British Columbia prepares for an influx of farm workers,
Province finding ways to safely house Canadian labourers amid COVID-19
SUMMERLAND, B.C.— Rural communities in British Columbia are racing to establish temporary camp sites with washrooms and enough space for physical distancing for domestic farm workers from elsewhere in Canada.
Some workers have already arrived to pick early season fruit, and hundreds more are expected to arrive in coming weeks, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
The working conditions faced by migrant workers from other countries such as Mexico have been under the spotlight of late amid concerns over COVID-19 outbreaks and several deaths due to the virus. Meanwhile, for thousands of Canadian youth, picking fruit in the summer and autumn while camping in orchards rent-free is a longstanding way to save up money for school or other expenses.
But in the time of coronavirus, as evidenced by the migrant worker situation, some existing farm sites don’t meet government health and safety standards.
In a statement this week, B.C.’s Ministry of Agriculture said it is providing funds to local governments to create campsite accommodations.
The sites would meet health and safety requirements set by the provincial health officer to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Campsites are planned for the Oliver area in the southern Okanagan and two more are slated for Creston in southeastern B.C., with the province providing about $60,000 for each site. Campsite accommodations are also currently being explored in Summerland, Osoyoos, Naramata and the Similkameen.
Each year, between 1,500 and 2,000 domestic seasonal workers arrive in B.C., with the majority from Quebec. This season, approximately 1,000 workers are expected, an agriculture ministry spokesperson told the Star in an email.
Quebec leads Canada in the number of COVID-19 cases, with a total of 54,397 cases as of June 24, while B.C. has been able to “flatten the curve” with a total of only 2,849 cases provincewide so far.
In picturesque Summerland, on the west side of Okanagan
Lake, where there are nearly 3,000 hectares of farmland, some residents have been anxiously waiting for weeks for details about planned campsites.
They are concerned that without proper protocols in place in time for arrivals, incoming workers from Quebec and Ontario could spread COVID-19 in the community.
“It’s super scary because domestic farm workers don’t have to self-isolate like migrant workers, where farmers have to meet strict protocols for migrant housing,” says Janine Sentes.
“I don’t want to say Canadians will be dishonest about whether they are feeling well or not, but … we’d support mandatory self-isolation for domestic workers, too,” she said.
Sentes was speaking to the Star at the Summerland Rodeo Grounds, which has been tabled by municipal council as a potential campsite for workers.
She has been vocal as part of the Summerland Rodeo Grounds Equine Development Committee, which says it appreciates the important role domestic farm workers play in the economy but wants the province to hold farmers responsible for meeting COVID-19 protocols so public spaces aren’t affected.
B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry issued a 10page public health order on
April 23 for employers and workers in the agriculture, aquaculture, forestry and resource sectors.
It is not mandatory for seasonal workers in these industries to self-isolate for 14 days when coming to B.C. from other parts of the country.
However, the order says employers must develop COVID-19 infection prevention and control protocols and maintain high levels of hygiene.
The problem is that regulations for domestic worker campsites have been minimal in the past and some farmers don’t have the resources to make substantial upgrades, says Anthony Haddad, chief administrative officer with the District of Summerland.
“Workers have had a variety of accommodations over years, some obviously better than others, which put pressure on public recreational washroom facilities in the past,” Haddad said in a phone interview.
“We’re here to support our agriculture industry as well, which is a key economic driver in the south Okanagan,” he added.
With fewer domestic workers coming to B.C. as well as fewer foreign workers coming from other countries, growers say they will likely lose crops because of the labour shortage. Jonathan Boerboom, 32, whose family has owned the Mountain View nursery in Summerland since the 1960s, said his business doesn’t normally employ Canadian workers from out of province, but would need to compete with other farmers to hire them this year.
The process of packaging and transferring the nursery’s 21 million seedlings for storage is labour intensive, and the 20hectare nursery usually employs a hundred people at peak season, including a mix of locals and workers from Mexico.
“It’s such a dense agricultural area, so there is a lot of competition for labour and not enough local residents to work for the farms here,” Boerboom said while giving a tour of the nursery, which supplies 12.3 million seedlings to the B.C. government to replenish forests destroyed in wildfires.
“My concern is that after we have invested in our facilities (for foreign workers) using the current COVID-19 health and safety standards that the government has laid out, what will happen now? How can we keep our employees safe and fully utilize our facilities?”
Boerboom said he’s seen that provincial officials in Quebec are considering subsidies to encourage local workers to take on seasonal farm work, and he says it would be beneficial for governments across Canada to introduce subsidies to allow growers to offer more competitive salaries and better-quality lodgings.
“It’s a tough time for everyone in many industries,” he said. The mayor of the town of Summerland says the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted that the living conditions of many farm workers require significant improvement, both those from overseas and other provinces.
“It’s unfortunate that we’re in crisis mode at this point, but the work we’re getting done now (to upgrade living facilities) will move us forward in the future, I think.
“It’s something that should’ve been addressed years ago and now we have no choice. Let’s make the most of it.”