Lab Investigators Collaborate with Investigative Journalism Bureau on Forced Labour Research in the Okanagan Valley, Canada
Over the last year, Lab Investigators Profs. Ali Bhagat, Kam Phung, and Genevieve LeBaron have been collaborating with Pulitzer-prize journalist Robert Cribb and his team at the Investigative Journalism Bureau towards an investigation of forced labour and exploitation among agricultural migrant farm workers in the Okanagan Valley, Canada. This work resulted in a policy report in English and Spanish, as well as a four-page spread published in the National Post, the Vancouver Sun, and newspapers across Canada on December 1st, 2025.
The report shines light on the lived experiences of migrant workers who commonly face issues such as physical and verbal abuse, gender-based violence, and wage violations, as well as serious workplace safety issues, including those related to wildfires and pesticide exposure. Canada's temporary foreign worker program is in urgent need of reform as it falls short of upholding human and labour rights, according to the report’s authors.
The research team is grateful to Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences for research funding, the University of British Columbia’s Global Reporting Centre and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for their support of the journalistic collaboration, the British Columbia Migrant Worker Centre, and the workers who bravely shared their stories.
