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I would like to begin by thanking the Family of Mr. Hodgson for the Allan A. Hodgson Arts Internship Award which allowed me to complete my summer internship at the Immigrant Workers Center (IWC). My name is Mariana Monsalve Orozco, and I am a U1 Political Science major and a minor in Sociology. Since coming to Montreal to start my undergraduate studies and connecting with other immigrant students, work colleagues and friends, I have developed a deep passion for migrant justice and the ways we can use academic knowledge to build tools that support the needs of the communities around us. This is why I was particularly excited to be interning at the Legal Information Clinic of the IWC in Montreal, an enriching educational and professional experience that was only made possible by the generous support of the Family of Mr. Hodgson.

The IWC is a community organization that defends the rights of immigrant workers and promotes justice, dignity, and respect in the workplace through popular education, advocacy, and grassroots mobilization. Working at the IWC was a great opportunity to meaningfully engage with the migrant community in Montreal and develop my understanding of the impact of immigration policy changes on the lives of migrant workers. Other internship learning goals also included conducting 1:1 assessment with migrant workers and getting familiar with legislation regulating labor norms and migrant work in Quebec.

As an intern at the IWC, my primary responsibilities consisted of doing casework and conducting intake interviews in both English and Spanish with migrant workers, where I would identify their needs and the resources available for their specific cases. Additionally, I had the opportunity to support the delivery of monthly workshops on labour standards, health and safety in the workplace and how to change work permits. This was the first time I facilitated a workshop on workplace issues, but I received immense support from the IWC team, who helped me understand the material and answer all my questions. Another highlight of my internship was helping to organize a rally for the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons and in partnership with Conseil Migrant, another grassroots migrant rights organization. The event sought to inform the public about Bill C-2 —a new proposed legislation that significantly erodes protections and due process for refugee applications— and call for its withdrawal. I had the opportunity to translate posters and other materials into Spanish for the rally.

Part of supporting workers on navigating both workplace and immigration issues also required me to get familiar with the mandate of organizations like La Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). I got the opportunity to learn how to guide workers on submitting work permit applications or workplace complaints to the CNESST and also assisted Hispanic workers with contacting these organizations or translating important documentation for their cases. Getting introduced to areas of Immigration and Labour Law at both the federal and provincial levels posed a significant challenge in the first weeks of my internship, as both bodies of law are constantly changing and are applied differently to workers depending on their immigration status. However, the IWC’s team created a safe environment for me to ask questions and get support from more senior staff, mentorship that allowed me to create deeper connections with my colleagues and facilitated the learning of new and complex material.

My academic background as a Political Science and Sociology student also helped me in conducting research on legal questions arising in each of my cases and gave me the analytic tools to contextualize the work of the IWC in relation to the wider current social and political climate around immigration in Canada. I have reflected on the importance of free legal information services as a tool for democratizing knowledge beyond formal academic settings and the role of students in supporting efforts to make legal information accessible to vulnerable communities. This internship has solidified my commitment to migrants' rights advocacy, inevitably influencing the way I engage with my university studies –particularly my interest in being part of research on migrant workers' issues—and future professional work. I hope to keep working with migrant communities and making connections between my formal academic training, the work of grassroots organizations, and the needs of communities on the ground.

This transformative experience could not have been possible without the financial support of the Allan A. Hodgson Arts Internship Award. The funding from the Family of Mr. Hodgson allowed me to immerse myself fully in my work at the IWC and helped cover essential expenses during the internship. Thank you for your invaluable support!