How some migrant farm workers wind up exploited under the Temporary Foreign Worker program

About this episode

The episode discusses the exploitation and abuse of migrant farm workers under Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker program.

Canada’s agriculture industry employs tens of thousands of temporary foreign workers to help pick the produce that winds up on your plate. While many see this as a lifeline, a way to earn money to send to families back home, there are concerns the system is set up to exploit, and in some cases, abuse them. Robert Cribb, founder and director of the Investigative Journalism Bureau, joins host Dave Breakenridge to discuss the conditions under which these migrants work, and how the system designed to help bring them here for employment may actually be setting them up for harm. Further reading: 'This is the new slavery': Migrant farm workers underpaid, abused and injured Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Dave Breakenridge

Guest: Robert Cribb

Topics covered

• migrant farm workers
• Temporary Foreign Worker program
• exploitation
• agriculture industry

Keywords

• temporary foreign workers
• abuse
• employment conditions

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Canada

More episodes of 10/3: Canada Covered

• Canada's World Cup moment: A look at Alphonso Davies' impact · June 9, 2026 · 26 min
• Why one small Alberta town matters to Canada’s energy future · June 5, 2026 · 23 min
• What happens when a supervised consumption site closes? · June 3, 2026 · 18 min
• Expo 86 at 40: How Vancouver changed forever · May 29, 2026 · 23 min
• What’s next for Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives · May 26, 2026 · 27 min
• The Republic of Alberta? Inside the independence movement · May 22, 2026 · 25 min