Labour studies

What is the future of work? Are jobs becoming more insecure? How will technology transform employment? Labour studies is committed to the study and understanding of labour, working people, and their organizations from a comprehensive social, cultural, historical, political, and economic perspective. An interdisciplinary program, labour studies brings together researchers and instructors with diverse backgrounds to explore the forces shaping work and employment today.

Building on Simon Fraser University's traditions of community engagement, Labour Studies offers students opportunities for academic project work with community partners, providing real experience of the issues affecting working people in British Columbia and beyond.

About labour studies

Labour Studies offers major, minor and certificate programs. Labour studies courses center on contemporary issues affecting everyday people. These include unions and labour movements, work and technological change, labour and the environment, Canadian labour law, and the politics of labour in Canada.

Students in the labour studies program have access a range of generous awards and prizes, including the new James Clark Undergraduate Award. The department also offers students opportunities for paid research, allowing students a chance to apply their knowledge in real-world situations.

Career pathways

Work and employment impact our lives in many ways and they are changing. The labour studies program provides you with a solid understanding of these important forces, and equips you with important transferable skills: critical thinking, economic and social analysis, writing, and research. These skills are valuable in many fields of work.

Our students go on to a wide variety of careers in fields such as labour and employment law, research, policy analysis, teaching, community development, and human resources management.