When Mariyah Fitriyanti decided to move to Toronto in 2011, she was convinced it was the first step toward a better life for her and her family.

So, she signed a contract as a live-in caregiver, secured a migrant work permit and left her 12-year old daughter and her husband in Indonesia in pursuit of greener pastures.

Four years later, she says Canada hasn’t lived up to her expectations.

“I was working from six in the morning until six at night everyday,” she said, reflecting on years she spent tied to a work permit that forbid her from looking for another job.

Her contract stipulated she’d be working 40 hours a week and earning $10.56 per hour, but during her first few years as a caregiver she says she was working 60 hours a week and earning only $1,200 a month.

Now on an open work permit, Fitriyanti is part of a coalition of migrant workers advocating on behalf of thousands more living in the same conditions.

The coalition is launching a national movement calling on the new Liberal government to end the restrictions on migrant workers’ permits. As it stands now, temporary foreign workers come to Canada with the ability to work only for the employers listed on their permits.

Syed Hussan, coordinator for Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, said the restrictions have allowed bad bosses to mistreat workers by arbitrarily lowering salaries and neglecting working conditions.

“Some people like in agriculture or as live-in caregivers are working 70 hours a week with no overtime, no vacation and on low wages,” Hussan said.

“The current laws allow for abuse and exploitation. That must stop.”

The coalition is asking Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau to enforce a transition from tied work permits to open work permits. They’d also like to see policies allowing migrant workers to get permanent resident status upon arrival.

That would allow people like Fitriyanti to be reunited with their families.

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“We are raising Canadians’ kids, and we want to be able to raise our own kids too,” she said, adding she’s already applied for her husband and daughter to join her.

“Family is important and it is not easy to be away from them.”