The influence of Immigration policy change on migrant workers producing food for Canada
Author: Helena Friesen (Food Issues Committee)
The fruits and vegetables we buy at Karma require labour to plant, grow and harvest. Whether due to most Canadians lacking the necessary skills, or perhaps the desire, to do manual labour on farms, Canada uses migrant farm workers, including 20,000 each year in Ontario, mostly from Mexico and the Caribbean (1).
The Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Program (2) allows workers to come to Canada to work on farms, and in greenhouses and food factories. The workers are allowed to work in Canada for up to 8 months of the year. Their wages are determined by negotiation between Canada and their country of origin but effectively end up being around minimum wage; however, workers cannot receive pay for working overtime. They may only work for the employer listed on their permit, so it is difficult for them to change jobs or speak out when facing abuse. Employers must provide housing (usually bunk houses, trailers or sheds), meals or kitchens for cooking, and transportation. Almost all migrant workers live on their employers’ farms and rely on employers for transportation (1).
Last year, the Canadian government introduced a 3-year pilot program, the Agri-Food Pilot (3,4), whereby temporary foreign agricultural workers can apply for permanent residency under Canada’s temporary immigration policy. The program accepts 2750 people per year from essential occupations such as agriculture and horticulture workers (5).
Pfennings Organic Farm in New Hamburg, Karma’s main supplier of local fruits and vegetables, employs about 32 migrant workers, as well as locals and students. According to a blog post from Pfennings by Bernadette Antoniou (6):
On our farm, seasonal teams are made up of locals, students, and Jamaican migrant workers. Some of the migrant workers have been returning to our farm since we first turned to the program in 2005. We rely on their extensive knowledge of our farm, and their expertise in what they do to provide leadership to the ever-changing local and student team members.
“I am delighted to see this,” said Jenn Pfenning in a conversation last year with Leah Gerber, a reporter for The Record, a Waterloo newspaper (7). She guesses at least a dozen of her workers will apply, and she is ready and excited to help them with the paperwork. An anticipated drawback of the program is that it will be vastly oversubscribed, said Pfenning.
“Along with many others, I have been saying that these workers have been essential for a very long time,” says Pfenning. “It took a pandemic for most people to recognize that.”