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Understanding Migrant Farmworkers’ Health and Well-Being during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada: Toward a Transnational Conceptualization of Employment Strain

Author

Listed:
  • Leah F. Vosko

    (Department of Politics, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada)

  • Tanya Basok

    (Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON N9B 3P4, Canada)

  • Cynthia Spring

    (Department of Politics, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada)

  • Guillermo Candiz

    (Études de la Pluralité Humaine, Université de l’Ontario Français, 9 Lower Jarvis St., Toronto, ON M5E 0C3, Canada)

  • Glynis George

    (Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON N9B 3P4, Canada)

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada imposed certain international travel bans and work-from-home orders, yet migrant farmworkers, declared essential to national food security, were exempt from such measures. In this context, farm worksites proved to be particularly prone to COVID-19 outbreaks. To apprehend this trend, we engaged an expanded and transnational employment strain framework that identified the employment demands and resources understood from a transnational perspective, as well as the immigration, labour, and public health policies and practices contributing to and/or buffering employment demands during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We applied mixed methods to analyze administrative data, immigration, labour, and public health policy, as well as qualitative interviews with thirty migrant farmworkers employed in Ontario and Quebec. We concluded that the deleterious outcomes of the pandemic for this group were rooted in the deplorable pre-pandemic conditions they endured. Consequently, the band-aid solutions adopted by federal and provincial governments to address these conditions before and during the pandemic were limited in their efficacy because they failed to account for the transnational employment strains among precarious status workers labouring on temporary employer-tied work permits. Such findings underscore the need for transformative policies to better support health equity among migrant farmworkers in Canada.

Suggested Citation

  • Leah F. Vosko & Tanya Basok & Cynthia Spring & Guillermo Candiz & Glynis George, 2022. "Understanding Migrant Farmworkers’ Health and Well-Being during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada: Toward a Transnational Conceptualization of Employment Strain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-19, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:14:p:8574-:d:862349
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. J. Adam Perry, 2018. "Living at Work and Intra-worker Sociality Among Migrant Farm Workers in Canada," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1021-1036, November.
    2. Lidia CARVAJAL GUTIÉRREZ & Thomas G. JOHNSON, 2016. "The impact of remittances from Canada's seasonal workers programme on Mexican farms," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 155(2), pages 297-314, June.
    3. Carlos Colindres & Amy Cohen & C. Susana Caxaj, 2021. "Migrant Agricultural Workers’ Health, Safety and Access to Protections: A Descriptive Survey Identifying Structural Gaps and Vulnerabilities in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-15, April.
    4. C. Susana Caxaj & Amy Cohen, 2019. "“I Will Not Leave My Body Here”: Migrant Farmworkers’ Health and Safety Amidst a Climate of Coercion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-14, July.
    5. Carlos Colindres & Amy Cohen & C. Susana Caxaj, 2021. "Correction: Colindres et al. Migrant Agricultural Workers’ Health, Safety and Access to Protections: A Descriptive Survey Identifying Structural Gaps and Vulnerabilities in the Interior of British Col," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-1, September.
    6. Leah F. Vosko, 2013. "National sovereignty and transnational labour: the case of Mexican seasonal agricultural workers in British Columbia, Canada," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5-6), pages 514-532, November.
    7. Jenna Hennebry & Janet McLaughlin & Kerry Preibisch, 2016. "Out of the Loop: (In)access to Health Care for Migrant Workers in Canada," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 521-538, May.
    8. Emma K. Tsui & Marita LaMonica & Maryam Hyder & Paul Landsbergis & Jennifer Zelnick & Sherry Baron, 2021. "Expanding the Conceptualization of Support in Low-Wage Carework: The Case of Home Care Aides and Client Death," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-16, December.
    9. Leigh Binford, 2009. "From Fields of Power to Fields of Sweat: the dual process of constructing temporary migrant labour in Mexico and Canada," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 503-517.
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    Cited by:

    1. Emily Q. Ahonen & Megan R. Winkler & Anjum Hajat, 2022. "Work, Health, and the Ongoing Pursuit of Health Equity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-4, October.
    2. Stephanie Mayell, 2023. "“It’s like We’re Still in Slavery”: Stress as Distress and Discourse among Jamaican Farm Workers in Ontario, Canada," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-20, December.
    3. Rebeca Villanueva-Gómez & Ornwipa Thamsuwan & Ricardo A. Barros-Castro & Lope H. Barrero, 2023. "Seasonal Migrant Workers Perceived Working Conditions and Speculative Opinions on Possible Uptake of Exoskeleton with Respect to Tasks and Environment: A Case Study in Plant Nursery," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-21, August.

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