Ontario helps farms fight spread of virus

Funding of $15 million to curb COVID outbreaks among migrant workers

Ontario is putting up another $15 million in aid to curb increasing outbreaks of COVID-19 among migrant workers, with assistance worth up to $7,500 per farm, the Star has learned.

The money to improve workplace and bunkhouse protections from the virus that has killed two temporary foreign workers in Essex County will be announced Friday by Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Ernie Hardeman.

“Agri-food businesses and their hard-working employees play a crucial role in keeping our food supply chain strong,” Hardeman said in a statement obtained by the Star.

The program triples previous provincial and federal assistance in this regard and “will allow farmers to adapt to this new environment and implement additional health and safety measures during the COVID-19 outbreak,” he added.

At least 70 migrant workers have tested positive for COVID-19 this week at agri-food operations around the Lake Erie town of Leamington, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has reported.

That situation has caught the attention of public health officials at Queen’s Park.

“It is one that’s concerning and we want to move on it quickly … to avoid further bad consequences,” chief medical officer Dr. David Williams told reporters at a medical briefing Thursday.

He offered the assistance of a mobile testing van to go to various workplaces in addition to a new assessment centre that opened Tuesday in Leamington.

There are at least 8,000 migrant workers in Essex County and an estimated 430 have tested positive for COVID-19 in several workplace outbreaks throughout the farm belt stretching from Windsor to Niagara.

Local health units are eager to stop any spread to vulnerable farm employees living and working in close quarters and to the general population, with wider outbreaks potentially putting food supplies in jeopardy.

Farm and greenhouse operations applying for financial assistance will have to fill out forms explaining how it will be used. If approval is granted, they will be reimbursed once the project is complete.

The province will cover 70 per cent of the cost of approved projects, which can also include alternative transportation for workers so they are not crowded together on buses, fuelling transmission of COVID-19.

“We’re putting everything we can into curtailing further outbreaks as best we can … adding resources as necessary, Williams said, adding workers who test positive must be moved to local hotels and motels to isolate for 14 days.

“Agri-food businesses play a crucial role in keeping our food supply chain strong,”

ERNIE HARDEMAN AGRICULTURE MINISTER