Profiles

Profiles
male migrant worker poses in front of grape orchards

Meet Efrain, Seasonal Agricultural Worker from Mexico

My name is Efrain Romero Tellez. I am thirty-six years old. I am originally from the state of Michoacán de Jacona. I have been coming to Canada for six years. For two of those six years, I have worked here on this farm.

I am married, I have my wife, three children… a fourteen-year-old girl, another girl that is five years old and a three-year-old boy.  This is my family. It is a big decision and at the same time a very difficult one, because now all the responsibility of the family is on my wife, to take care of our three children. This job means that economically we are a little better but the situation of distance is very difficult, not only for me, but for all my colleagues as well.

Back home, I used to work picking blueberries. Three years ago, I decided to start my own business. That is what I do now when I am not here and I am back in Mexico. I have a small business in a local market. I sell fruits and vegetables. The business is closed when I’m here and when I return home, we restart it.

On our days off, I take my bike either to the lake, go to the river, go to the beach or I just go for a bike ride to buy a soda, to peddle for a while and that is what I do to have some fun.

What do I like about Canada? Well, I like that it is quiet, it is very calm, the work is very good. Mainly, I like that it is quiet and safe, since Mexico is going through a very, very difficult situation with safety.