Water rolls over a road and into a field after rainstorms lashed British Columbia, triggering landslides and floods, shutting highways, in Abbotsford November 30.

Mexico seeks to overhaul Canada migrant farm worker program amid climate disasters

B.C. flooding and heat wave have underscored the vulnerability of these workers

Mexico is pushing for changes to Canada’s migrant farm worker program, a top Mexican official told Reuters, as migrants beset by natural disasters call for better pay, accessible care, labour mobility and employment insurance. Mexico is renegotiating its Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program agreement with Ottawa. The agreement outlines Mexican migrant farm workers’ rights and conditions

Farmer livelihoods will be threatened if weak visa rules allow dodgy operators to mistreat migrant workers.

Comment: The perils of temporary labour

Australia’s new agricultural work visa could supercharge the forces of exploitation

The Australian government’s new temporary visa for agricultural workers is meant to fix labour shortages in the agricultural sector. But it’s a risky approach that could lead to more exploitation of low-skilled farm workers and fewer permanent skilled workers. The agriculture sector is heavily reliant on temporary visa holders for labour, with the two main


Ken Forth, president of Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services, said the federal government lacked planning by pulling funding to quarantine workers before the end of the growing season.

Effect on Manitoba farms uncertain after feds stop funding TFW quarantine costs

Organizations frustrated with apparently arbitrary cut-off, government going back on its word

Some are frustrated after feds cut funding to help farmers pay for temporary foreign workers (TFWs) to quarantine after arriving in Canada, though Manitoba employers may not know how this affects them until next season. “People found it frustrating because when they initially did this and started the quarantine, their initial statement was that they would support us

Advocacy group concerned TFWs not getting vaccine support

Advocacy group concerned TFWs not getting vaccine support

Province has received isolated reports of unsupportive employers, says vaccine medical lead

A coalition of organizations says it’s concerned many temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in Manitoba haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 despite their increased risk. “I don’t know where and how to ask for it,” says a quote attributed to an international farm worker in Manitoba in a news release from Healthcare For All Manitoba. “My employer

Free COVID-19 course for foreign workers, employers

Aim is to acquaint farmworkers with best practices to protect themselves

Glacier FarmMedia – An online course to help producers and international farmworkers protect themselves from COVID-19 is being launched. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) is offering the free guide in English, French and Spanish. Participants will learn methods of preventing the spread of COVID-19, which has caused deaths and illnesses on Canadian farms


Opinion: Farmers, workers deserve better than Switch

The company tasked with managing coronavirus tests for travellers entering Canada continues to cause headaches for farmers and the international workers they employ. Switch Health is managing the tests being given to travellers pre- and post-arrival. Over one year into the pandemic, it is reasonable to expect processes like this to be effectively managed. That

Feds put out new travel rules for temporary foreign workers

Feds put out new travel rules for temporary foreign workers

Testing issues cause headaches for arriving beekeepers, employers

The federal government put out new rules for arriving temporary foreign workers on March 16 — just in time for one Manitoba farm to welcome its first worker of the season. Paul Gregory, a honey and seed producer in the Interlake, said a Nicaraguan beekeeper will arrive on his farm in the second week of

COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred at several processing plants in Canada, resulting in extended closures and, in some cases, employee deaths.

Food worker union blasts safety measures, foreign worker system

UFCW told parliamentary committee that the pandemic has been very difficult for food sector employees

A union representing thousands of Canadian food workers says “consistency and enforcement” remain a problem when it comes to responses for its members during the COVID-19 pandemic. Derek Johnstone, special assistant to the national president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union of Canada (UFCW), told a parliamentary committee on Feb. 18 that the


KAP delegates ask for extended drivers’ licensing for foreign workers

KAP delegates ask for extended drivers’ licensing for foreign workers

Sam Connery-Nichol said no workers on her farm were able to get necessary road tests in 2020

Farmers who hire seasonal agricultural workers say staff should have their foreign drivers’ licences extended for the duration of their work permit in 2021. Pandemic disruptions to testing made it difficult to get Manitoba licences in 2020, which meant workers could not drive or move equipment between fields. “It was brutal. We did not get

An image created by Nexu Science Communication, together with Trinity College in Dublin, shows a model structurally representative of a betacoronavirus, the type of virus linked to COVID-19. (Nexu Science Communication via Reuters)

Foreign workers to lose some travel exemptions in March

Temporary foreign workers (TFWs) travelling to Canada won’t need to quarantine in a government-supervised hotel when they get here – for now — but by mid-March, Ottawa will put more stringent measures in place. Starting Feb. 22, non-essential travellers and essential workers arriving in Canada will be tested for COVID-19 upon their arrival. Non-essential travellers