Policies on and Experiences of Foreign Domestic Workers in Canada

Abstract

This paper reviews studies of government policies on, and the experiences of, foreign domestic workers in Canada. It provides an overview of changes in Canadian policies regulating foreign domestic workers and in their demographic composition in Canada over recent decades. It identifies three analytical themes in studies about their experiences such as: (1) conceptualizing citizenship in policy-making as contested; (2) documenting the inherently exploitative nature of the programme; and (3) examining the intersectionality of class, race, and gender. The review is guided by feminist scholarship on reproductive labour in the household. It identifies unaddressed issues and proposes future directions for studies of foreign domestic workers in Canada.