Ji Yoon Han

Ji Yoon completed her Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Bioethics from the University of Toronto. She grew up in Oakville, Ontario, but has lived in South Korea, the United States and Germany. She is currently finishing up the first year of her Master of Public Policy at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. She is passionate about building robust global governance institutions and hopes to pursue a career in an international organization advocating for a sustainable, inclusive system for all.

Ji Yoon worked with SCSC to explore the impact of COVID-19 on migrant workers in Canada and create a toolkit on how to host virtual events like a policy hackathon.

Community Engagement Initiative

Ji Yoon led the Fellowship policy hackathon, where Fellows worked in team to create community/policy proposals that address the harmful impacts of COVID-19 on certain populations: older people, people with disabilities and those experiencing domestic violence. 3 roundtables were hosted afterwards gathering Fellowship partners and other experts in these areas to give feedback and explore how SCSC and partners can take the proposals forward. Read the report: The Roundtables. She also compiled a toolkit for any individual or organization to develop their own policy hackathon.

Report

Temporary Foreign Workers and COVID-19

Throughout the pandemic, temporary foreign workers (TFWs) have been susceptible to COVID-19 outbreaks at their place of employment. TFWs have reported diminished access to healthcare and been subject to widespread abuse from employers. This report draws on literature reviews and interviews to investigate the experiences of TFWs during the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies how different actors have responded. While some changes in policy have resulted in more avenues to report abuse, these measures don’t go far enough. It is clear the infrastructure that enables abuse and poor health outcomes won’t change until stakeholders challenge the notion that migrant workers are “temporary”. This report makes recommendations on how to reimagine the migrant worker program to give workers the rights and access to resources they deserve.

Keywords

Temporary foreign worker, COVID-19, healthcare, social equity, isolation, community, immigration, pandemic, open work permit, employment