Reading Time: 2 minutes Growers of grains, oilseeds and seed corn and maple syrup producers may be able to get in on the federal Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) for the 2021 season. Federal Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough announced Nov. 27 the national commodity list (NCL) would be expanded to include seed corn, oil seed, grains and maple syrup […] Read more
Grain, seed corn growers get access to seasonal worker program
Maple syrup also added to national commodity list
Foreign worker isolation support extended
Federal program extended alongside federal restrictions
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal program helping employers of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) cover the costs of isolating new workers for two weeks on their arrival in Canada has been extended through November. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced Monday that the Mandatory Isolation Support for Temporary Foreign Workers Program will now run to Nov. 30, as the government […] Read more
Feds put up $58.6 M for temporary foreign worker supports
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – The federal government is announcing $58.6 million in new money to further support temporary foreign workers in Canada’s agricultural sector, it was announced July 31. Spending is expected to focus on health and safety of temporary foreign workers in Canada. Farmers will be eligible to access $35 million, administrated through Agriculture and […] 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
Labour shortages persist, hort sector says
Horticultural Council warns sector output will drop for lack of workers, support
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa — The Canadian Horticultural Council warns the federal government is using inaccurate numbers to describe how many temporary foreign workers are currently in the country. During a virtual meeting of the Commons standing committee on agriculture and agri-food, CHC president Brian Gilroy said food security continues to be threatened as a result of labour […] Read more
New Brunswick to lift ban on temporary foreign workers
Damage 'already been done' for farmers, NFU-NB says
Reading Time: 2 minutes New Brunswick plans to end its ban on the entry of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) next week as the province moves to the “yellow” level in its COVID-19 pandemic recovery plan. The ban, announced April 28, will end effective May 29, Premier Blaine Higgs said Friday in an announcement some farmers say comes too late […] Read more
Laid-off foreign workers may get conditional clearance for other jobs
Workers allowed to start new jobs while permits are processed
Reading Time: 2 minutes Approved temporary foreign workers (TFWs) whose jobs disappeared before they could begin work in Canada this spring can now get much quicker approval to start at other workplaces, including farms, where the workers are needed. The federal government said Tuesday it will, effective “immediately,” temporarily waive its rule requiring a TFW to receive federal approval […] Read more
In search of new employees for the farm
If it seems you’ve looked everywhere for new employees, maybe it’s time to try a new way of hiring
Reading Time: 7 minutes We keep hearing the numbers. The farm employment crisis is real, and it is getting worse with over 100,000 farm workers expected to retire in the 2020s, and a dwindling number of candidates from traditional sources to replace them. So, why not go to non-traditional sources? Or maybe there are better ways to let potential […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
