COVID-19 guidelines gamble on the lives of migrant agricultural workers

April 8, 2020 – A team of experts from Ontario and British Columbia are recommending that the government adequately enforce public health measures for migrant agricultural workers in order to stop the spread of COVID-19. Without this in place, entry of these workers must be put on pause.

“Recently published federal government guidelines put too much responsibility on employers to protect the health and safety of migrant agricultural workers during this unprecedented pandemic,” said Caxaj.

More than 69,000 temporary migrant agricultural workers came to Canada in 2019. Central to Canada’s food supply, these workers come from Mexico, the Caribbean and many other countries under specific migrant worker programs.

Despite their massive role in Canada’s food production, the government has failed to put adequate measures in place to protect this workforce from the COVID-19 pandemic, said Caxaj. She has teamed up with Amy Cohen from Okanagan College, Carlos Colindres from Disaster and Emergency Management Consulting Group, Natalie Drolet from Migrant Workers Centre BC and Jenna Hennebry and Janet McLaughlin from Wilfrid Laurier University to develop recommendations to keep workers safe.

“Workers under these programs are often housed in extremely close quarters and face many barriers to accessing healthcare. They are uniquely vulnerable to virus spread and they need additional protections to safeguard their health, and ultimately, that of the public,” Caxaj explained.

“For example, employers are tasked with ensuring that newly-arriving worker cohorts can self-isolate, and that social distancing be observed. Yet, employers are not required to prove that they have appropriate facilities and housing arrangements to do this before workers arrive.”

The team has reached out to the federal government to offer support in implementing their recommendations, and, although staff have been open to dialogue, “we have nothing to show for so far and thousands of workers are already working on farms across the country” Cohen said.

“It is important to send a clear message to migrant workers that we will take care of them if they become sick. If not, workers will be more reluctant to come forward if they experience symptoms,” says Caxaj. “We are already seeing outbreaks in BC, and we fear that many more will follow.”

For a complete list of recommendations, please visit (PDF link here).