The planting season begins and human rights organizations and labour unions warn that new measures by the federal government to attract foreign seasonal agricultural workers for spring planting are not enough to prevent a repeat of the deadly outbreaks of Covid-19 of the last year in farms and food processing plants.
Santiago Escobar, the national representative for UFCW Canada, said migrant workers need the ability to protect themselves and the federal government has not given them the power to do so. “All the rules that are being created will not address the fundamental problem, which is the lack of ability to enforce rights.”
About 60,000 migrant workers, mostly from Mexico and the Caribbean, are employed annually by Canadian agriculture, including 25,000 for the spring planting season in the first quarter of the year, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) said. However, the figure barely halved last year, causing complications for the Canadian agri-food industry.
Due to the pandemic, Ottawa closed borders and airports, but made an exception for temporary farm workers and provided $ 50 million to help employers enforce a 14-day isolation period for foreign workers once they arrived. However, the reality is that not all the expected workers arrived and the Canadians who lost their jobs to the pandemic are not trained or interested in replacing them.
Where are the vaccines?
Canada relies on foreign seasonal farmworkers to ensure its supply of farm produce, yet the orders it has requested from various pharmaceutical companies have not yet arrived.
In this regard, Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the White House, said that the United States has received requests from Mexico and Canada to share vaccines against Covid-19 with them and is “carefully considering” those requests.
For its part, the Ontario provincial government acknowledges that the latest Covid-19 outbreaks on farms resulted in a difficult and worrying summer for agricultural workers, who can suffer serious health impacts.
At least 17 Ontario farms have been the scene of outbreaks of the pandemic. To date, three Mexican workers have died after contracting the virus.
The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change said that migrant workers unveiled a long list of shortcomings and concerns, including the fact that they are crammed into dilapidated and dilapidated homes. They also reported that they are forced to work while waiting for the results of the Covid-19 detection test.
The problem, according to Escobar is of origin. Currently, the majority of workers arriving in Canada are tied to a single employer, unable to change jobs even if they suffer abuse. A pilot program started last year that allowed some to apply for an open work permit, Escobar explained. But despite the fact that many have travelled to Canada for over 20 years to work an average of nine months, they cannot access the permanent residence.
This year, the authorities have started a vaccination program in Ontario. The province is implementing a plan to reduce the risk of transmission of Covid-19 on farms and in the surrounding community, which “includes ongoing and expanded testing in the workplace, access to benefits and supports for employees, as well as a new orientation in public health”.
The Ontario government warns on its website that employers in the province must comply to keep workers safe, and that the rules apply regardless of the immigration status of temporary farmworkers. And it puts at the service of workers the number 1-800-531-5551 of the Information Center on Employment Standards, for assistance in Spanish.
Starting March 21, asymptomatic migrant workers arriving in Canada will be allowed to go directly to their quarantine locations, sometimes on or near farms, after taking another test at the airport, provided they have private transportation to take them.
If they need to travel by public transport or on a domestic flight, they must be quarantined in a government-approved hotel until they receive a negative test result. However, the Agricultural Workers Alliance, an association representing non-unionized migrant workers, has raised concerns about whether migrant workers will be able to remain socially estranged in barracks on farms during their 14-day quarantine periods.
They receive a Covid vaccine to fly to British Columbia.
The Ministry of Foreign Relations (SRE) assured that the vaccine will be applied to 468 Mexicans who participate in the Temporary Agricultural Workers Program (PTAT), and who are currently fulfilling the mandatory quarantine in hotels designated by the authorities of the province of Columbia British. If a second dose is required, it will be administered directly to the nearby clinics.
