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Vancouver caregivers hold victory walk on Canada Day

Caregivers in Vancouver mark Canada Day with a victory parade after the government granted permanent resident status to incoming care workers.

Article (news)

Rowena Papasin

TFC News

<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1zJA33FKAXs?&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>The Vancouver Committee For Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights was in a jubilant mood as the country celebrated the 157th Canada Day on July 1.For the caregivers and pioneers who led the fight, this year’s Canada Day is especially memorable.&quot;After 45 years of calling for landed status now upon arrival, after eight years of walking for landed status, we finally got the government&#x27;s recognition that domestic workers and care workers deserve,&quot; said caregiver rights advocate Cenen Bangon.She was referring to Canada&#x27;s move to grant permanent resident status to caregivers upon arrival in the country.<div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/6/8/canada-immigration-chief-discusses-new-residency-policy-for-caregivers-2329">Canada&#x27;s immigration chief discusses permanent resident status grant for incoming caregivers </a></div>Bagon is among the pioneers who have been fighting for this since 1979. They were later joined by Angie Ola-o, who came to Canada as a temporary domestic worker in 1981.Ola-o said she is happy for the caregivers&#x27; victory, and recalled how they were unfairly taxed and forced to pay other labor dues back in the day.&quot;I&#x27;m really very happy that there was progress, although very slow, that domestic workers now have better opportunities than we did before,&quot; she added. &quot;They don&#x27;t have to fight for it because we planted the seeds for domestic workers.&quot;NDP Member of Parliament Jenny Kwan, who is among those who joined the Victory Walk, congratulated the caregivers for their win.Kwan is a decades-long caregiver ally, starting when she was still a community legal advocate.&quot;There were so many rallies that we walked the streets, that we pounded the pavement, raised the voices of the people, and demanded to be heard,&quot; she said. And now, you [have been] heard.&quot;Julie Diesta, another caregiver rights advocate, said the hard-fought victory was built on the sacrifice of many caregivers, whose families paid dearly for the years that they were apart.The Latino advocacy group Sanctuary Help said the victory gave it hope that the &quot;status upon arrival&quot; policy would also be adopted for other temporary foreign workers.&quot;It&#x27;s what we want for also a million and a half people with precarious immigration status,&quot; said Byron Cruz. &quot;This victory establishes the first step towards other populations. We need all the communities to be part of this struggle.&quot;But the fight is not over yet for the modern-day heroes.&quot;We want this to reverberate throughout Canada and to the world,&quot; said Bagon. &quot;[That] all domestic workers and care workers deserve equal rights, access to all social services, and the right to shape the societies they live in.&quot;

Caregivers in Vancouver mark Canada Day with a victory parade after the government granted permanent resident status to incoming care workers.