Health in distant fields: An ethnographic study of Latin American migrant farmworkers’ access to health services in Canada

Canada prides itself on its universal healthcare system. Nonetheless, migrant farm workers, who have temporary resident status, face difficulties accessing provincial healthcare while in Canada. Interviews and institutional ethnographic analysis were conducted in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. This paper examines the barriers that temporary farm workers from Mexico and Guatemala face when attempting to access healthcare services in Canada. Ontario and British Columbia, provinces with differing healthcare coverage, were found to have the same barriers but at different magnitudes. The reinforcement of bureaucratic barriers in British Columbia restricts temporary farm workers from accessing medical services more so than in Ontario. As the numbers of temporary farm workers rise in Canada, provincial healthcare providers can improve access to medical care by taking into account the difficulties temporary farm workers are currently facing.