Who, How and How Much?
This report presents the results of a six-month field study that sought to document recruitment practices in Guatemala of Guatemalan agricultural workers recruited to Quebec. This research stems from a collaboration between researchers from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and several partner organizations (Justice in Motion, Agricultural Workers Alliance, UFCW-Quebec and UQAM's Service aux collectivités). Researchers interviewed individual workers, held focus groups and conducted an anonymous survey. They found that the recruitment process can be a rough ride for TFWs hired in Quebec through the agricultural stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The report reviews various international conventions and treaties that reflect concerns regarding the need for social protection of TFWs, arguing that their ratification could generate more awareness of the particular rights at stake, and makes various policy and practice recommendations for monitoring and enforcement that would hold recruiting intermediaries and employers more accountable.