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The province of Ontario is the primary focus of a growing body of research
discussing migrant agricultural labour in Canada. This thesis shifts the focus of inquiry to
Quebec, a province that has not received the attention it warrants, given that it is “home”
to the second largest temporary migrant population in Canada. Currently, Mexicans
constitute the bulk of labourers contracted through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker
Program (SAWP). With the establishment in 2003 of the Foreign Worker Program
(FWP), however, the number of Guatemalans on the Quebec scene has increased
significantly. The situation of workers from both countries is addressed in the form of a
case study of St. Rémi. The thesis argues that the migrant experience in St. Rémi is
characterized by a struggle to cope with: (1) an “unfree” labour status; (2) social and
geographical isolation; and (3) lack of social assistance and community
acknowledgement. An attempt is made to give migrant workers a voice, since their
contribution for the most part is either unknown or unappreciated. The support system
now in place in St. Rémi affords migrants some minimal rights, but much remains to be
done, in Quebec and across Canada, to make the plight of workers better known and their
situation improved.