Migrant Farm Workers Ontario News

Profiles

Check out the latest news.

soccer player kicking ball

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.

animated bike

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,”

Migrant farm workers keen to return home as growing season ends

It’s fall harvest in Ontario and for many of the province’s migrant farm workers, that means it will soon be time to go back home to their families for the winter. Every year, Ontario fruit and vegetable growers employ approximately 20,000 seasonal and temporary foreign workers through the government-regulated Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) and the agricultural stream  of the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program.

farm worker in greenhouse

Federal inspections show most Ontario employers follow rules protecting migrant workers

A year’s worth of federal government inspections revealed 94 per cent of companies that hire temporary foreign workers are living up to regulations aimed at protecting the employees.Between April 2022 and March 2023, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) conducted about 2,100 inspections of employers across all sectors of the economy, including fruit and vegetable producers.

Home away from home. Foreign workers are fairly treated says fruit grower … and the workers

Seasonal workers at Nighthawk Orchards outside of Meaford are happy with their home away from home as they prune apple trees in the sunshine. “We grow these trees from the bud,” said Delroy Martin, who has been travelling from his home in St. Thomas, Jamaica, to work at the orchard since 1989. “We enjoy it a lot. If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t be here.”

agriculture workers in field

Canada’s migrant farm worker fact and information sheet

Seasonal and temporary international farm workers form an essential part of Canada’s domestic food supply chain and help Canadian growers address labour needs on their farms. With the money they earn in Canada, TFWs are able to support their families and communities back home. There are many examples of workers who have established farms and businesses in their home countries, created local jobs and sent their children to university.

apple pickers in orchard

Fruit and vegetable growers push back against UN expert comments linking foreign worker programs to ‘slavery

Ontario’s fruit and vegetable growers are pushing back against recent comments linking Canada’s temporary foreign worker programs to slavery. The statements were made recently by Tomoya Obokala, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, as he ended a two week visit to Canada.

apple pickers in orchard

Fruit and vegetable growers respond to UN rapporteur comments on temporary foreign worker programs

Ontario’s fruit and vegetable growers are pushing back against recent comments linking Canada’s temporary foreign worker programs to slavery. The statements were made recently by Tomoya Obokala, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, as he ended a two week visit to Canada.

greenhouse worker

Government-regulated programs key to employment protections for migrant farm workers

Leroy Gregorio from Jamaica comes to Canada annually to work at Truly Green Farms in Chatham, where he first worked tending tomato plants in the greenhouse and now harvests ripe fruit. “My job keeps me active. It keeps me going because I am a guy who thinks it is never enough. When I leave Jamaica to come here, it is all about working..."

migrant farm workers

Fruit and vegetable growers welcome Recognized Employer Pilot for temporary foreign workers

Ontario’s fruit and vegetable growers are pleased with this week’s introduction of the Recognized Employer Pilot (REP) for qualified employers who hire workers through the Temporary Foreign Worker program. The announcement was made by Randy Boissonnault, Canada’s Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages.

male farm worker

Migrant farm workers proud of work in Canada

Results from a recent report released by an independent international taskforce paint a picture of migrant farm workers in Ontario that isn’t often seen by the public: people who are proud of the work they do to feed Canadians and whose jobs on Ontario farms make a positive difference in their lives and those of their families.

farm worker housing

Farmers investing in new migrant worker housing

There is pride in the voice of Maricela Ramirez Zamarripa as she shows visitors around her new home on the Niagara Region tree fruit and flower farm where she works. The Mexican woman is a seasonal agricultural worker and for the last eight years has been working at Meyers Fruit Farms, a farm business that has just built five new housing units to accommodate up to 40 of their international employees.