Canada’s Temporary Labor Migration Policy: The Case of Mexican Seasonal Agricultural Workers

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.19.2022.81.14

Keywords:

Canada, Mexico, seasonal workers, temporary immigrants, labor immigrants, immigration policy, temporary worker programs

Abstract

The article analyzes Canadian temporary foreign worker migration policies through the prism of Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), one of the largest and oldest seasonal worker programs in Canada’s postwar immigration policies, whose main participants are seasonal farmworker migrants from Mexico. The article outlines the premises of Canadian labor migration policies and presents a brief history of Mexican migrations to Canada. Most importantly, however, it focuses on the functioning of SAWP, presenting the program’s positive impact as well as its shortages and failures through the lens of experiences of its Mexican participants. The summary of this text proposes certain reforms and changes to SAWP that might help eliminate some of the program’s deficiencies.

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Author Biography

Tomasz Soroka, Jagiellonian University in Kraków

(born in 1979) is a political scientist and assistant professor at the Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora, Jagiellonian University. He earned his doctoral degree in humanities (political science) in March 2010; he also holds an M.A. degree in cultural studies / American studies. His publications cover a variety of topics related to political, legal, and cultural evolution of Canada. Currently, his research focuses on Canada’s language, immigration, and foreign policies.

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Published

2022-12-28

How to Cite

Soroka, Tomasz. 2022. “Canada’s Temporary Labor Migration Policy: The Case of Mexican Seasonal Agricultural Workers”. Politeja 19 (6(81):279-303. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.19.2022.81.14.