As spring arrives, Ontario’s fruit and vegetable farms are once again welcoming seasonal and temporary farm workers from other countries.
After the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, many improvements have been made to support and protect the workers who come to help grow the food Ontarians enjoy as part of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) and the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program’s agricultural stream.
Bill George, grape grower and chair of the Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Growers’ Association (OFVGA) Labour Committee, said five years ago, growers were unsure whether they would have workers to grow and harvest the many fruit and vegetable crops.
“Workers didn’t know whether they’d be able to come here to work. Those were stressful times for everyone, but five years later, it’s remarkable how much positive change has resulted since then,” George said. “These important programs are still sometimes portrayed as leaving workers vulnerable without adequate housing or knowledge of their rights or the protections they’re entitled to, but a truly collaborative effort by farm employers, various levels of government and by the workers’ home countries has gone a long way to addressing legitimate concerns brought forward,” he adds.