Reading Time: 3 minutes A United Nations special rapporteur on modern slavery has called out Canada’s temporary foreign worker (TFW) programs, including those in the agriculture sector. Tomoya Obokata, who was appointed by the UN’s Human Rights Council, spoke in Ottawa Sept. 6 following a 14-day visit to Canada. He called the programs “a breeding ground for contemporary forms […] Read more
UN rapporteur calls Canada’s TFW system ‘breeding ground for modern slavery’
Tomoya Obokata says government needs to better protect worker rights and provide better residency path
Ontario police charge seven with trafficking, exploiting migrants
Workers provided for farms and other sites, police say
Reading Time: 2 minutes Toronto | Reuters — Ontario’s York Regional Police have charged seven people with trafficking and exploiting 64 Mexican migrants, saying the accused were part of an international labour trafficking ring operating in the Toronto region. Police in Ontario said on Friday they had obtained information in November that migrant men and women were being exploited […] Read more
Audit finds Canada failing migrant farmworkers on COVID-19, housing inspections
Reading Time: 2 minutes Toronto | Reuters — As the COVID-19 pandemic raged, federal government inspectors frequently deemed the employers of migrant workers compliant with health and safety rules despite a lack of evidence, according to an Auditor General report released Thursday. While Canadian provinces and territories set housing standards, the federal government is responsible for ensuring tens of […] Read more
Ontario investigating 17 temp agencies after virus outbreaks on farms
"We stand firm against exploitation in our province"
Reading Time: < 1 minute Toronto/Winnipeg | Reuters — Ontario is investigating 17 temporary recruitment agencies, the province’s labour ministry said, after health officials warned that agencies that move workers from farm to farm could be contributing to COVID-19 outbreaks. Canadian farms rely on some 60,000 people who come to Canada on temporary work permits every year, typically living and […] Read more
Ontario pledges farm recruiter crackdown as COVID-19 outbreaks grow
Ford rips 'fly-by-nighters just trying to make a quick buck'
Reading Time: 2 minutes Toronto | Reuters –– Ontario will crack down on “fly-by-night” recruitment agencies sending workers on to farms, the premier said on Monday, after a testing blitz identified a major coronavirus outbreak on a farm in southwestern Ontario. “We’re reaching out to all the farmers, we’re getting a list of these recruitment agencies. We found out […] Read more
Health minister calls treatment of some farm workers a ‘national disgrace’
Ministers discussing changes to Canada's TFW program
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — The treatment of migrant workers in Canada by some farmers is disgraceful and the federal government is seeking to fix the problem, the country’s health minister told a parliamentary committee on Friday, as farms battle COVID-19 outbreaks among their employees. Outbreaks of coronavirus infections have killed three people and infected hundreds […] Read more
TFW program to be overhauled after COVID-19 outbreaks on farms
"The piece that's missing is enforcement"
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada is overhauling its temporary foreign worker program, a government spokeswoman said on Friday, after coronavirus outbreaks on Ontario farms sickened hundreds and led Mexico to demand assurances of proper safeguards. As part of the review, surprise inspections of working and living conditions on farms will immediately increase, Ashley Michnowski, communications […] Read more
COVID-19 cases, deaths lead Ontario to test migrant farm workers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Toronto/Ottawa | Reuters — Ontario has started testing about 8,000 migrant farm workers for COVID-19 in a hard-hit rural region of the province after two young workers died and the coronavirus was found on at least 17 farms, according to the local public health authority. The Ontario outbreak has centred on farms in the Windsor-Essex […] Read more
Brexit crisis tipped for British asparagus
Reading Time: 4 minutes Ross-on-Wye, England | Reuters — For almost 100 years, Chris Chinn’s family has farmed asparagus in the rolling hills of the Wye Valley in western England. This year, he fears uncertainty around Britain’s departure from the European Union will keep his eastern European workers away and the asparagus will stay in the ground. Asparagus grown […] Read more
The multicultural workforce
Reading Time: 4 minutes At the end of the day, Tom Maloney says it all comes down to respect. The senior extension associate at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University has spent decades studying how to successfully manage multicultural teams, and he has advised farmers on how to best manage migrant labour […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
