Ontario to continue financial assistance via Enhanced Agri-food Workplace Protection

OMAFRA continues financial assistance for workplace and employee health and safety through the Enhanced Agri‐food Workplace Protection Program.    

By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com; Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

OMAFRA (the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs) has announced that on November 10, 2022, the provincial government will launch a new intake under the Enhanced Agri‐food Workplace Protection Program to support workers’ health and safety and ensure the continued supply of locally grown food all year round.

The announcement was made by OMAFRA minister the Honourable Lisa Thompson, and is designed to better help farmers and other agri‐food businesses guard against the spread of Covid in the workplace and protect employee health and safety.

The province announced it is providing $10 million in 2022–23 for ongoing support and expansion of the Enhanced Agri‐Food Workplace Protection Program, a cost‐sharing initiative that provides financial assistance to eligible agri‐food businesses that continue to face extraordinary costs related to wage support, isolation and quarantine measures, and infection prevention and control measures.

The $10 million in provincial funding will be available through three program streams:

• Stream I: Agri‐Food Workplace COVID‐19 Prevention and Protection;
• Stream II: Wage, Isolation and Quarantine Support for Employers of International Agri‐food Workers and Domestic Workers in Ontario;
• Stream III: Congregate Housing Infection Prevention and Control Measures (Congregate housing defined as employers who provide housing to International Agricultural Workers (IAWs) partaking in the federal Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and / or Workers living in employer provided accommodation).