International

Unifor locals in Ottawa, including Local 6004 and Local 1688 have long supported the work of the Somali Hope Foundation, an international NGO behind the Somali Hope Academy in Bur Salah, Somalia.

On Saturday May 2, members and elected leadership including Unifor National President Lana Payne and Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi attended the Foundation’s annual gala in Ottawa, On. The gala, the final event of its kind for the Foundation, marked 16 years of community engagement and fundraising in the national capital region.

Unifor marked the UN World Day for Social Justice on February 20, 2026, with a webinar focused on migration, highlighting the growing criminalization of migrant workers and asylum seekers and the role of unions and NGOs in defending human rights across borders.

On International Migrants Day, Unifor recognizes and celebrates the invaluable contributions of migrants across Canada and around the world. 

This year’s theme, “One City, Many Journeys – Honouring Migrants and Shaping a Shared Future”, is a reminder that migrant workers are integral to our workplaces, our communities, and our collective future.

On this International Day for the Eradication of Poverty — themed “Ending social and institutional maltreatment by ensuring respect and effective support for families” — we reaffirm our commitment to building a society rooted in dignity, fairness, and compassion.

Poverty is never just about income. It’s about systems that neglect, isolate, and punish those who need support the most. 

Labour leaders and workers’ rights advocates gathered at Unifor’s national office in Toronto on October 6 for The Mexico Workers’ Rights Action Project: Building and strengthening union independence, democracy and worker power in Mexico. The event was the culmination of a four-year project that was funded by the Canadian government, supported by Unifor, in close collaboration with CILAS – the Labor Research and Union Advisory Center, based in Mexico City. The conference brought together Canadian, Mexican and U.S.

Re-posted from resources at the United Nations. Photo by by Ansgar Walk.

Representatives from auto worker unions in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America joined together at the first ever Tri-national Auto Workers Summit, held in Mexico City November 18-19, 2024. 

Unifor members across the country have closely followed the 2024 United States election. Canada and the United States are economically interdependent. As a result, any change in U.S. policy and the U.S. economy is consequential to Canadian jobs, communities, economic sectors and trade. 

Health care workers, trade union leaders and activists from 52 unions and 37 countries gathered to set a strategic course for the global health care sector at the UNI Care World Conference in Budapest, from September 17 to 19, 2024.

On this International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Unifor reaffirms its commitment to fighting poverty both here in Canada and around the world. 

Despite the significant economic advances of the past few decades, the harsh reality is that millions of people still face daily struggles to meet their most basic needs. Whether it’s housing, food, or health care, poverty remains a barrier to an adequate quality of life.