Migrant laborers in the Okanagan

Migrant laborers have been employed in agricultural labour in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia as the agricultural industry in the Okanagan has continued in growth and operation. In 2009, there were 3,000 Mexican migrant labourers working in the Okanagan.

History

The racialization of agricultural labour in the Okanagan Valley reaches as far back as early settlement by white colonists during the 19th century. The first settlers in the Okanagan region focused primarily on cattle ranching, switching to fruit production in about the 1890s. It was this switch to fruit production that started the racialization of agricultural labour in the Okanagan. Part of its beginnings was the directed promotion of Okanagan Valley towards the wealthier white middle class as a very fashionable endeavour. It is through this rather successful promotional scheme that the Okanagan came to be known for its "whiteness," an issue that the area continues to be beset with today. With the influx of white Canadians to the region, many with the goal of establishing fruit orchards, migrant seasonal labour became a pressing issue as there were not enough settlers able or willing to do the manual labour involved in harvesting. The settlers' solution to this issue was to employ those of other ‘races’ or ethnicities believed by the white population to be better suited to do menial labour, and hence the beginning of the racialization of agricultural labour in the Okanagan was born.

There were various waves or periods when people of a certain ethnic category, or ‘race’ were more heavily employed as agricultural labourers then others, largely reflecting the political climate of the day.