Susana Caxaj, PhD

Project Reports

• A Guidance Document for National Housing Standards for Migrant Agricultural Workers. May 2025. The Coalition for National Housing Standards for Migrants in Agriculture (CONAMI).  Caxaj, Allahdua, G., Arefin, MH., Bejan, R., Borrelli, E., Cole, D., Demmers, T, Mendiburo, A. D., Edwards, A., Grez, E., Gomez, S., Hanley, J., Helps, L., Hennebry, J. L., horgan, M., Liinamaa, S., Lozanski, K., Martinez, N. S., Mayell, S., Mclaughlin, J., Oyewal, D. P., Patterson, D., Perry, J. A., Prada, L., Pratt, G., Tessier, V., Sanchez, G., Vosko, L. F., Weiler, A. 
• Key findings and recommendations from a study of coroner’s files of migrant agricultural workers’ deaths in Ontario from January 2020 to June 2021 (February 1, 2022). Caxaj, C. S., Tran, M., Tew, M., Mayell, S., McLaughlin, J., Rawal, S., Cole, D. & Vosko, L. [Migrant Worker Health Expert Working Group]. Submitted to the Chief Coroner’s Office of Ontario and the Government of Canada (Employment and Social Development of Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada).

Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals

• Caxaj, C. S., George, G., Lozanski, K., & Mayell, S. (2026). Cultural Safety in Service Provision for Migrant Agricultural Workers? An Empirical Exploration: Caxaj et al. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 27(1), 235-258.
• Caxaj, C. S., & Weiler, A. (2025). “You’re just stuck in a hole, really”: mechanisms of structural racism through migrant agricultural worker housing in Canada. Qualitative Health Research, 35(7), 807-823.
• Caxaj, C. S., Weiler, A. M., & Martyniuk, J. (2024). Housing conditions and health implications for migrant agricultural workers in Canada: A scoping review. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 56(1), 16-28.
• Caxaj, C. S., Shkopi, E., Naranjo, C. T., Chew, A., Hao, Y. T., & Nguyen, M. (2023). Health, social and legal supports for migrant agricultural workers in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand: a scoping review. Frontiers in public health, 11, 1182816.
• Cohen, A. & Caxaj, C. S. (2022). A Lifeline in Troubled waters: A Support model Intervention for Migrant Farm Workers. International Migration, 00, 1 – 16.
• Caxaj, C. S., & Cohen, A. (2021). Emerging best practices for supporting temporary migrant farmworkers in Western Canada. Health & Social Care in the Community, 29(1), 250-258.
• Colindres, C., Cohen, A., & Caxaj, C. S. (2021). Migrant Agricultural Workers’ Health, Safety and Access to Protections: A Descriptive Survey Identifying Structural Gaps and Vulnerabilities in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(7), 3696.
• Caxaj, C. S., & Cohen, A. (2019). “I Will Not Leave My Body Here”: Migrant Farmworkers’ Health and Safety Amidst a Climate of Coercion. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(15), 2643.
• Schill, K., & Caxaj, C. S. (2019). Cultural safety strategies for rural Indigenous palliative care: a scoping review. BMC palliative care, 18(1), 21.
• Caxaj, C. S., Chau, S., & Parkins, I. (2018). How racialized students navigate campus life in a mid-sized Canadian city:‘thrown against a white background’but ‘comfortable enough to laugh’. Race Ethnicity and Education, 1-20.
  
  

Visit Google Scholar for a comprehensive list of publications.

• Caxaj, C. S. (PI) George, G., Lozanski, K., McLaughlin, J., Mayell, S. et. al, Hennebry, J., Vosko, L. et. al and various community partners (2022 – 2024). Conditions capacities and possibilities for service evaluation with migrant agricultural workers: Partnered Research Evaluating Services with Migrants in Agriculture (PRESMA). SSHRC. $193,700.
• Caxaj, C. S. (PI), Weiler, A., Mclaughlin, J., Oudshoorn, A., Vosko, L., Basok, T., Hennebry, J. et. al (2021 – 2023). Migrants Intersecting experiences with Housing in Agriculture (MIHA). SSHRC. $160,000.

Black Students Experiences of Belonging in Historically White Institutions.

• Montague, Janet (in progress). Phd, Nursing.

Caribbean Farmworkers Housing: Implications for Public Health.

• Diedrick, Elizabeth (in progress). MSc, Nursing.

Host Organizations' Perspectives of Partnered Global Study-Abroad Programs

• Pop, Jessica (2022). MSc, Nursing.

"Pain is What the Patient Says it is": A Secondary Analysis of Nurses’ Reflections on the Term Pain Catastrophizing

• Longo, Riana (2021). MSc, Nursing.

Harvesting wellness with Okanagan sockeye salmon

• Johnson, Suzanne J. (2020). MSc, Interdisciplinary Studies.

Visit Scholarship@Western for a list of completed student theses and dissertations.

• Nursing Alumni of Distinction Rising Star Award (2020)
• Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing Fellowship in Health Equity (2021 – 2023)

• Co-founder and core member, Migrant Worker Health Expert Working Group (MWH-EWG)
• Co-chair, Decolonization, Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression School of Nursing Committee (DARAO)

News

• Housing conditions inadequate and undignified for migrant farmworkers - CBC News
• Decades of neglect (The Conversation, Yahoo News)
• New regulations on migrant farmworkers should tackle employer/employee power imbalance (The Conversation)
• For migrant farmworkers, housing is not just a determinant of health, but a determinant of death (The Conversation, National Post)
• Government COVID-19 guidelines gamble on the lives of migrant agricultural workers - Canadian Science Policy Centre
  • Recommendations for Employment and Social Development Canada for Migrant Agricultural Workers Programs during the COVID-19 Virus Pandemic).
• Study to aid migrant workers - Okanagan Edge
• Exploring how to better support migrant workers in B.C. - Kelowna Capital News
• Ontario's migrant farm workers not getting protections promised by federal government - CBC News
• Research explores state of migrant worker protections  - Science X
• Small towns need to do more to help immigrants feel they belong - Castanet
• Small town living not easy - Castanet

Print

• “These are preventable losses of life, researchers say of migrant farmworkers’ deaths.” Queen’s Park Briefing. (2022)
• “Unethical and inappropriate: what coroner’s records reveal about the gaps that led to migrant workers ’ deaths." Toronto Star. (2022)
• "Migrant workers with COVID-19 must not be allowed to work, health experts say — as infected worker count surpasses 1,000. Toronto Star." (2020)
• "Migrant farm workers left exposed and vulnerable to COVID-19. How Ontario is biting the hands that feed us." Toronto Star. (2020)
•  "Ottawa plans to overhaul temporary foreign worker program." Globe and Mail. (2020)
• "Ontario's migrant farm workers not getting protections promised by federal government." Windsor CBC. (2019)

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