Empowering Temporary Foreign Workers (ETFW) during COVID-19 project to welcome, inform and assist arriving migrant workers on COVID-19 quarantine measures, vaccinations, and additional supports. Funded by the Government of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program, KAIROS’ ETFW…
Post filed in: Media Releases, Migrant Justice
KAIROS’ response to federal budget 2021
May 4, 2021
Heralded as a shift from the Washington Consensus, a doctrine of free-market economic policies that prioritizes austerity over social support, Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience outlines $101.4 billion in new spending targeted at those who were hit hard by pandemic – specifically women. While KAIROS applauds the shift to greater social…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Migrant Justice
New resource centre for migrant farm workers opens in Simcoe
May 3, 2021
From an article published in the Hamilton Spectator on April 30, 2021. The Centre for Migrant Worker Solidarity opens in Simcoe. They are a KAIROS partner of the Empowering Temporary Foreign Workers (ETFW) during COVID-19 project. This project is funded…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
Online ecumenical meetings to support migrant workers
April 29, 2021
An invitation to all churches and church representatives More and more migrant farm workers are arriving every day and they need our support this year more than ever. We are all feeling the stress of year 2 of the pandemic…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice, Regional News
KAIROS responds to federal plan to grant permanent residency to temporary foreign workers
April 21, 2021
The federal government’s plan to grant permanent residency to more than 90,000 temporary foreign workers and graduated international students is long-awaited welcome news. This move will help safeguard the safety and security of migrant workers who are invaluable to Canada, especially during the pandemic. Unfortunately, because the plan applies only to individuals with valid work permits, it means thousands of undocumented workers are in…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice