Growers wary of foreign worker regulation update

President of B.C. organization doesn’t want more ‘red tape’

Expanded regulations intended to better protect foreign workers in B.C. could duplicate what already exists in the farming sector, says BC Fruit Growers’ Association president Pinder Dhaliwal.

Okanagan farmers who bring in about 3,500 Mexican and Caribbean workers each year are already subject to considerable oversight and regulation, Dhaliwal says.

“This could just be more red tape for us,” Dhaliwal said Wednesday. “We already give the government so much information about the workers we bring in, and lots of agencies are involved in monitoring the program.

“Having more paperwork to fill out, this could just be another hurdle for us that impacts our ability to do what we need to do to make a living,” Dhaliwal said.

The federal Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program dates back to the 1960s. It was created to help growers bring in foreign farm workers to do the kind of hard, manual labour in agriculture that Canadians are increasingly unwilling to do.

The program involves Service Canada, federal tax authorities, the Mexican Consulate, WorkSafeBC and the provincial Ministry of Labour, Dhaliwal says.

Growers pay for the foreign farm workers’ airfare, and must provide them with accommodation that’s regularly inspected. While in Canada, the foreign workers are paid the same wages that Canadians would be paid.

The program is well-managed and a benefit to both Canadians and Mexicans, growers say, as evidenced by the fact that 85 per cent of the farm workers apply to return each year to the Okanagan.

A self-styled Okanagan-based advocacy group for Mexican farm workers, Radical Action for Migrants in Agriculture, also has volunteers that work with the foreigners to carry forward any complaints they may have about how they’re being treated.

On Tuesday, the government announced legislation it says will better protect the nearly 17,000 people who came to the province this year under the Temporary Foreign Worker program.

“Workers coming to B.C. want to feel safe, confident their rights are protected, and that abusive employers will be held accountable,” said Labour Minister Harry Bains. “The exploitation of anyone working in our province runs against the values of British Columbians. We need to shut any door that allows recruiters or employers to wilfully ignore and abuse the rights of workers in this province.”

The legislation imposes new rules on recruiters who bring foreign workers to B.C. Dhaliwal says that’s not likely to impact Okanagan agriculture, since the Mexicans who come here apply first to authorities in their own country.

But the legislation will also create a new registry for everyone who hires foreign workers. The government says such a registry will “hold employers accountable for their actions and to improve government response to health, housing or other violations of B.C. laws.”

In the Okanagan, the Mexican and Caribbean workers typically arrive in late winter or early spring and stay until November.