Im/migrant Farmworker Justice in British Columbia and Ontario

Im/migrant Farmworker Justice in British Columbia and Ontario: Past and Present Struggles and Change for the Future

This hybrid roundtable will bring into conversation im/migrant rights organizers and scholars from Ontario and British Columbia. Looking back at the historical legacy of South Asian immigrant farmworkers in BC and the formation of the Canadian Farmworkers Union, speakers will turn to the present struggles of migrant farmworkers from the Global South recruited through Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Programs. Connecting past struggles and current debates, the conversation will focus on highlighting resistance and organizing strategies undertaken by farmworkers and contemplations on how to move forward in today’s hostile anti-immigrant context.

Friday October 17, 2025

Time: 6 – 9 pm

SFU Vancouver campus

Harbour Centre Room 2270

In-person and online.

Light refreshments, including tea and coffee will be made available

Open to the public

Contact for more info:

Evelyn Encalada Grez / ZWVuY2FsYWQgfCBzZnUgISBjYQ==

Assistant Professor, SFU Labour Studies

The David Lam Centre

SFU Labour Studies

Justice for Migrant Workers, J4MW, BC & Ontario

Migrant Worker Centre, BC

Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights (CDWCR)

Migrant Journeys

Understanding Precarity in BC (UP-BC)

Health and Safety Centre BCFED

SFU Office of Community Engagement

Anushay Malik is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of International Studies and Global Asia at Simon Fraser University. Recently, she has ventured into public history, co-curating two exhibitions that utilize counter-storytelling methods to highlight cross-border narratives of migration and resistance that are often overlooked. She co-wrote Union Zindabad!, a book chronicling the history of South Asian labour action in British Columbia, which included a section on the Canadian Farmworkers Union and their struggles.

Chris Ramsaroop is a founding member and organizer with Justice for Migrant Workers in Ontario and an Assistant Professor at the New College of the University of Toronto. He is also a co-director of the Migrant Farmworkers Clinic in the Faculty of Law at the University of Windsor.

Byron Cruz is an organizer and outreach coordinator for the BC Federation of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Centre’s Migrant Worker Program in Vancouver. He is also an active member of the Sanctuary Health Collective and Migrant Rights Network, a grassroots collective advocating universal access to healthcare, education, and social services for all.

Vasanthi Vanketesh is an Associate Professor in Law, Land, and Local Economies at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law. With Justicia for Migrant Workers in Ontario, she administers the Migrant Farmworkers Clinic at Windsor Law; this is the first legal clinic for migrant farm workers in Canada and is based on law and organising principles.

Evelyn Encalada Grez is an Assistant Professor in Sociology and Labour Studies at Simon Fraser University and co-founder of Justice for Migrant Workers in Ontario and currently reviving its BC chapter.

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