Canadian Workers Research Articles

NoBodies

<p>The production of fruit, vegetables, and other horticultural crops in Canada relies upon the embodied labour of migrant agricultural workers who plant, prune, and harvest these crops. Using a feminist geopolitical lens, I foreground the bodies of these workers as these bodies are situated at the intersection of everyday lived experiences and systems of capitalist production through, in this case, Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP). Drawing on workers’ experiences of their bodies in the context of the regulatory provisions of the SAWP, I highlight the contradictory disembodiment of agricultural workers at the same time that their bodies are necessary to provide the physical labour at the heart of fruit and vegetable production. The disembodiment of these workers is possible because of their status as racialized non-citizens: while Canadians can insist upon the recognition of their bodies, migrant agricultural workers cannot. The disjuncture between embodied labour and embodied subjectivities was exacerbated with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionately affected on migrant agricultural workers – through their bodies – while in Canada. Given the relative safety afforded to those who held citizenship (and other permanent) status in Canada, I argue that the active disembodiment of migrant agricultural workers in Canada demonstrates the ways that embodiment is a privilege that is tightly bound to citizenship.</p>

“Carefully Curated/For Heart and Soul”: Sensing Place Identity in Sex Workplaces

In the face of ongoing interpersonal and structural violence towards sex workers in Canada, this research inquiry explores nine women and gender-diverse sex workers’ experiences of place identity within their workplaces. Employing multisensory and arts-based ethnographic fieldwork, the co-researchers storied their embodied place-based experiences of identity. The research findings illuminate place-identity processes within sex workplaces, suggesting that the context, materiality, and multisensory atmospheres of the co-researchers’ work environments were entwined with internal and external self-concepts. The co-researchers created personalized multisensory atmospheres in their workplaces through the use of colour, visual art, and music. Having workplaces that positively supported place identity fostered workplace comfort, control, and empowerment. Ultimately, this research suggests that place-identity processes in sex workplaces have the possibility to resist and shift sex work stigma.

Critical Illness in Migrant Workers in the Windsor-Essex Region: A Descriptive Analysis.

Despite their essential role in Canadian agriculture, migrant workers face numerous healthcare barriers. There is a knowledge gap regarding the healthcare experiences of migrant workers with critical illness in the Windsor-Essex region. Our objective was to collect information on the experiences of migrant workers experiencing a critical illness at Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) between 31 December 2011 and 31 December 2021. We conducted a retrospective chart review and interviews with migrant workers. We identified 14 migrant workers who presented to WRH with a critical illness over these 10 years. Despite occasional barriers regarding access to care, the migrant workers received an appropriate standard of care in Canada. Five of the fourteen patients identified were repatriated to their home countries. The migrant worker patients interviewed expressed satisfaction with the care they received in Canada but identified repatriation as a specific concern to receiving continuity of care. The health and financial burden imposed by critical illness on migrant workers and their employers makes critically ill workers vulnerable to medical repatriation as a unique social determinant of health. Considering the critical role of migrant workers in Canada's food security, policy changes should be considered to ensure critically ill workers are able to remain until recovery.

A scoping review of refugees' employment integration experience and outcomes in Canada.

Refugees involuntarily arrive to Canada to escape unfavourable conditions in their home country. Employment is an important marker of integration and a foundational determinant of health yet; little is known about the employment integration experiences of refugees as a distinct group of workers in Canada. This scoping review was completed to explore the employment experience and outcomes of refugees in Canada and to identify gaps in the literature. Three databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles published in English over a 25-year period, 1993 to 2018, for research on refugees and employment in the Canadian context. The research team reviewed all articles, including abstract screening, full text review and data extraction; consensus on inclusion was reached for all articles. Relevant articles were synthesized for overarching themes. The search strategy identified 2,723 unique articles of which 16 were included in the final sample. There was a mix of quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods studies which reported on employment rates of refugees, the quality of jobs secured, gendered differences in employment experience and differential impacts of under/unemployment on health and well-being. The findings suggest that refugees in Canada do not secure jobs that are in line with their previous skills and experience leading to downward occupational mobility and poorer health with refugee women experiencing these outcomes more acutely. Research in this area with long-term outcomes and contextualized experiences is needed, as well as studies that include equity considerations such as racialization and gender.

Heavy episodic drinking and self-reported increased alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic: a spotlight on frontline and essential workers in Canada.

There is evidence that some frontline and essential workers have increased their alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, this has not been examined in Canada. Using the Survey on COVID-19 and Mental Health 2020, weighted prevalence and 95% confidence intervals of self-reported increased alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking were calculated for each of the population groups: frontline workers, essential workers, and nonfrontline or essential workers (NFEW). Logistic regression was used to examine the associations between social determinants of health, mental health and alcohol use for each group. The prevalence of increased alcohol consumption and past-month heavy episodic drinking did not differ across frontline workers, essential workers and NFEW. For the three groups, nonracialized group members had significantly higher odds for both outcomes. Screening positive for either generalized anxiety disorder or mood disorder was significantly associated with increased alcohol consumption across the three groups. For frontline and essential workers, females had significantly lower odds of heavy episodic drinking compared to males. For essential workers only, living in a rural area was significantly associated with lower odds of increased alcohol use, and screening positive for posttraumatic stress disorder was significantly associated with increased odds of heavy episodic drinking. For frontline workers only, living in a rural area was significantly associated with lower odds of heavy episodic drinking. While frontline and essential workers were not more likely to report increased alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking compared to NFEW, there were some differences in factors associated with alcohol use. Such findings demonstrate the benefit of examining each group separately to provide information for targeted prevention strategies.

Workplace and non-workplace cannabis use and the risk of workplace injury: Findings from a longitudinal study of Canadian workers

ObjectivesFindings of previous studies examining the relationship between cannabis use and workplace injury have been conflicting, likely due to methodological shortcomings, including cross-sectional designs and exposure measures that lack consideration for timing of use. The objective was to estimate the association between workplace cannabis use (before and/or at work) and non-workplace use and the risk of workplace injury.MethodsCanadian workers participating in a yearly longitudinal study (from 2018 to 2020) with at least two adjacent years of survey data comprised the analytic sample (n = 2745). The exposure was past-year workplace cannabis use (no past-year use, non-workplace use, workplace use). The outcome was past-year workplace injury (yes/no). Absolute risks and relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated between workplace and non-workplace cannabis use at one time point and workplace injury at the following time point. Models were adjusted for personal and work variables and were also stratified by whether respondents’ jobs were safety-sensitive.ResultsCompared to no past-year cannabis use, there was no difference in workplace injury risk for non-workplace cannabis use (RR 1.09, 95%CI 0.83–1.44). However, workplace use was associated with an almost two-fold increased risk of experiencing a workplace injury (RR 1.97, 95%CI 1.32–2.93). Findings were similar for workers in safety-sensitive and non-safety-sensitive work.ConclusionIt is important to distinguish between non-workplace and workplace use when considering workplace safety impacts of cannabis use. Findings have implications for workplace cannabis use policies and substantiate the need for worker education on the risks of workplace cannabis use.

Diversity, Economic Characteristics, and Retention of Early Learning and Child Care Workers in Canada

ABSTRACT Given Canada’s increasingly diverse population, a better understanding of the representation of different groups among Canadian workers and their economic characteristics is needed. This study analyzes the diversity, economic characteristics, and retention of workers in Canada’s early learning and child care (ELCC) sector. Using census data, diversity characteristics (e.g. sex, visible minority status such as race and ethnicity, language, and activity limitations) were compared between ELCC and non-ELCC workers. The study also examines whether ELCC workers’ economic characteristics, such as self-employment rate, full-time work status, employment income, and poverty rates, varied by diversity groups. It then investigates whether diversity characteristics were associated with workers’ retention in ELCC occupations. Findings showed an over-representation of women, visible minorities, and non-native speakers of Canadian official languages in the ELCC workforce. Generally, non-White ELCC workers were more likely than their White counterparts to be paid employees, work full-time, and earn less than $40,000 annually. Variations in ELCC workers’ economic characteristics and retention rates were also found across visible minority groups. Findings from this study provide greater insight into the representation and retention of different groups within ELCC occupations, which can contribute to higher quality early learning and child care for Canada’s multicultural population.

Vulnerable to Precarity: COVID-19 and the Experience of Difference by Newcomers, Immigrants, and Migrant Workers in Canada

When COVID-19 struck Canada in 2020, immigrants, newcomers, and migrant (agricultural) workers were among those most vulnerable to the pandemic. Their experiences of the pandemic were accentuated by an exacerbation of pre-existing racial and other forms of discrimination. The article emerged from a systematic review and thematic synthesis of the broadly defined literature on immigrants, newcomers, and migrant workers’ experiences of multifaceted challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. We established inclusion criteria and systematically searched for articles in databases, including JSTOR Journals, Social Work Abstract (EBSCOhost), PsycINFO, and other grey literature published between March 2020 and January 2023. The findings suggest that immigrants, newcomers, and migrant workers in Canada experienced systemic inequalities, which worsened their socio-economic status, placing them at higher risks of poor health outcomes. The following themes that underscore the experiences of immigrants, newcomers, and migrant workers in Canada were identified: a) that immigrants, newcomers, and migrant workers in Canada experienced negative socio-economic impacts due to COVID-19, b) that immigrants, newcomers, and migrant workers in Canada experienced aggravated precarious and inequitable employment during COVID-19, c) that immigrants, newcomers, and migrant workers in Canada experienced COVID-19 related racial discrimination, and d) that COVID-19 negatively impacted immigrants, newcomers, and migrant workers’ mental health and well-being. Important directions for future research, including for studies that prioritize new immigrants, are provided.

Identifying the critical physically demanding tasks performed by personal support workers in Canada

Due to increased work demands, personal support workers (PSWs) are experiencing more work-related injuries. However, little is known about PSW work tasks and their corresponding physical demand. The purpose of this study was to identify critical tasks that are physically demanding and completed frequently as identified by PSWs. Additionally, we identified contextual factors (i.e., environmental-, situational-, patient-related) that influenced physical demands. We surveyed 443 community-based PSWs working in Canada who rated the physical demand associated with client care tasks and identified contextual factors that can increase task specific physical demands. Transferring/repositioning patients, dressing, and bathing were perceived as most demanding. Patient weight and mobility influenced the level of physical demand required for most tasks. These data provide a foundation to develop physical employment standards and task specific education and training to prevent PSW injuries.

Constructing workplace subjectivity: exploring workplace learning of immigrant settlement workers in Canada

ABSTRACT This article explores the workplace learning of immigrant settlement workers (ISWs) at immigrant service agencies (ISAs) in Canada. Adopting a combination of governmentality and workplace subjectivity as its theoretical framework and institutional ethnography as its methodology, the study examines three forms of workplace subjectivity. First, constructive subjectivity is formed by incorporating racialized immigrants’ prior professional and linguistic skills into service delivery. However, the initial hiring intention is grounded in institutional governance, which deliberately prepares these workers for the knowledge of outcome measurement evaluation. Second, organisational training naturalises ISWs’ professional subjectivity to fulfil their apparatus role for the institutional regime. Lastly, cultural subjectivity manifests itself in two modes of paradoxes. The promotion of Eurocentric workplace knowledge assimilates ISWs’ behaviour, communication, and bodily comportment to the practices of neoliberal workplace value. Outcome measurement adopts culture-blind criteria, emphasising programme quantification while ignoring ISWs’ cultural identities in service delivery. In light of these findings, we argue that ISWs’ workplace subjectivities are purposefully coordinated by translocal governance ruling power that upholds funders’ requests for outcome measurement. The findings are significant in developing ways of understanding and exploring ISWs’ learning agency in ISA workplaces by capturing and emphasising their voices.

Transparency, openness and privacy among software professionals: discourses and practices surrounding use of the digital calendar

Abstract Research on the groupware calendar system (GCS) has sought to understand its situated use in workplace contexts, revealing insights around design, culture, and self-understanding. A critical look at how knowledge workers use the GCS, and conceptualize of this use, reveals often overlooked sociotechnical values that figure prominently in workers’ lives. At a time when the public–private entanglement has become top-of-mind, this article adds to research on the GCS and professional subjectivity. It shows how organizational values circulate through use of the GCS and explores how hierarchy is negotiated on it, in part through design. It finds that senior-level workers are afforded opportunities to make their calendars private, while nonsenior workers are met with frustration when doing so. The article draws from a multi-sited ethnography, focusing on interviews with software workers in Canada. Findings suggest that the logistical functions of the GCS shape the affective dimensions related to its use.

Labour market integration of newcomers to Canada: The perspectives of newcomers in a smaller urban centre

AbstractIn Canada, newcomers are often faced with many challenges when integrating into the labour market. This study examined the labour market integration experiences of newcomers in Regina, Saskatchewan. Data were collected using a structured survey which was made available in several languages. A total of 305 (n = 305) newcomers participated in this study. It was found that length of stay in Regina, level of education, having children and lack of access to transportation had a strong relationship with newcomers' labour market integration (p < 0.01). Specific barriers that were found to affect newcomers included language, access to a vehicle, lack of Canadian work experience and Canadian credentials. These challenges have substantial implications for the well‐being of newcomers and their contribution to the Canadian economy. It is recommended that resettlement agencies develop informed strategies and programmes that target these barriers to enhance the economic integration of newcomers in smaller cities in Canada.

"It's Just a Checklist": Examining the Needs of Occupational Health and Safety Training for New Immigrant Workers in Canada.

New immigrant workers (NIWs) are overrepresented in hazardous workplaces. Sufficient Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) training could minimize workplace injuries. This study aims to identify the current status of OH&S and training for NIWs in Canada. Generic qualitative research was conducted. Seven NIWs and nine service providers were interviewed to understand OH&S issues, perceptions on rules and regulations, and expectations for training. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. Four themes that affect OH&S for NIWs include attitudes toward safety and training, personal barriers, Canadian workplace culture, and macrolevel interconnected systems. Three needs on OH&S training are increasing accessibility, ensuring full understanding, and building confidence. Current training does not mitigate safety risks in workplaces, and NIWs do not feel empowered to exercise their rights. New training protocols would be beneficial to equip NIWs to enter the workforce.

Distributional Impacts of the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement

We examine the effects of the 1988 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on employment and earnings inequality among low-, medium-, and high-income Canadian workers initially employed in manufacturing. Although the FTA tariff cuts drove large changes in trade flows, we find generally small effects on employment and cumulative earnings during 1989-2004. Workers faced negative effects of import competition and positive effects of access to the US export market, but these effects were largely offset by transitions into other industries and sectors. The effect on earnings inequality was small, with point estimates implying a slight reduction in earnings inequality.

The Employment Quality of Persons with Disabilities: Findings from a National Survey

PurposeLabour market integration is a widely accepted strategy for promoting the social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities. But what kinds of jobs do persons with disabilities obtain following their integration into the labour market? In this study, we use a novel survey of workers to describe and compare the employment quality of persons with and without disabilities in Canada.MethodsWe administered an online, cross-sectional survey to a heterogeneous sample of workers in Canada (n = 2,794). We collected data on sixteen different employment conditions (e.g., temporary contract, job security, flexible work schedule, job lock, skill match, training opportunities, and union membership). We used latent class cluster analysis to construct a novel typology of employment quality describing four distinct ‘types’ of employment: standard, portfolio, instrumental, and precarious. We examined associations between disability status, disability type, and employment quality.ResultsPersons with disabilities reported consistently lower employment quality than their counterparts without disabilities. Persons with disabilities were nearly twice as likely to report low-quality employment in the form of either instrumental (i.e., secure but trapped) or precarious (i.e., insecure and unrewarding) employment. This gap in employment quality was particularly pronounced for those who reported living with both a physical and mental/cognitive condition.ConclusionThere are widespread inequalities in the employment quality of persons with and without disabilities in Canada. Policies and programs aiming to improve the labour market situation of persons with disabilities should emphasize the importance of high-quality employment as a key facet of social and economic inclusion.

Relationship to Work Questionnaire: Validation Among French Canadian Workers

Relationship to Work Questionnaire: Validation Among French Canadian Workers

The Effect of Pre-immigration Canadian Work Experience on the Returns to Human Capital Among Immigrants

The Effect of Pre-immigration Canadian Work Experience on the Returns to Human Capital Among Immigrants

Work‐family spillover of satisfaction: The moderating role of domain boundary strength and identity salience

AbstractAnswering calls to further explore the role of cognition in the work‐family interface, this study examines the cognitive work‐family spillover of satisfaction. Moreover, to date, theories have proposed identical effects and moderators for the work‐to‐family and the family‐to‐work directions of spillover, an assumption termed the bidirectional parallelism thesis, which we will test. The objective of this study is therefore to examine work‐family boundary strength and domain identity salience as moderators of the spillover of satisfaction from work to family and from family to work. First, while the literature has mostly focused on the positive consequences of boundary strength, we draw on boundary theory to posit that boundary strength of the receiving domain limits satisfaction spillover. Second, in accordance with the enactment effect derived from boundary theory, we argue that spillover originates more strongly from domains that are salient in one's identity. To test these hypotheses, 2637 Canadian workers participated in a two‐wave study. Structural equation modelling analyses showed that job satisfaction had a lagged relationship with family satisfaction irrespective of the levels of home boundary strength and work identity salience. Inversely, family satisfaction had a significant lagged relationship with job satisfaction only when work boundary strength was low or when family identity salience was high. This study contributes to work‐family theories by extending their propositions to satisfaction as a cognitive component of subjective well‐being, as well as testing its spillover in a time frame consistent with the greater stability of cognitive evaluations.

Does Religiosity Buffer the Adverse Mental Health Effects of Work-Family Strain? Examining the Role of an Overlooked Resource

North American employees face substantial challenges in managing their work and family lives. Drawing from Hobfoll’s 2001 conservation of resources (COR) theory, work-family scholars have argued that some resources can be effective in buffering conflict in the work-family interface. We analyze data from a national sample of Canadian workers ( N = 3,431) to assess how two components of religion/spirituality—religious attendance and divine control—buffer the mental health effects of work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC). Results suggest that both work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict were associated with higher levels of psychological distress. Our results further reveal that religious attendance buffered the pernicious effects of both WFC and FWC for psychological distress, while divine control only buffered the effects of FWC. These patterns did not appear to differ by gender. Given increasing rates of work-family strain in the North American context, out findings call for a broadening of the literature on the work-family interface, one that takes into consideration the overlooked role of religion and spirituality.

Développement initial et processus de validation de l’échelle d’auto-efficacité émotionnelle au travail

The study aims to develop and present the validation process of a questionnaire on emotional self-efficacy in the work context from the six steps proposed by Dussault et al. (2007). The study is based on the theories of emotional intelligence of Mayer and Salovey (1997), Petrides and Furham (2001) and the self-efficacy of Bandura (1997). Following an expert analysis and a pre-test, the Emotional Self-Efficacy at Work scale is composed of 41 items. The participants are 985 Canadian workers. The results of confirmatory factor analyzes support the seven-dimensional structure, namely the self-efficiency to perceive one's emotions and those of others at work, the self-efficiency to use emotions at work, the self-efficiency to understand one's emotions and those of others at work and finally, the self-efficiency to manage one's emotions and those of others at work. The results also indicate that the seven dimensions have satisfactory internal coherence indices. The results suggest that this questionnaire is well suited to describe emotional self-efficacy at work. The use of the questionnaire will be discussed.