A worker prunes apple trees at an orchard in Vernon, B.C., in September 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Published: November 6, 2025 12:29pm EST

Supporting local food must include the rights, dignity and safety of the workers who sustain them. Potato plants are seen on a farm in Clinton, P.E.I., on July 21, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini

However, the link between larger farms and higher job quality may belie another relationship: bigger farms are better positioned to hire workers through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which has specific requirements for wages and terms of employment. At the same time, the program produces power imbalances that can lead to the mistreatment and structural disempowerment of migrant workers, which is certainly bad for job quality.

Our results also suggest that the price premiums from selling food organically don’t appear to be enough to overcome the perceived financial barriers of implementing job quality measures.

A resilient and affordable food system depends on good quality jobs in agriculture. Failing to address job quality for farm workers is a missed opportunity. Many low-cost improvements to support safe and decent working conditions exist, and programs to ensure living wages for farm workers should ensure organic and ecologically produced food is affordable for all Canadians.

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