Low-wage migrant workers are a significant part of Canada’s agricultural workforce—almost half of the agricultural labour that grows the year-long produce that lands in kitchens. Life has become even more uncertain for them as COVID-19 has led to travel bans and border closures. And the decrease in that essential workforce could also mean Canada’s food security is at risk. Saba Eitizaz talks to the Star’s Work and Wealth reporter Sara Mojtehedzadeh about the crisis Canada’s essential migrant workers are facing, and why it took a pandemic to highlight the circumstances of a group that was already vulnerable and unprotected.