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Migrant agricultural workers employed through Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program face serious occupational health and safety hazards, with compounded difficulties in accessing workers’ compensation (WC) if they are sick or injured by the job. Little is known, however, about their ability to return to work (RTW) upon recovery—a fundamental right included in the conception of WC, but complicated by their restrictive work permits and precarious immigration status. Based on interviews with injured migrant workers in two Canadian provinces (Quebec and Ontario), our research suggests that workers’ RTW process is anything but straightforward. This article highlights three key issues—pressure to return to work prematurely, communication and bureaucratic challenges with WC agencies, and impacts of injury/illness and failure to return to work on workers’ long-term well-being. Consequences and opportunities for reform are discussed.

In 1909, an atypical church emerged in Toronto’s industrial core, the “People’s Institute,” which closed its doors less than two years later. Helmed by missionary C. S. Eby, the People’s Institute was an experiment designed to encourage political involvement and spread a Christian anti-capitalist ethic. This article situates the People’s Institute in the changing landscape of 1909 Toronto and within the larger trends of the labour church and the social gospel. It also argues that Eby’s experiment serves as an example of broader obstacles that prevented the long-term flourishing of left-wing approaches to Christianity in Canada.

Examines the anti-labour legislation of the the Doug Ford-led Conservative government in Ontario that saw the rollback of workers' rights. Discusses court challenges to the government's Bill 124, which restricted public sector pay increases to 1 percent. Documents the exponential growth of wealth accumulation by the very rich while most Ontarians' wages have stagnated or fallen. Concludes that organized workers and unions must become more militant to combat these trends. The Ontario Council of School Board Unions is cited as an example.

Discusses the new, high quality reproductions of Henry Orenstein's mural , "Mine Mill Local 598," published in the current issue in conjunction with Elizabeth Quinlan's "Note and Correction" regarding the painting. The painting was originally reproduced on the cover of Labour/Le Travail, no. 93 (2024) as part of Quinlan's article, "Making Space for Creativity: Cultural Intiatives of Sudbury's Mine-Mill Local 598 in the Postwar Era."

The article reviews the book, "Just the Usual Work: The Social Worlds of Ida Martin, Working-Class Diarist," by Michael Boudreau and Bonnie Huskins.

...In this paper, we aim to contribute to the scholarly literatures and related policy debates on LGBTQ+ work and life that [the Toronto-based advocacy organization] Egale highlights, and to bring these debates into economic geography and queer and trans geographies, fields which have heretofore only minimally examined sexual orientation and gender identity and/in the workplace.

Rethinking Feminist History and Theory considers the past, present, and future of feminist history and theory, emphasizing how feminism has influenced the histories of gender, class, and labour, and their intersections. This vibrant collection, inspired by the work of historian and women’s studies scholar Joan Sangster, features essays from academics across multiple disciplines, highlighting the dynamism of feminist historical scholarship in Canada. The book explores questions such as: How has women’s resistance and radicalism been expressed, lived, represented, and repressed over the past century? How do we research these phenomena? How do we situate feminism in relation to other movements for egalitarian social change? Contributors explicitly address these recurring themes, aiming to chart new directions for future research and teaching. While primarily Canadian-focused, the collection includes global perspectives, with contributions from scholars in Chile, Finland, Sweden, and the UK. These essays emphasize the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration, incorporating insights from labour studies, political economy, anthropology, legal studies, and feminist theory. Ultimately, Rethinking Feminist History and Theory engages deeply with Sangster’s rich and wide-ranging work to understand and interpret women’s experiences. It seeks to inspire future scholarship and teaching in feminist history and theory, showcasing the ongoing relevance and adaptability of feminist perspectives. -- Publisher's description

Indigenous resistance to colonization can intersect uncomfortably and often violently with a fight by workers to access Indigenous lands for extraction and jobs. Jobs have always been a literal frontier of settler colonial conflict because, simply put, colonization takes work. When immigrants began to settle through recruitment programmes en masse in Canada, they benefitted from a scale of colonial land seizure unknown anywhere else in the world at that time. The means by which to settle was the work—both required and provided—by corporations like the railroads, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and colonization enterprises. By the late 19th century, the market for wage labour on farms and in the central manufacturing regions was underway as industrialization took hold; the emergence of capitalism was born through its deep reliance on colonial land policy. For this reason, the political economy of colonialism can be studied through a long history of intersecting class formation and colonial land policy in Canada. We might call this dynamic the wages of settlement.

With the assistance of a Committee of experts, McMaster University partnered with the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) to develop the Caregiver Inclusive and Accommodating Organizations Standard (B701-17). The Standard provides workplace guidelines to better accommodate carer-workers through building carer-friendly workplace programs. A qualitative ex ante evaluation was undertaken to determine stakeholders’ (n=17) views regarding the significance and potential uptake of the Standard. This involved seeking feedback from stakeholders in various types of organizations across Canada, after they had read the draft Standard. Following transcription, interviews were thematically analyzed, resulting in four themes: (1) necessity; (2) impact of employer size; (3) motivators for implementation, and (4) use as an educational tool. Although initially in its early stages, the Standard now provides a key tool to improve accommodations for carer-workers.

The following thesis examines the complex reality of temporary migration within Canada's agricultural sector by investigating the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP). The relevance of this inquiry hosts far-reaching implications for not only the wellbeing of migrant workers, but for the Canadian food-system, as well as migrant sending states. Furthermore, this research contributes additional knowledge and insights regarding the evolving interconnections between the climate and migration crisis that host critical impacts for Canada and the world moreover. In analyzing the impact of the SAWP on migrant workers' lives through two case studies, the project explores the interplay between climate change, globalization, neoliberalism, and liberalization in shaping the precarity faced by migrant workers in Canada. Despite the commonly advertised benefits of the SAWP, the study finds that structural barriers and power imbalances limit the realization of these benefits for migrant workers. The study ultimately explores the divided calls for reform across the sector, revealing the influence of widespread industry malpractice, and the presence of entrenched power hierarchies that have served to dominate the scope and direction of change. The research finds that the SAWP's structure and the broader context of inequalities related to globalization and neoliberalism hinder migrant workers' ability to leverage their assets and improve their livelihoods in Canada.

Discusses Orenstein's painting, "Mine Mill Local 598," that was reproduced on the cover of Labour/Le Travail, no. 93 (Spring 2024). Included are new, colour reproductions of the panels of the 39-foot-long mural, which Orenstein painted during a 1956 residency in Sudbury. The painting was thought to be no longer extant because of a 2008 fire, but in fact it is still held in the Sudbury union's collection.

All miners and smelter workers know the folly of going on strike when their employer holds a stockpile. In 1958 the International Nickel Company had enough nickel on hand to guarantee sales for at least six months. Despite this, fourteen thousand miners and smeltermen in Sudbury, Ontario, downed their tools and struck against the corporate titan of the mining industry. Standing Up to Big Nickel is a comprehensive portrait of a pivotal strike by the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers, a union that has inspired exceptional levels of solidarity among its members. The Cold War and the resulting instabilities in the Canadian labour movement form the backdrop to Elizabeth Quinlan’s engrossing analysis. The union straddled the line, she shows, between its historical commitment to working-class struggle and the newly restrictive legal landscape of the postwar era. Retrospective accounts by surviving union members, leaders, family, and community members bring to life the history of a distinctive group of workers who sweated over smelter furnaces and toiled underground in perilous conditions. Quinlan traces the events before, during, and after one of Canada’s greatest strikes in both magnitude and duration. Featuring biographical sketches and scenes based on archival and documentary data, Standing Up to Big Nickel captures an intensely dramatic juncture in Canadian labour history. --Publisher's description

Now in its fourth edition, Dennis Raphael’s Social Determinants of Health offers the definitive Canadian discussion of the primary factors that influence the health of Canada’s population.This unique text on the social determinants of health contains contributions from top academics and high-profile experts from across Canada. Taking a public policy approach, the contributors to this edited collection critically analyze the structural inequalities embedded in our society and the socio-economic factors that affect health―including income, education, employment, housing, food security, gender, and race. This new edition includes recent statistics, new developments in early childhood education and the implementation of Canada’s national childcare system, and new content on the social determinants of Indigenous Peoples’ health. Particular attention is paid to how economic globalization and the acceptance of neoliberal governing ideology is shaping the health of Canadians. The COVID-19 epidemic vividly illustrated the importance of the social determinants of health, as sickness and death rates were strikingly higher among Canadians in groups already experiencing adverse living and working conditions and poorer health: lower income Canadians, recent immigrants of colour, and those experiencing housing and food insecurity. If anything positive is to come out of this experience, it will be recognition that in the current post-COVID-19 environment, it is essential to understand the socio-economic conditions that shape the health of individuals and communities. Social Determinants of Health, Fourth Edition is aimed at courses focusing on the social determinants of health at Canadian universities and colleges, particularly those in health studies and nursing, but also allied health, sociology, and human services. --Publisher's description

The following thesis paper examines the continued presence of antisemitism in the ruling Alberta Social Credit Party (SCP) between 1943 and 1968, and Canadian Jewish organizational efforts to obtain anti-discrimination legislation. The Alberta Social Credit grassroots movement involved radical monetary policies, religious fundamentalism, conspiracy theories and antisemitic rhetoric. How did such an unorthodox party retain provincial control for thirty-six years despite the organization's persistent antisemitism? The question is significant to the ongoing narrative of Alberta politics amid a sharp rise in antisemitism within Canada today. The principal methodology includes qualitative research of primary sources from the SCP and Canadian Jewish archives and academic literature. Within this study period, the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) transitioned from an organization with little infrastructure to a leading institution with strong ties to other Canadian Jewish bodies, and labour and civil groups, struggling to enshrine protections for Canadian Jews. The results demonstrate that in the 1950s and early 1960s, as many Canadian provincial governments enacted equal rights legislation, Premier Ernest Manning's Social Credit government resisted such laws in Alberta. As a result, Jewish leaders escalated initiatives in Alberta. Throughout his leadership, Manning routinely denied accusations of antisemitism leveled against his party. Eventually, Manning and the Alberta SCP government were forced to establish human rights legislation in 1966, although the provisions were limited in scope. Manning curtailed Social Credit antisemitism when it became a political liability, but he did not comprehensively eliminate it. Through collaborative efforts, the CJC and other Canadian Jewish groups finally achieved legalized protections for the Jewish community in Alberta.

This chapter delves into the retention of long-tenured care workers in Canada. While turnover is a critical challenge for organisations dependent on care workers, profoundly affecting both recipients of care and their families, this chapter shifts focus to the factors that encourage retention. Through in-depth interviews with 15 long-term personal support workers in Ontario, Canada, the chapter uncovers a diverse array of motivations that sustain these workers in their roles. Additionally, it reveals the complex pressures and barriers that may compel care workers to remain in their positions even when they might otherwise consider leaving. This exploration provides valuable insights into the dynamics of retention in the care sector, shedding light on both the incentives and constraints that shape workers’ decisions to stay.

Fifty years of gold mining at Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories spurred northern settlement and produced millions of dollars in profits. But mineral processing also had catastrophic environmental effects and left a troubled legacy. When two mining companies in Yellowknife began processing gold ore in the 1940s, they did so with little or no pollution controls. Giant Mine spewed thousands of kilograms of arsenic trioxide from its roaster stack into the environment, causing illness and death among people and animals, especially in the adjacent Yellowknives Dene community. Even after the companies installed controls, arsenic trioxide continued to enter the atmosphere and waterways. Eventually Giant Mine, the biggest polluter, would deposit the arsenic dust beneath the mine, leaving 237,000 tonnes of highly toxic material buried underground. For decades, the mining companies and the federal government hid the worst effects of the pollution, doubted their own studies, and resisted calls for action. Yet the Yellowknives Dene fought back with the support of labour unions and environmental groups, questioning the safety of the air and water in their community and the massive toxic deposit underground. The Price of Gold traces the troubling history of one of Canada’s most contaminated sites but also the inspiring story of Indigenous, labour, and environmental activists who resisted the ongoing poisoning of their communities. -- Publisher's description

The article reviews the book, "Fight Like Hell: The Untold Story of American Labor," by Kim Kelly.

This article explores the impact of union endorsements on the voting intentions of union members in Canada. Through a survey of union members, the study reveals that while union endorsements generally do not significantly influence voting behaviour, satisfaction with one’s union enhances the likelihood of supporting union-endorsed candidates in federal, provincial, and local elections. This correlation underscores that having strongly supported unions in the workplace helps to build strong unions in the political arena with improved capacity to deliver union members’ votes. The findings also provide a basis for further research on the potential electoral significance of union endorsements.

Return to work (RTW) after injury requires strong stakeholder coordination. Seafaring work is associated with high injury rates, but seafarers’ RTW is understudied. As federally regulated workers, Canadian seafarers are protected by the Canadian Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on disability. Following a work-related injury or illness, seafarers are eligible for provincial workers’ compensation benefits and RTW; however, RTW is also subject to federal regulations, including the requirement to have a valid marine medical certificate (MMC). This complex regulatory landscape may negatively influence seafarer RTW. Drawing upon a sociolegal study, we find that MMC-related human rights complaints against the federal government highlight the legal challenges seafarers face in the RTW process. Interview findings suggest that to ensure a valid MMC and employment eligibility, injured seafarers might avoid filing compensation claims or RTW before recovery. We recommend the federal-provincial agencies adopt more efficient coordination policies to support seafarers’ RTW.

The Canadian West: an economic engine with a history of grievance against federal power emanating from the east. The New Politics of Western Canada grapples with the West’s complex, multifaceted past to promote a better understanding of this vast region’s political realities and the challenges that lie ahead. Contributors re-examine the historical and contemporary meanings attached to “the West” as a form of identity, through themes such as colonialism, gender, and class. They develop a nuanced analysis of Western political ideology, from resentment-based populism to the regional left. And they explore pressing Western economic and policy concerns, such as labour, health care, and Indigenous democratic participation and protest. Together, these themes provide intelligent new ways of interpreting underexplored aspects of Western Canadian politics, adding depth to earlier attempts to explain the region as a political, economic, or sociological space. -- Publisher's description