QUESTION PERIOD — Agriculture and Agri-Food
Temporary Foreign Workers
July 27, 2020
My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, as you know, we’ve heard a lot about temporary foreign workers in the agriculture sector in recent months. There have been questions about their work conditions and safety since the beginning of the pandemic, and there have been COVID-19 outbreaks at farms and tragic deaths of migrant workers.
We’ve heard that the Government of Ontario is investigating 17 temp agencies in relation to these outbreaks. The federal government said that they would take action to ensure the safety of our migrant workers, who are so important to the agricultural sector, and to improve the programs through which they are employed.
Since my last question on June 23, what concrete actions has the government taken?
Thank you for your question. It’s an important one.
The government is very aware how important temporary workers are to meeting our labour market needs in key sectors, notably but not exclusively in the agricultural area. I am advised that the government’s work in the intervening time to which you referred includes working closely with the provinces and the territories with a special focus on improving housing for foreign workers in Canada.
I’m also advised that the government is looking actively at additional steps to enhance worker safety, for example, by having Service Canada inspectors work closely with the Public Health Agency of Canada as well as local health units to provide increasing outreach to temporary foreign workers and bolstering inspections in the event of a flare-up or an outbreak.
Through this, of course, the government continues to offer mandatory isolation support for temporary foreign workers. This is a program that offers farmers and food processors up to $1,500 per worker to help pay for the costs related to meeting the mandatory 14-day quarantine period when the worker enters Canada.
Farms will continue to be monitored to ensure compliance with quarantine rules. If, in fact, an employer is found not to be compliant with the Quarantine Act or the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, they would no longer be eligible for that $1,500 to which I referred and, indeed, could face significant fines and sanctions.
