UBC Global Reporting Centre

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The latest / Hidden Costs

‘This is the new slavery’: Migrant farm workers underpaid, abused and injured

From the Investigative Journalism Bureau, this deep-dive investigation looks into abuse faced by migrant farm workers in Canada — and how our visa system can trap workers in exploitative conditions. Produced with support from the GRC.

Genevieve LeBaron, a leading scholar on forced labour in global supply chains, contributed to a report on the topic, available here.

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Caribbean workers ride the shuttle bus to their farm after stocking up on groceries on a summer sunday in Simcoe, Ont. It’s often their one day off in the week, an opportunity to stock up on supplies and visit the bank in town. Photo by Masih Khalatbari / Investigative Journalism Bureau.

About the GRC

Global
journalism,
done
differently.

We are an editorially independent journalism organization working to reimagine global reporting. Here’s how we work.

In numbers

  • 🏆 45 awards and nominations
  • 🌏 20+ active contributing journalists
  • 🎓 220+ graduate students trained through hands-on global journalism

Recent Highlight

✨ We’ve been recognized with a 2025 Digital Publishing Award (Silver) for our podcast, State of Play.

Features / Hidden Costs

Collision Course

The Narwhal
CBC

Collision Course is a multimedia series investigating the longstanding issue of how wildlife — like elk, grizzly bears, and deer – are struck by trains.

The series was reported and produced in partnership between The Narwhal and CBC, supplemented with data analysis, visualizations, and promotional support from the GRC and Howard Center.

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Read
Two grizzly bears search for grain on the train tracks in Banff, Alberta.
Photo by Peter Galleghan / Alamy

Recent media Partners

Al Jazeera English
Toronto Star
Mongabay

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…the Global Reporting Centre peels back that false narrative that things are just happening in one country. And allows journalists and students to collaborate on really big stories that can make a really big difference.”

—Martha Mendoza, AP News

It is really an opportunity for journalists to come together as opposed to just working in our silos.”

—Duy Linh Tu, Columbia Journalism School

Their merging of academics with journalists is a fascinating new way to explore in-depth topics that are complicated and span the globe.”

—Robert Cribb, Toronto Star

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