Migrant agricultural workers in Canada pay into employment insurance (EI), but they are not able to access it when their contracts expire and they return to their home country.

They also have employment contracts that are tied to one employer, preventing them from changing their employer while they're in Canada.

A proposed $500-million class action lawsuit is aiming to challenge those regulations.

"It's an issue that has been around for some time now," said Jody Brown, a partner at Goldblatt Partners LLP, the law firm that filed the statement of claim. "The time is now for workers to come forward and try and make a change to this program."