New Report: Listening to Women Migrant Workers

Listening to Women Migrant Workers: A Needs Assessment on the North Shore of Nova Scotia examines the experiences and priorities of women migrant workers employed in the province’s farms and seafood processing plants through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The needs assessment took a mixed-methods approach. In particular, the findings are based on responses provided by 29 survey respondents, 15 listening circle participants, and four interview participants, as well as a document review.

Findings reveal that women migrant workers across the agriculture and seafood processing sectors in Nova Scotia’s North Shore face poor housing conditions, barriers to health care access, exploitative working conditions and a lack of social supports. The report also finds that women migrant workers face gender-specific vulnerabilities and compounded barriers, including significant emotional strain from family separation due to their caregiving roles as women, and gender inequality in the labour market.

The report includes recommendations for federal and provincial governments, as well as funding agencies for improving protections and support for migrant workers across Nova Scotia.

This program has been supported with a grant from the Canadian Women's Foundation and its partners.