Bienvenidos a Canadá? Globalization and the Migration Industry Surrounding Temporary Agricultural Migration in Canada

Abstract

“Migrant workers” have become an important resource in the global economy, and not solely for employers and governments. Multilateral agreements, trade liberalization, and advancements in communication and transportation have enabled flows of the world’s poor into international labour migration systems, often mediated by a migration industry that profits from providing services to employers and migrants. Based on ethnographic case studies in Mexico, participant observation in Ontario, and interviews with migrant workers and their families, farmers, government representatives and other intermediaries, this paper examines the extent to which a migration industry has formed around the Mexican-Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program.