![handle is hein.journals/wesjalals12 and id is 1 raw text is: THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND STRUCTURAL BARRIERS FOR
MIGRANT AGRICULTURAL WORKERS IN ONTARIO
THERESA JAMES *
INTRODUCTION
During the summer of 2020 after the peak of the first wave of the COVID-19
pandemic, some regions in southern Ontario lagged behind others in moving to the next
stage of the provincial government's reopening plan.1 Daily government updates on
pandemic-related restrictions highlighted the reasons why these regions remained
COVID-19 hotspots. Significant outbreaks on farms, particularly among migrant farm
workers, led to hundreds of infections and several deaths.2 This garnered widespread
public attention to migrant agricultural workers' particular vulnerability to the virus.
This paper aims to explore the ways in which COVID-19 has exposed
longstanding shortcomings in labour and immigration law protections for migrant farm
workers in Canada, thereby exacerbating their already precarious economic and
immigration status. It also highlights the ways in which government responses to this
group's increased vulnerability in the form of policy and legislative measures have been
inadequate. While migrant workers across different industries and sectors face many of
Copyright ( 2021 by Theresa James.
* Theresa James completed her Juris Doctor (JD) and Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) at McGill
University's Faculty of Law in 2021. She previously received her Honours Bachelor of Social Sciences
(BSocSc) in Conflict Studies and Human Rights from the University of Ottawa. The author wishes to
thank Professor Adelle Blackett for her support and guidance in preparing an earlier version of this paper,
as well as the editors of the Western Journal ofLegal Studies for their invaluable comments and
feedback.
1 See Government of Ontario, Windsor-Essex Remains in Stage 2 (4 August 2020),
online: <https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/57876/windsor-essex-remains-in-stage-
2> [https://perma.cc/DQ5E-C478]. See also Government of Ontario, Ontario Takes Immediate Action to
Stop COVID-19 Outbreaks in Windsor-Essex (4 June 2020),
online: <https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/57366/ontario-takes-immediate-action-to-stop-covid-19-
outbreaks-in-windsor-essex> [https://penma.cc/8E2W-9YQD]; Government of Ontario, Businesses and
Services to Reopen in Windsor-Essex, with Exceptions: Ontario Holds Back Leamington and Kingsville
due to Higher Rates of COVID-19 (24 June 2020),
online: <https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/57374/businesses-and-services-to-reopen-in-windsor-essex-
with-exceptions> [https://perma.cc/NU2X-ZZVL].
2 See e.g. Jasmine Pazzano, Coronavirus: Canada's migrant farm workers face fatal COVID-19
outbreaks, alleged mistreatment, Global News (28 August 2020), online:
<https ://globalnews.ca/news/73 013 24/coronavirus-canadas-migrant-fanm-workers-alleged-mistreatment/>
[https://perma.cc/6TTS-WW38]; see also Nicole Bogart, Advocates demand Ontario shut down farms
as COVID-19 cases soar among workers, CBC News (29 June 2020), online:
<https://www. ctvnews. ca/health/coronavirus/advocates-demand-ontario-shut-down-farms-as-covid-19-
cases-soar-among-workers-1.5004897?cache=yes%3Fclipld%3D1691853> [https://perma.cc/LW5R-
3XTS].](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/wesjalals12&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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