Harvesting Labour: The Making of Canada's Agricultural Workforce

Witness to Yesterday (The Champlain Society Podcast on Canadian History)

In this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon talks to Edward Dunsworth about his book, Harvesting Labour: Tobacco and the Global Making of Canada's Agricultural Workforce, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2022. In Harvesting Labour Edward Dunsworth examines the history of farm work in one of Canada’s underrecognized but most important crop sectors—Ontario tobacco. Dunsworth takes aim at the idea that temporary foreign worker programs emerged in response to labour shortages or the unwillingness of Canadians to work in agriculture. To the contrary, Ontario’s tobacco sector was extremely popular with workers for much of the twentieth century, with high wages attracting a diverse workforce and enabling thousands to establish themselves as small farm owners. By the end of the century, however, the sector had become something entirely different: a handful of mega-farms relying on foreign guest workers to produce their crops. Edward Dunsworth is assistant professor in the Department of History at McGill University. His research takes a particular interest in global migration and labour in Canada. Dunsworth completed his PhD in history at the University of Toronto in 2019 and was a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at York University in 2019-2020. An active public historian, he is a member of the editorial collective at Activehistory.ca, a founding member of the Toronto Workers’ History Project, and a frequent author of articles for broader audiences. Image Credit: Canada. Department of Manpower and Immigration. Library and Archives Canada, e010996348 / If you like our work, please consider supporting it: bit.ly/support_WTY. Your support contributes to the Champlain Society’s mission of opening new windows to directly explore and experience Canada’s past.