Migrant farm workers are essential to Canada’s agricultural industry. In 2020, 50,126 foreign workers were hired to work in Canada’s agricultural sector. They are hired primarily through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) and the Agricultural Stream of the Pilot Project for Occupations Requiring Lower Levels of Formal Training. The Windsor-Essex region hosts one of the largest communities of migrant farm workers in Canada, with 8,000-10,000 hired to work across the region. Migrant workers face numerous barriers in healthcare access, including language and cultural barriers, poor health literacy, insufficient time to seek care, and reliance on overstressed rural healthcare facilities. Migrant workers may choose not to seek care out of fear that their health status could result in termination and/or repatriation back to their home country. Migrant workers in Canada have been previously repatriated for becoming ill, injured, or pregnant.  After repatriation, workers may not be able to continue treatment in their home country and can be ineligible for health insurance plans due to earning income in Canada. 

The aim of this project is to understand the impact of treating a critically ill migrant worker on healthcare workers in Windsor-Essex County. We have created an in-depth survey to gain insight into the unique challenges, experiences and feelings of healthcare workers who have treated a critically ill migrant worker.