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Janet McLaughlin
Associate Professor, Department of Health Studies; Research Associate, International Migration Research Centre (IMRC); Faculty Member, Social Justice and Community Engagement master’s program; Co-founder and Co-director, Laurier Autism Research Consortium (LARC); Co-founder and co-coordinator, Migrant Worker Health Project
- BA, International Development Studies (Guelph, 2002).
- MA, Human Rights, (Sussex, 2004).
- PhD, Anthropology (Toronto, 2009).
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, International Migration Research Centre (WLU, 2011).
I am an interdisciplinary, community-engaged scholar trained in medical anthropology and human rights, with interests in the areas of health equity and social determinants of health; labour, social justice, and transnational migration; and autism policy and family well-being.
My migrant worker research has investigated various aspects of migrant workers’ health, rights and well-being, including access to health care and workers’ compensation; gender-based violence; occupational, mental, sexual and reproductive health; and the impacts of separation on migrant families. With Jenna Hennebry, I am co-founder of the Migrant Worker Health Project, and the Migrant Worker Health Expert Working Group, which promote improved health outcomes for migrant workers.
My autism-related research investigates barriers to accessing autism-related services, education experiences, and caregiver stress, employment and well-being. Current research is exploring compounded challenges facing underserved populations, particularly newcomer and Indigenous communities. With Margaret Schneider, I am co-founder and co-director of the Laurier Autism Research Consortium. I previously served on the Ontario Government's Autism Advisory Panel.
Award Recipient, Leading Women Building Communities Recognition Program
Faculty Merit Award, Wilfrid Laurier University
EXTERNAL RESEARCH FUNDING (SELECTED)
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Engaging communities in developing culturally appropriate solutions to autism service disparities, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Development Grant, 2022-25.
Autism Families in Flux: Challenges with and Impacts of Accessing Supports and Services during COVID-19 and beyond. Private grant donated by The Dare family, in honour of the late Carl M. Dare to Laurier’s Autism Research Consortium, 2020-25.
Improving access to supports and services for families of children with autism, SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant (PEG), 2021-23.
Health Outcomes of Gender-based Violence, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Vulnerable Migrations, Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) (co-PI: Chantal Robillard), 2011-14.
Addressing Barriers in Access to Health and Workers’ Compensation Services for Migrant Farm Workers, WSIB Bridging the Gap Program (co-PI Jenna Hennebry), 2011-13.
CO-INVESTIGATOR
Social mobilization as policymaking lever? A trans-Atlantic COVID-19 dialogue on community action and decentralized governance, T-AP Recovery, Renewal and Resilience in a Post-Pandemic World (RRR). PI: Anne-Emanuelle Birn, 2022-25.
Partnered Research Evaluating Services with Migrants in Agriculture (PRESMA): Conditions, Capacities and Possibilities for Effective Support, Services for Migrant Agricultural Workers: A Partnered Research Project, SSHRC Partnership Development Grant, PI: Susana Caxaj, 2022-25.
Policy and Practice in Return to Work after Work Injury: Challenging Circumstances and Innovative Solutions, SSHRC Partnership Grant – Healthy and Productive Work, PI: Katherine Lippel, 2018-24.
COVID-19: Pandemic Survey of Migrant Agricultural Workers in Ontario, SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant, PI: Jenna Hennebry, 2020-24.
Examining Intersecting and Policy Factors Influencing Housing, Safety and Wellbeing of Migrant Agricultural Workers from 2017 - 2020: A Bi-provincial Analysis, SSHRC Insight Grant, PI Susana Caxaj, 2021-24.
COVID-19 Vaccination Decision-Making: Perspectives from Equity-Seeking Groups, Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN): COVID-19 Vaccine Readiness Funding Opportunity – funded by CIHR in partnerships with PHAC, PI: Janet Parsons, 2021-23.
Promoting and Protecting Women Migrant Workers’ Labour and Human Rights. United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (Collaborator), PI: Jenna Hennebry, 2014-16.
Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario, SSHRC Community University Research Alliances (CURA), PI: Wayne Lewchuk, 2011-16.
I am willing to supervise students in areas related to migrant workers’ rights and health, and autism-related projects.
Migrant Worker Research Highlights
- Basok, T., Ticker, E., Vosko, L., Caxaj, S., Hennebry, J., Mayell, S., McLaughlin, J., and Weiler, A. (2023). The ‘Contract’ and its Discontents: Can it Address Protection Gaps for Migrant Agricultural Workers in Canada? International Migration.
- Escrig-Pinol, A., Gastaldo, D., Cortinois, A. and McLaughlin, J. (2023). From migrant mental health to transnational families’ mental health: An ethnography of five Mexican women in agricultural labour in Canada. Social Sciences 12:x.
- Caxaj, S., Tran, M., Tew, M., Mayell, S., McLaughlin, J. Rawal, S., Cole, D., Vosko, L. (2022). Migrant Agricultural Workers’ Deaths in Ontario from January 2020 to June 2021: A Qualitative Descriptive Study. International Journal for Equity in Health, 21 (1): 1-17.
- Kelly, P., McLaughlin, J., Wells, D. (2022). Disposable People: The Politics of Temporary Migrant Workers in Canada. Chapter in Canadian Labour Policy and Politics: Inequality and Its Alternatives. John Peters and Don Wells, eds., UBC Press: pp. 155-72.
- Hennebry, J., McLaughlin, J., and Weiler, A. (2021). Fresh Food, Stale Schemes: Comparing Agricultural Labour Migration in Canada and Spain. Migrants and Refugees in Times of Crisis. Theodoros Fouskas, ed. European Public Law Association: pp. 351-376.
- Binford, L. and McLaughlin, J. (2021). Entrenched Exploitation: Temporary Foreign Agricultural Worker Programs in North America. Handbook on the Human Impact of Agriculture. Harvey James, ed. Edward Elgar Publishing: pp. 256-285.
- Haley, E., Caxaj, S., George G., Hennebry, J.L., Martell, E., and McLaughlin, J. (2020). Migrant Farmworkers Face Heightened Vulnerabilities During COVID-19. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 9(3), 35–39.
- Weiler, A. and McLaughlin, J. (2019). Listening to migrant workers: should Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program be abolished? Dialectical Anthropology, 43, 381–388.
- Cole, D., McLaughlin, J., Hennebry, J. and Tew, M. (2019). Precarious patients: health professionals’ perspectives on providing care to Mexican and Jamaican migrants in Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program. Rural and Remote Health, 19(4).
- Perras Saint-Jean, G., Robillard, C., McLaughlin, J. and Cole, D. (2019). Gardiennes du secret : pourquoi les intervenantes sont confinées dans le rôle de confidentes des travailleuses étrangères abuses. Travail, exploitations et servitudes contemporaines dans les Amériques, Pantaleon, J & Martig, A. (eds.), University of Rennes Press: pp. 229-256.
- McLaughlin, J. and Tew, M. (2018). Migrant Farm Worker Health Care: Unique Strategies for a Unique Population. Under-Served: Health Determinants of Indigenous, Inner-City, and Migrant Populations in Canada. Neil Arya and Thomas Piggott (eds.), Scholars’ Press: pp. 553-264.
- McLaughlin, J., Tew, M., and Huesca, E. (2018). Compounded Vulnerabilities and Creative Strategies: Occupational Health of Temporary Foreign Agricultural Workers. Sick and Tired: Health and Safety Inequalities. Stephanie Premji, Ed. Fernwood.
- Diaz, A., McLaughlin, J., Wells, D. and Lyn, A. (2018). Adapting Spousal Relations and Transnational Family Structures: Responses to Mexican-Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Migration. Norteamérica, 13-1.
- Robillard, C., McLaughlin, J., Cole, D. Vasilevska, B. and Gendron, R. (2018). “Caught in the Same Webs”: Service Providers’ Insights on Gender-based and Structural Violence among Female Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada. Journal of International Migration and Integration 19 (3): 583-606.
- McLaughlin, J. (2017). Working Together to Support Migrant Worker Health, TEDx Talk.
- McLaughlin, J., Wells, D., Díaz Mendiburo, A., Lyn, A. and Vasilevska, B. (2017). ‘Temporary Workers’, Temporary Fathers: Transnational Family Impacts of Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Program. Relations Industrielles 72(4) : 682-709.
- Weiler, A., McLaughlin, J., and Cole, D. (2017). Food Security at Whose Expense? A Critique of the Canadian Temporary Farm Labour Migration Regime and Proposals for Change. International Migration 55(4): 48-63.
- McLaughlin, J (2017). Strengthening the Backbone: Local Food, Foreign Labour and Social Justice. Nourishing Communities: From Fractured Food Systems to Transformative Pathways. Irena Knezevic, Charles Levkoe, Phil Mount, Erin Nelson and Alison Blay-Palmer (eds.), Springer, 23-40.
- Hennebry, J. Grass, W. and McLaughlin, J. (2017). Women Migrant Workers’ Journey through the Margins: Labour, Migration and Trafficking. UN Women: United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, pp. 1-114.
- McLaughlin, J. and Weiler, A. (2017). Migrant Agricultural Workers in Local and Global Contexts: Toward a Better Life? Review Essay. Journal of Agrarian Change 17(3) 630-638.
- Mayell, S. and McLaughlin, J. (2016). Migrating to Work at What Cost?: The Cumulative Health Consequences of Contemporary Labour Migration. Handbook of Migration and Health, Felicity Thomas (ed.), Edward ElgarPublishing, 230-52.
- Diaz, A. and McLaughlin, J. (2016). Vulnerabilidad Estructural y Salud en los Trabajadores Agrícolas Temporales en Canadá (Structural Vulnerability and Health among Temporary Agricultural Workers in Canada). Revista Alteridades. 26(51):83-93.
- Narushima, M., J. McLaughlin, J. Barett-Greene (2016). Needs and Risks in Sexual Health among Temporary Foreign Migrant Farmworkers in Canada: A Pilot Study with Mexican and Caribbean Workers. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. 18(2), 374-81.
- Hennebry, J., J. McLaughlin, K. Preibisch (2016). ‘Out of the Loop’: (In)access to Health Care for Migrant Workers in Canada. Journal of International Migration and Integration (JIMI); 17(2),521-38.
- McLaughlin, J. and J. Hennebry (2015). Managed into the Margins: Examining Citizenship and Human Rights of Migrant Workers in Canada. The Human Right to Citizenship: A Slippery Concept. Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann and Margaret Walton-Roberts (eds). University of Pennsylvania Press.
- McLaughlin, J., J. Hennebry and T. Haines (2014). Paper versus Practice: Occupational Health and Safety Protections and Realities for Temporary Foreign Agricultural Workers in Ontario. Pistes: Interdisciplinary Journal of Work and Health 16(2).
- Wells, D., J. McLaughlin, A. Lyn, A. Diaz (2014). Sustaining North-South Migrant Precarity: Remittances and Transnational Families in Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Program. Just Labour. Vol 22, Autumn.
- Orkin, A., M. Lay, J. McLaughlin, M. Schwandt and D. Cole (2014). Medical Repatriation of Migrant Farm Workers in Ontario: Coding and Descriptive Analysis. Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) Open. (2)3: E192-E198.
- McLaughlin, J. and J. Hennebry (2013). Pathways to Precarity: Structural Vulnerabilities and Lived Consequences for Migrant Farmworkers in Canada. Producing and Negotiating non-Citizenship: Precarious Legal Status in Canada. Luin Goldring and Patricia Landolt (eds.) University of Toronto Press.
- McLaughlin, J. (2013). The Hands behind the Harvest: Migrant Workers in Niagara's Wine Industry. The World of Niagara Wine. Michael Ripmeester and Phillip Gordon Mackintosh (eds.) Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
- Hennebry, J. and J. McLaughlin (2012). The Exception that Proves the Rule: Structural Vulnerability, Health Risks and Consequences for Temporary Migrant Farmworkers in Canada. Legislating Inequality: Canada's Temporary Migrant Worker Program. Christine Hughes and Patti Lenard (eds.) McGill-Queen’s University Press.
- Pysklywec, M., J. McLaughlin, M. Tew and T. Haines (2011). Doctors Within Borders: Meeting the Health Care Needs of Migrant Farm Workers in Canada. Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) (183:9).
- McLaughlin, J. (2011). Determinants of Health of Migrant Farm Workers in Canada. Health Policy Research Bulletin, Issue #17: Migration Health.
- McLaughlin, J. (2010). Classifying the "ideal migrant worker": Mexican and Jamaican transnational farmworkers in Canada." Focaal: Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology 2010(57): 79-94.
- McLaughlin, J. (2009). Migration and Health: Implications for Development. The Canadian Foundation for the Americas Labour Mobility and Development Project, Policy Paper #2, October.
- McLaughlin, J. (2008). Gender, Health and Mobility: Health Concerns of Women Migrant Farm Workers in Canada. FOCALPoint: Canada’s Spotlight on the Americas 7(9): December.
Autism Research Highlights
- Fong, V.C., McLaughlin, J. and Schneider, M. (2024). Comparing the autism service needs and priorities of Indigenous and newcomer families in Canada: Qualitative insights. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Volume 111, March 2024, 102314.
- Casale, L.M., Gentles, S., McLaughlin, J. and Schneider, M. (2023). Service access experiences of immigrant and refugee caregivers of autistic children in Canada: A scoping review, PLOS ONE 18(11): e0293656.
- Fong, V.C., McLaughlin, J. and Schneider, M. (2023). “We are exhausted, worn out, and broken”: Understanding the impact of service satisfaction on caregiver well-being. Autism Research.
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Gentles, S., McLaughlin, J., Schneider, M. (Primary co-authors), Stubbs, A., Lerner, P., Tristani, L., Spoelstra, M., Weiss, J., Lee, V., Georgiades, S., and LeClair, J. (2022). Families in flux: Findings from the 2021 Ontario Autism Caregiver Survey on education, service access and well-being in the context of COVID-19 [Report]. Ontario, Canada: Laurier Autism Research Consortium and Autism Ontario.
- Scott, K.E., Krasnodembski, M., Sivapalan, S., Brayton, B., Belanger, N., Gagnon, R., McLaughlin, J., and Lai, J. (2021). Toward health equity in a national autism strategy: A lens on disparities, barriers, and solutions. Canadian Journal of Autism Equity, 1(1), 55-65.
- Gentles, S. and McLaughlin, J. (2021). Foreword. Canadian Journal of Autism Equity, 1(1), 6-8.
- McLaughlin, J. and Schneider, M. (2019). Autism Services in Ontario: Impacts on Family and Child Well-being—Research Summary, Laurier Autism Research Consortium Report.
HS-208: Autism: Advocacy, Policy, and Practice
HS-200: Social Determinants of Health
HS-322: Health Policy
HS-201: Canadian Health Care Systems
HS-401: Current Developments in Health Studies
IDEV-4500: Advanced Seminar in International Development, University of Guelph
SOAN-3250: Social Change in Latin America, University of Guelph
- Addressing the Unique Needs of Caregivers and Immigrants in Autism Family Research: Featuring Dr. Janet Mclaughlin, 2024, Faces of Autism.
- Doug Ford promised to fix the ‘broken’ Ontario Autism Program. 5 years on, wait times tell a different story, 2023, Toronto Star.
- Families of children with autism continue to wait for publicly-funded support, 2023, CTV News.
- Pair of Grade 6 students honoured for going above and beyond for their best friend, 2023, CBC News.
- Rural Ontario parents say mobile autism support services difficult to access, 2023, Global News.
- La consule du Mexique à Leamington quitte son poste, 2023, CBC Radio-Canada.
- Autisme: des familles se sentent encore abandonnées en Ontario, 2022, CBC Radio-Canada.
- ‘COVID acted like a minefield’: What we know about migrant-worker deaths, 2022, TVO Today.
- Ontario children and teens with autism faced long waits, education loss in 1st year of pandemic, report finds, 2022, CBC News.
- ‘State of crisis:’ WLU report says children with autism experience long wait times to access supports, 2022, CTV News.
- New report finds COVID disruptions weighing on children with autism, their families, 2022, City News.
- CBC World this Weekend, April 2, 2022.
- Wilfrid Laurier University releases report on how the pandemic has affected families of autistic children, 2022, Cambridge Today.
- Laurier researchers find long wait times for services and school disruptions weighing on Ontario families of autistic children during COVID-19, 2022, Laurier News Hub.
- Autism program wait list has had ‘major emotional and economic consequences for some families’: researcher, 2022, QP Briefing.
- ‘Unethical and inappropriate’: What coroners’ records reveal about the gaps that led to migrant worker deaths Report delves into the barriers faced by nine migrant workers who died across the province during the pandemic’s first waves, 2022, Toronto Star.
- ‘These are preventable losses of life,’ researchers say of migrant farm workers’ deaths, 2022, QP Briefing.
- Why these migrant workers are taking on the OPP, 2021, TVO.
- Coroner’s report recommends inquest following review of COVID-19 deaths of migrant farm workers, 2021, QP Briefing.
- ‘Already it was hard. Now, it’s become impossible’: Pandemic highlights barriers to healthcare for migrant workers, 2021, Healthy Debate.
- Study to find out how many autism families ‘pushed over the edge’ during the pandemic, 2021, QP Briefing.
- Protecting the hands that feed us: Janet McLaughlin and Jenna Hennebry are using their years of research to advocate for the safety of migrant agricultural workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020, Laurier Campus Magazine.
- The Ontario government says migrant workers have equal rights and access to benefits, but do they? 2020, Toronto Star.
- Advocates worry guidance enabling asymptomatic people to work poses risk to migrant farm workers, 2020, QP Briefing.
- Migrant farmworkers die in Canada, and Mexico wants answers, 2020, The Washington Post.
- City passes plan to help COVID-19 positive migrant workers self-isolate, says mayor, CBC News.
- Group fighting outbreaks among migrant workers, 2020, The Hamilton Spectator.
- Fear, neglect, and close quarters: Inside Ontario’s migrant-worker health crisis, 2020, TVO.
- Laurier professors release recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among migrant agricultural workers, 2020, Laurier News Hub News.
- Calling migrant workers’ deaths ‘avoidable,’ group launches COVID-19 website, 2020, Toronto Star.
- Groups draw attention to plight of migrant workers, 2020, Waterloo Region Record.
- Parents of children with autism struggle to keep up with work, education demands, 2020, CBC News.
- Autistic kids lose therapy, parents face isolation due to COVID-19, 2020, CBC News.
- COVID-19 stokes anxiety in the region’s agricultural sector, 2020, Waterloo Region Record.
- Government to extend autism therapy contracts for children currently in service, 2020, QP Briefing.
- Waterloo professor and mom of a son on autism spectrum named to Ontario autism panel: Wilfrid Laurier University associate professor Janet McLaughlin will help advise government on autism program, 2019, Waterloo Region Record.
- Ontario Autism Program advisory panel taps Waterloo Expert: Dr. Janet McLaughlin says she plans to advocate for needs-based therapy, 2019, CBC News.
- How much does it cost to raise a child with autism? 2019, Globe and Mail.
- Waterloo researcher wants Ontario to publish results of new round of autism consultations, 2019, CBC News.
- Wilfrid Laurier University prof lays it on the line for autism funding, 2019, Waterloo Region Record.
- Families of children with autism say they're stretched thin by provincial funding changes, 2019, CBC News.
- ‘This is not a luxury’: Families share impact of autism changes at Kitchener town hall, 2019, Waterloo Region Record.
- Laurier Professor Changing the World for Migrant Workers and Children with Autism, 2018, Laurier News Feature.
- Sharing your research with the public can change minds, 2018, University Affairs.
- This sexually abused migrant worker is now safe but she knows others aren’t, 2017, Toronto Star.
- Waterloo mother hopeful about changes to Ontario’s autism program, 2017, CBC News.
- Laurier Professor Advocates for Children with Autism, 2017, The Cord.
- D’Amato: It’s time to stop abuse of temporary farm workers, 2016, Waterloo Region Record.
- They read my entire op-ed in the debate, 2016, Expert Women.
- D'Amato: Parents of children with autism will not be pushed around again, 2016, Waterloo Region Record.
- HNHB LHIN Funds Migrant Agricultural Health Services, 2014, Niagara This Week.
- Migrant workers to get health-care boost from website, 2012, Toronto Star.
- Ontario’s injured migrant workers lose out on WSIB benefits, critics charge, Toronto Star.
- More concern for migrant workers needed, scholar says, 2012, Waterloo Region Record.
- New regulations on migrant farm workers should tackle employer/employee power imbalances The Conversation, February 1, 2023.
- Ontario must do more to protect migrant workers. Here’s how, TVO, March 9, 2022.
- Migrant workers need priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine, Globe and Mail, March 11, 2021.
- COVID-19 Pandemic Reveals Systemic Problems Facing Migrant Agricultural Workers in Canada, Echoes: Global Migration and Health Initiative, September 11, 2021.
- Let’s accept migrant farmworkers as members of our food community, Toronto Star, September 7, 2020.
- Coronavirus: Canada stigmatizes, jeopardizes essential migrant workers, The Conversation, June 3, 2020.
- Government COVID-19 guidelines gamble on the lives of migrant agricultural workers, Canadian Science Policy Centre (CSPC), April 21, 2020.
- Protecting the health and rights of migrant agricultural workers during the COVID-19 outbreak should be a priority, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Policy Note, April 1, 2020.
- How changes to the Ontario Autism Program will hurt kids like my son, The Conversation, February 11, 2019.
- The Cruel Trade-off at your Local Produce Aisle. Maclean’s, January 18, 2018.
- Helping migrant workers must be part of new food policy. Toronto Star, December 22, 2017.
- Ontario’s Education System in Crisis for Students with Autism. Huffington Post, November 3, 2017.
- Seasonal Agricultural Workers Deserve Right To Call Canada Home. Huffington Post, September 27, 2016.
- How Migrant Dreams Reveals the Dark Side of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program. TVO, September 12, 2016.
- Canada's Migrant Agricultural Workers Deserve Full and Equal Rights. Here's Why. TVO, June 16, 2016.
- (Click on links or visit articles to see co-authors and full information)
Contact Info:
Office location: RCE 242, Brantford campus
Office hours:
By appointment
Laurier Autism Research Consortium
Languages spoken: English, Spanish