Insights and Stories on Migrant Workers

UN rapporteur calls Canada’s TFW system ‘breeding ground for modern slavery’

Sep. 14, 2023 at 1:54 pm CDT

A United Nations special rapporteur on modern slavery has called out Canada’s temporary foreign worker (TFW) programs, including those in the agriculture sector. Tomoya Obokata, who was appointed by the UN’s Human Rights Council, spoke in Ottawa Sept. 6 following a 14-day visit to Canada. He called the programs “a […]

Ontario police charge seven with trafficking, exploiting migrants

Mar. 3, 2023 at 1:21 pm CST

By Anna Mehler Paperny

Audit finds Canada failing migrant farmworkers on COVID-19, housing inspections

Dec. 9, 2021 at 4:45 pm CST

By Anna Mehler Paperny

Ontario investigating 17 temp agencies after virus outbreaks on farms

Jul. 3, 2020 at 1:30 am CDT

By Allison Martell Rod Nickel

Ontario pledges farm recruiter crackdown as COVID-19 outbreaks grow

Jun. 29, 2020 at 7:33 pm CDT

By Reuters

Health minister calls treatment of some farm workers a ‘national disgrace’

Jun. 26, 2020 at 6:47 pm CDT

Ottawa | Reuters — The treatment of migrant workers in Canada by some farmers is disgraceful and the federal government is seeking to fix the problem, the country’s health minister told a parliamentary committee on Friday, as farms battle COVID-19 outbreaks among their employees. Outbreaks of coronavirus infections have killed […]

By Kelsey Johnson

TFW program to be overhauled after COVID-19 outbreaks on farms

Jun. 19, 2020 at 2:43 pm CDT

Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada is overhauling its temporary foreign worker program, a government spokeswoman said on Friday, after coronavirus outbreaks on Ontario farms sickened hundreds and led Mexico to demand assurances of proper safeguards. As part of the review, surprise inspections of working and living conditions on farms will […]

By Rod Nickel

COVID-19 cases, deaths lead Ontario to test migrant farm workers

Jun. 9, 2020 at 8:32 pm CDT

Toronto/Ottawa | Reuters — Ontario has started testing about 8,000 migrant farm workers for COVID-19 in a hard-hit rural region of the province after two young workers died and the coronavirus was found on at least 17 farms, according to the local public health authority. The Ontario outbreak has centred […]

By Allison Martell Kelsey Johnson

Brexit crisis tipped for British asparagus

Mar. 18, 2019 at 5:09 am CDT

Ross-on-Wye, England | Reuters — For almost 100 years, Chris Chinn’s family has farmed asparagus in the rolling hills of the Wye Valley in western England. This year, he fears uncertainty around Britain’s departure from the European Union will keep his eastern European workers away and the asparagus will stay […]

By James Davey Kate Holton