A migrant worker deemed a champion of labour rights was granted a last-minute reprieve Friday when border officials cancelled her imminent deportation.

Gina Bahiwal, 42, who was recruited to Canada in 2008 as a vegetable packer in Leamington, Ont., was to be removed to the Philippines on Sunday morning under a now rescinded rule introduced in 2011 that banned foreign workers from Canada for four years after they had worked here for four.

Read more: 'Unsung hero' facing deportation under rescinded rule

Although the federal government, under the Liberals, got rid of the so-called four-in-four-out rule, workers like Bahiwal whose work permits expired before December were bound by the old regulation.

An emergency hearing had been scheduled at the Federal Court in Toronto on Friday morning but was cancelled after the Canada Border Services Agency notified the Department of Justice that Bahiwal’s removal order had been cancelled, said her lawyer, Richard Wazana.

Instead, Wazana said, the Immigration Department will issue his client a one-year temporary resident permit that will allow her to stay and work in Canada while her outstanding humanitarian application for permanent residency is in process.

“The minister’s office was swarmed by dozens of letters of support, with the Star’s article and editorial. We’re relieved that reason has prevailed and that the government has decided against deporting a champion of migrant worker rights who fought hard to overturn a law she herself was a victim of,” said Wazana.

Bahiwal, who provides for her 14-year-old son, her mother and a niece back home, said she had already packed for her Sunday departure and was surprised by the news from her lawyer.

“I was screaming when I got the news. I was expecting to return to the Philippines on Sunday. Now I can unpack,” an elated Bahiwal said from her home in Leamington. “I don’t know how to react. It still feels like a dream to me.”

Word of the change of plans quickly spread among the migrant worker community. Many called and texted Bahiwal to congratulate her for scoring another victory for them, and others immediately planned a party for her in Leamington on Friday night.

“This is a victory for all migrant workers. However, the fight is not over. Workers are still being deported under the old rules,” said Bahiwal, whose first priority now is to find a job as soon as she regains her legal status here.

“They continue to face injustices in the system. We need to continue to organize and fight for justice.”

Bahiwal, who has a university degree and was a social worker in the Philippines, had worked in Ontario and British Columbia in vegetable packing, hotel housekeeping and at a McDonald’s until her work permit expired in 2015.

However, she had not been able to get permanent residency in Canada as what’s considered as a low-skill worker.

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“This is an important victory for migrant workers but we are conscious of the fact that there are still many others who are suffering and continue to be treated as second-class citizens,” said Chris Ramsaroop of the advocacy group Justicia for Migrant Workers.

“As we move forward, we must recognize the mistakes in the past, remove all systemic inequality and barriers, and ensure a different future for migrant workers.”