Conference 2022 Panel Recap - "Migrant Work and Agricultural Food Production”

  Picture by Mark Stebnicki on Pexels.

Chris Ramsaroop, Shane Martinez, Vasanthi Venkatesh, Sarah Khan, Taneeta Doma and Ilija Dimeski discussed the need for reform in the treatment of migrant farm workers.

Chris began by proposing an understanding of the contemporary legal framework of migrant workers as a form of apartheid.  Chris noted that agricultural exceptionalism in employment standards, housing rights and basic freedoms such as travel and labour result in severely diminished rights for temporary migrant workers coming to Canada under government programs such as the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP).  Chris further noted that the modern conditions of migrant workers are rooted in historical food systems that were dependent on colonialism and slavery.

Professor Venkatesh built on Chris’ theory by explaining some of the history behind migrant worker programs and the incentives driving the continuance of these programs.  Professor Venkatesh discussed how the history of immigration in Canada has long been plagued by racist attitudes about what sorts of people would be the best citizens and what jobs would be the most appropriate for them in Canada.  The SAWP program is a way to simultaneously exclude immigrants from the global south from settling in Canada while benefiting from the labour cost advantages of those countries.

Shane covered the tension between the SAWP program and the criminal definition of human trafficking.  Destitute workers become reliant on this program to generate income and once these workers come to Canada, they are further dependent on employers to provide food, shelter and job security.  Shane explained how there is a great deal of intentional exploitation of this reliance. 

This reliance and exploitation could form the basis of criminal human trafficking changes in Canada that would see individuals in the position of migrant workers as victims.  However, the reality is that many migrant workers are criminalized by prejudiced public authorities.

Sarah contributed to the conversation by displaying pictures of the horrible working conditions that many migrant workers are subject to, providing valuable context to their everyday living conditions.  She described how migrant worker living conditions often include overcrowded, unsanitary sleeping quarters with insufficient amenities for meal preparation and poor sanitation facilities.  Interestingly, these poor living arrangements often stand beside state-of-the-art greenhouse production facilities.

Taneeta directed the conversation to the recent addition of open work permits for migrant workers under the SAWP program.  Migrant workers are tied to their employer when they arrive in Canada, but can apply to work at a similar workplace if the worker can show mistreatment by their original employer.  Taneeta criticized the open work permits since they often result in applying workers being branded as ‘troublemakers’ and then face reprimand by fellow workers and their home authorities. These workers are seen as red flags by other employers and are unlikely to be hired back into the program the following year.

The final speaker, Ilija, spoke of how migrant farm workers are often controlled through fear, legal exemptions, and othering.  Ilija noted how fear was especially prevalent amongst migrant workers during the height of the pandemic and how this fear was exploited to control the movement of workers.  Legal exemptions for agricultural workers generally, and migrant workers specifically, in employment regulations such as the Employment Standards Act have contributed to the risk of abuse of migrant workers.  Lastly, language barriers, tensions between ethnic groups on farms and in the greater community, and barriers to access of justice result in migrant farm workers existing on the margins of society without a clear path to the enforcement of their rights.