Are Caribbean migrant workers in Ontario’s agricultural sector being exploited?
I noticed this topic recently and decided to provide my comments. I do employ such workers in Southern Ontario and reside on the Niagara escarpment.My neighbours and I have accepted over 100 migrant workers over the last decade plus for the eight months that help is required. Southern Ontario is a fruit basket of Canada .
It grows various grains such as soya, canola, corn plus peaches , plum , strawberries, pears, apples, grapes etc.Some of these products are exported via Hamilton, Ontario Ports,land and sea.Ice wine is shipped via air to Europe.Canada is now the world’s fifth largest food exporter, generating CA$94 billion in income from agricultural exports annually.
The move towards export-oriented farming has fuelled a need for highly productive labour, enabling produce to be exported at competitive prices. Canada's population cannot supply the total amount of people required for farm work.In Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, migrant workers make up 41.6 percent of the agricultural labour force. Demand for labour in the sector has grown over the years with the transition from small and medium-sized family farms to large scale commercial farming operations focused on export.
The Commonwealth Caribbean Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, which was created in 1966 in response to demands from Canadian fruit and vegetable growers who were facing a shortage of Canadian workers willing to provide low-wage manual farm labour.The programme started with workers from Jamaica, and has since expanded to include Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico and eight eastern Caribbean countries.Workers accepted into the programme are permitted to come to Canada to work for a maximum of eight months out of the year and are advised of terms and conditions. After eight months of work in Canada, they have to return home.They can purchase medical and life insurance should they wish.On occasions they don't.
Under such programs, Canada through various Governments requests such labor for Canadian farm owners.We must notify the governments of how many workers a farm needs one year in advance, some farms request the same workers yearly. This program started in 1966 and has been ongoing for over 5 decades.As workers reach 65 years old they are replaced by younger workers.However, employers have the right to request specific workers by name to return the following year.In practice, most of the participants in the SAWP are recalled year after year, sometimes accumulating decades of experience working on Canadian farms.Their work is repetitive and physically demanding and could require them to operate heavy machinery or handle pesticides and other chemicals.
If the ministry visits and sees them without safety gear the farmer can be charged,a hefty fine and taken to court. They work under intense pressure to meet daily productivity targets,and workers are notified of the production schedule.Certain crops have a timeline to be processed.In practice, most of the participants in the SAWP are recalled year after year.
As of June 1, 2022, the general minimum wage is $15.65 Cdn per hour.The average farm worker salary in Canada is $30,106 per year or $15.65 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $27,300 per year, while most experienced workers make up to $45,950 per year.They reported being subjected to increased restrictions on their mobility, which prevented them from going to town to shop for necessities or send money to their families, while Canadian farm workers faced no such restrictions.All Canadians had restrictions during the pandemic.The one problem I had with my workers was that they weren't allowed to go to the local bars to party during the pandemic.In 2023 they are partying on weekends.Caribbean workers –who are mostly men,report particularly levels of racist treatment, not only from their employers but also from the local residents of surrounding white farming towns.Yes,such do occur on occasions; we do have small redneck towns but it's changing.
Each year, a significant number of workers, exceeding 60,000, migrate to Canada through the aforementioned program, in addition to the agricultural stream of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP).Furthermore, the implementation of medical deportation permits employers to repatriate employees who are unwell, regardless of whether their illnesses or injuries were a direct result of their employment in Canada.Between 2001 and 2011, a total of 787 repatriations of agricultural workers took place in Ontario. Among these cases, 41.3 percent were attributed to medical or surgical reasons, while 25.5 percent were associated with external injuries.Migrants residing and engaging in employment within employer premises situated in rural regions experience a restricted capacity to establish connections with individuals within the broader community, thereby exacerbating their sense of isolation.In rural areas, the distance between towns often exceeds 60 kilometers, leading to a prevalent reliance on bicycles as a primary mode of transportation among the local workforce.The individuals are frequently accommodated in habitable barracks situated on the agricultural estates.
Precedents include the recruitment of Chinese labourers to build the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late nineteenth century (600 of whom died on the job) and the Live-in Caregiver Program, which brought Caribbean women to perform domestic work while blocking the permanent settlement of Black migrants in Canada. Scholars have connected these practices to the driving logic of British colonialism behind Canada’s founding: after the conquered land was ‘cleared’ through the violent subjugation of indigenous peoples, migrants were brought to work for the economy established on the cleared land.While some categories of migrants were deemed ‘settler-worthy’ and welcomed to stay, others, predominantly those who are racialized and constructed as ‘lowskilled’, continue to be treated only as disposable sources of labour by the then British colonials in Canada.
SAWP workers lack a viable avenue to obtain permanent residency or access the labor rights afforded to other Canadian citizens.The program's design inherently includes the precarious immigration status of its participants, categorizing them as "temporary" workers despite the structural and permanent demand for their labor. This is evident from the program's continuous operation for more than five decades.The terminology employed in these programs perpetuates the categorization of agricultural laborers as "foreign" and "temporary" within public discourse, thereby reinforcing the notion that they are not integral members of Canadian society.
The Government is currently considering alterations to the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) conditions, prompted by concerns of modern slavery within Canada. Additionally, there have been calls for the elimination of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).These programs rationalize a reduced level of treatment for workers from the global south who are racially marginalized, while facilitating an unequal distribution of the profits generated by their labor to Canada's corporate elite.It is imperative to establish avenues for agricultural workers migrating to Canada to attain permanent residency status subsequent to a specified duration of employment, akin to existing provisions for other migrant populations.They play a crucial role in Canada's society and should be treated as such.
During his tenure in governmental organizations, Ewart showed unwavering dedication in assisting migrant workers to achieve integration within Canadian society.
some excerpts
Exploitation of Ontario workers..
Statistic Canada
I noticed this topic recently and decided to provide my comments. I do employ such workers in Southern Ontario and reside on the Niagara escarpment.My neighbours and I have accepted over 100 migrant workers over the last decade plus for the eight months that help is required. Southern Ontario is a fruit basket of Canada .
It grows various grains such as soya, canola, corn plus peaches , plum , strawberries, pears, apples, grapes etc.Some of these products are exported via Hamilton, Ontario Ports,land and sea.Ice wine is shipped via air to Europe.Canada is now the world’s fifth largest food exporter, generating CA$94 billion in income from agricultural exports annually.
The move towards export-oriented farming has fuelled a need for highly productive labour, enabling produce to be exported at competitive prices. Canada's population cannot supply the total amount of people required for farm work.In Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, migrant workers make up 41.6 percent of the agricultural labour force. Demand for labour in the sector has grown over the years with the transition from small and medium-sized family farms to large scale commercial farming operations focused on export.
The Commonwealth Caribbean Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, which was created in 1966 in response to demands from Canadian fruit and vegetable growers who were facing a shortage of Canadian workers willing to provide low-wage manual farm labour.The programme started with workers from Jamaica, and has since expanded to include Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico and eight eastern Caribbean countries.Workers accepted into the programme are permitted to come to Canada to work for a maximum of eight months out of the year and are advised of terms and conditions. After eight months of work in Canada, they have to return home.They can purchase medical and life insurance should they wish.On occasions they don't.
Under such programs, Canada through various Governments requests such labor for Canadian farm owners.We must notify the governments of how many workers a farm needs one year in advance, some farms request the same workers yearly. This program started in 1966 and has been ongoing for over 5 decades.As workers reach 65 years old they are replaced by younger workers.However, employers have the right to request specific workers by name to return the following year.In practice, most of the participants in the SAWP are recalled year after year, sometimes accumulating decades of experience working on Canadian farms.Their work is repetitive and physically demanding and could require them to operate heavy machinery or handle pesticides and other chemicals.
If the ministry visits and sees them without safety gear the farmer can be charged,a hefty fine and taken to court. They work under intense pressure to meet daily productivity targets,and workers are notified of the production schedule.Certain crops have a timeline to be processed.In practice, most of the participants in the SAWP are recalled year after year.
As of June 1, 2022, the general minimum wage is $15.65 Cdn per hour.The average farm worker salary in Canada is $30,106 per year or $15.65 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $27,300 per year, while most experienced workers make up to $45,950 per year.They reported being subjected to increased restrictions on their mobility, which prevented them from going to town to shop for necessities or send money to their families, while Canadian farm workers faced no such restrictions.All Canadians had restrictions during the pandemic.The one problem I had with my workers was that they weren't allowed to go to the local bars to party during the pandemic.In 2023 they are partying on weekends.Caribbean workers –who are mostly men,report particularly levels of racist treatment, not only from their employers but also from the local residents of surrounding white farming towns.Yes,such do occur on occasions; we do have small redneck towns but it's changing.
Each year, a significant number of workers, exceeding 60,000, migrate to Canada through the aforementioned program, in addition to the agricultural stream of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP).Furthermore, the implementation of medical deportation permits employers to repatriate employees who are unwell, regardless of whether their illnesses or injuries were a direct result of their employment in Canada.Between 2001 and 2011, a total of 787 repatriations of agricultural workers took place in Ontario. Among these cases, 41.3 percent were attributed to medical or surgical reasons, while 25.5 percent were associated with external injuries.Migrants residing and engaging in employment within employer premises situated in rural regions experience a restricted capacity to establish connections with individuals within the broader community, thereby exacerbating their sense of isolation.In rural areas, the distance between towns often exceeds 60 kilometers, leading to a prevalent reliance on bicycles as a primary mode of transportation among the local workforce.The individuals are frequently accommodated in habitable barracks situated on the agricultural estates.
Precedents include the recruitment of Chinese labourers to build the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late nineteenth century (600 of whom died on the job) and the Live-in Caregiver Program, which brought Caribbean women to perform domestic work while blocking the permanent settlement of Black migrants in Canada. Scholars have connected these practices to the driving logic of British colonialism behind Canada’s founding: after the conquered land was ‘cleared’ through the violent subjugation of indigenous peoples, migrants were brought to work for the economy established on the cleared land.While some categories of migrants were deemed ‘settler-worthy’ and welcomed to stay, others, predominantly those who are racialized and constructed as ‘lowskilled’, continue to be treated only as disposable sources of labour by the then British colonials in Canada.
SAWP workers lack a viable avenue to obtain permanent residency or access the labor rights afforded to other Canadian citizens.The program's design inherently includes the precarious immigration status of its participants, categorizing them as "temporary" workers despite the structural and permanent demand for their labor. This is evident from the program's continuous operation for more than five decades.The terminology employed in these programs perpetuates the categorization of agricultural laborers as "foreign" and "temporary" within public discourse, thereby reinforcing the notion that they are not integral members of Canadian society.
The Government is currently considering alterations to the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) conditions, prompted by concerns of modern slavery within Canada. Additionally, there have been calls for the elimination of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).These programs rationalize a reduced level of treatment for workers from the global south who are racially marginalized, while facilitating an unequal distribution of the profits generated by their labor to Canada's corporate elite.It is imperative to establish avenues for agricultural workers migrating to Canada to attain permanent residency status subsequent to a specified duration of employment, akin to existing provisions for other migrant populations.They play a crucial role in Canada's society and should be treated as such.
During his tenure in governmental organizations, Ewart showed unwavering dedication in assisting migrant workers to achieve integration within Canadian society.
some excerpts
Exploitation of Ontario workers..
Statistic Canada
