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More than a job: Canada’s seasonal worker program fuels families, education and economies
Seasonal, migrant or guest workers have long been part of the global labour force as countries who struggle to fill vacant jobs open their doors to people from abroad who are looking for work they can’t get in their home countries.
Gov’t to award 60 scholarships under Farm Workers Programme
A total of 60 scholarships will be awarded to Jamaicans in 2026 under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Programme (SAWP), more popularly referred to as the Canadian Farm Workers Programme. The announcement was made by the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pearnel Charles Jr., during his contribution to the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives last Tuesday.
La saison se prépare pour Leisure Farms
Pascale de Montigny, Directrice générale – Journal Agricom À West Nipissing, à quelques distances de North Bay, Mitch Deschatelets est un agriculteur francophone à la tête d’une entreprise au nom anglophone qui emploie… des travailleurs mexicains! Mitch ne doit pas seulement maîtriser la machinerie agricole: il doit aussi maîtriser les langues dans cette région de […]
New protections, more supports for Ontario’s migrant farm workers
Canada’s temporary foreign worker programs have been increasingly drawing public and media scrutiny as their use in some sectors of Canada’s economy has grown dramatically. For agriculture, hiring seasonal and international farm workers is not new. In fact, Ontario fruit and vegetable growers welcomed the first Jamaican workers to the province in 1966 to address what even then was a growing shortage of farm workers.
Why temporary foreign workers play a vital role in supporting Canadian agriculture and food security
There has been a lot of talk lately about the temporary foreign worker (TFW) program, painting the program in a negative light and culminating in the recent commitment by federal Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault to tighten access to the program and reduce the number of TFWs in Canada.
Seasonal farm workers a 65-year tradition started in The Blue Mountains
A celebration in Thornbury this week marked six decades of a relationship that spans from Canada to Jamaica, and it all began on a farm in The Blue Mountains. The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) started with just six workers hired to help on the Mitchell family farm in Thornbury in 1965 and today it's a national program specifically built for the agricultural sector.
Timothy Clarke comes to Canada for seven months every year for ‘a chance at a better life’ for his young son
Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) may not be perfect, concedes Althea Riley, acting chief liaison officer with the Jamaican Liaison Service (JLS), an arm of her nation’s Ministry of Labour and Social Security. But the impact of a symbiotic more than 50-year relationship for Jamaicans and the country’s economy as well as Canadian farmers, food production and food security is undeniable.
Jamaican farm workers enjoy dominoes, music, food, good vibes
Jamaican farm workers in the Simcoe region enjoyed a Dominoes Extravaganza on Sunday featuring ‘music, food, beverages and good vibes. And dominoes, of course, all hosted by the Jamaican Liaison Service at Townsend Fruit Farms east of Simcoe. “It’s a Jamaican pastime,” said Simcoe region liaison officer James Golding. “At most farms, that’s the way they socialize.”
Ontario farm jobs a coveted opportunity for seasonal workers
It was an emotional day for Jamaican Adam Arboine when he found out that he’d been accepted into Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP). The news meant a coveted seasonal job in an Ontario vineyard – an opportunity to earn money to support his family that has brought him to Ontario for more than 22 years.
Area farms rely on ‘incredibly important’ foreign workers
Every year, tens of thousands of foreign workers come to Canada to put down roots — literally. With planting season well underway, hundreds of foreign workers from Mexico, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad/Tobago and eight other Caribbean countries have once again returned to work on nearby farms, including some within the Holland Marsh.
Soccer tournament sheds light on the many hobbies of migrant farm workers
The smell of freshly cut grass and the sound of cleats kicking a ball filled the air. When teams filed off arriving buses, it was easy to tell this was a day circled on the calendar for everyone in attendance. On August 13, the fourth annual Farms of Norfolk Football Tournament played host to 12 teams of migrant farm workers from different farms across southern Ontario.
NOTL migrant worker bike program a second career for skilled volunteers
Dennis Blake will often see his handiwork when he’s out and about in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Blake is a volunteer with the Bikes for Farmworkers program and he has learned to recognize the bikes he and his fellow volunteers have worked on after they leave the group’s shop. “We put reflectors on … so we recognize them, or at least I do,”