Study Looks Into Migrant Farm Workers

Researchers at Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan have received funding to continue a study on migrant workers in the valley.

“From urban farms to rural orchards and countless settings in between, a team of UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College researchers led by Susana Caxaj, assistant professor in the school of nursing at UBC’s Okanagan campus and Amy Cohen, professor of anthropology based out of Okanagan College’s Vernon campus, have spent three years and hundreds of hours speaking with migrant workers and their families about the challenges they face,” says a release from Okanagan College.

The project recently got a $147,000 grant from the Vancouver Foundation to take a closer look into the struggles faced by the workers substandard housing and barriers to getting health care.

“Migrant agricultural workers in B.C. face complex challenges that impact their health and wellbeing. Workers may face precarious legal status, coercive workplace conditions, substandard housing, and health care access barriers. These things all ultimately impact their quality of life,” says Caxaj. “Researchers across the country have documented some of these challenges. Yet we need to spend more time actually developing solutions on-the-ground that can address workers’ vulnerabilities and improve their access to justice.”