New effort recognizes international farm workers

Right now, about 60,000 seasonal international farm workers – 35,000 of whom work on farms in Ontario – are back home with their families, enjoying the warm weather, waiting for another growing season in Canada to start.

The contributions they make to Canadian agriculture are huge. These workers fill a chronic labour gap here, particularly for manual labour jobs.

“There would be no fruit and vegetable production in Canada without international farm workers,” says the Canadian Horticultural Council. “Their impact on our food supply chain is immense, as is the impact on the families and communities of the workers who choose to take these jobs.”

Sounds like a slam dunk. But the program has its critics, who question employees’ treatment, among other things. Such criticism is said to be a reason behind a surge of on-farm inspections and paperwork related to international workers in 2017-18.

Some producers say the investigation into their activities delayed the administrative approval required to hire seasonal international workers by weeks or even months.

So before this year’s wave of workers starts arriving, the council is trying a different approach to promote a better understanding of the program, through a new seven-part video series in celebration of international farm workers in Canada.

The council has told the