Investigating the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program

*This interview was conducted for Radyo Migrante and originally aired on CHRY 105.5fm on 20 July 2011.

Music: Magtanim Ay Di Biro, by the UP MedChoir

"The face of working people in Canada is rapidly changing. Even though migrant workers have been a reality in Canada for years, in the past few years, we have seen a drastic increase in the use of Temporary Foreign Workers in this country.

Under the Conservative government, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program has expanded exponentially with over 250,000 Temporary Foreign Workers entering the Canadian workforce each year as agriculture workers, food processing workers, service and hospitality workers, live-in caregivers, and construction workers." [quote from the UFCW]

Filipinos have been the #1 source of TFWs in Canada since 2007.

Althea Balmes interviewed the nine participants of the UFCW Youth Internship program. These interns studied the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program by going out and speaking to the workers, employers, and everyday people in the agricultural towns in Southern Ontario.

One of the interns was our own Zenee May Maceda.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Canada
• TFWP
• Temporary Workers
• SAWP
• Agriculture
• Migration
• Migrante
• Farmwork