Foreign Workers

Due to the critical labour shortages, Queensland farmers are forced to pay higher wages and provide better conditions, in the hope to attract local workers. The improved conditions come amid warnings of higher prices for consumers as food is left unpicked. Bundaberg lychee grower Craig van Rooyen said…

New requirements of air travellers to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result before boarding a plane to Canada are proving to be a barrier for temporary foreign workers from Mexico. Announced Dec. 31, the Transport Canada regulations came into effect Jan. 7, leaving some Niagara greenhouse…

New COVID-19 testing requirements for travellers entering Canada could hinder more than would-be pandemic tourists. They could also leave tomato, pepper, and other greenhouse vegetable farmers in B.C. scrambling for workers. Temporary foreign workers, most of them from Mexico, are essential to B.C.'s…

The Federal Conservatives are asking the government to bring in a rapid testing pilot project for international workers that are needed in Canadian greenhouses. Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Agri-Food Lianne Rood and Quebec MP Richard Lehoux have issued a joint statement where they say the current…

Despite warnings of food shortages and price rises because of a severe shortage of workers, no state government has come to the table with a plan to bring foreign fruit pickers safely into Australia. Besides, just 355 unemployed Australians have joined the federal program that will see them reimbursed up…

According to Victor Villalobos Arambula, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader), the implementation of the T-MEC Treaty between Mexico, the United States, and Canada and the rearrangements in the production of food caused by the pandemic will lead to a growth in Mexico's…

UK ministers are set to treble the number of foreign workers allowed into the country to pick fruit and vegetables, hoping to ease fears of rotting harvests as a result of Brexit. Some 30,000 temporary staff will be given permits in 2021, up from 10,000 this year, under a document circulated for an…

To aid in establishing minimum requirements for employer-provided accommodations for the TFW Program across Canada, the federal government is inviting input from employers, workers, worker support groups, and other interested parties.

As a first step, the Government of Canada is seeking input until December 22, 2020 on proposed accommodation requirements in the TFW Program’s primary agriculture stream.

Seeking feedback on mandatory employer-provided accommodation requirements

Migrant workers in Dutch agriculture are faced with poor, often abusive, labor conditions. That's in stark contrast to the sector's high economic productivity. That's according to researchers. They are from the Open Society European Policy Institute and the International Institute of Social Studies at…

The new season for New Zealand’s horticulture and wine growing industry has arrived. It is worth an estimated $9.5 billion to the country’s economy. Over the past decade, strong growth in export markets has led to widespread expansion of areas under planting and a shift towards more productive,…

Mexican farm workers harvest celery in a field of Brawley, California, in the Imperial Valley, on January 31, 2017. Many of the farm workers expressed fears that they would not be able to continue working in the United States under the President Trump's administration.

A recently released report by EY details that the Australian fruit and vegetable industry is facing a workforce shortage of up to 26,000 people throughout the peak summer season. A shortage of workers will have a real impact on Australian consumers, with price increases and likely shortages of fruit and…

Migrant workers pick Chardonnay grapes during the harvest at Hambledon Vineyard on October 3, 2018 in Hambledon, United Kingdom. Around 80 predominantly Eastern European workers have been brought in at Hambledon to pick a bumper crop of 250 tonnes of grapes this season, following a long and warm summer. As Brexit looms there is uncertainty for the British wine industry with much of the manufacturing equipment and labour currently imported from other European countries. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Temporary foreign workers who come to B.C. to work will be better protected now that the employers who want to hire these workers will be required to register with the Province as of Dec. 15, 2020. Employers who wish to hire foreign nationals through three federal programs — the Temporary Foreign Worker…

Migrant workers and advocates called for a "just recovery'' from the COVID-19 pandemic during a digital rally on Saturday based out of Vancouver.

AUSVEG, Australia’s peak industry body for vegetable and potato growers, supports the labour plan submitted by the National Farmers’ Federation’s Horticulture Council that will help give growers confidence that they can get the workers they need to get fruits and vegetables off the farm and to consumers.…

The British Columbia Fruit Growers’ Association is once again appealing to locals to consider picking fruit as temporary employment. A similar plea was made earlier in the season, just before the cherry harvest. The plea is deemed necessary in the wake of a severe labour shortage of foreign workers.…

On Wednesday evening, the US Court of Appeals ruled on a very controversial case involving seasonal workers. The court denied a group of nearly 200 agricultural business owners and employees the chance to convince a judge that migrant workers should not have to be tested for COVID-19. Farmers argue that…

SAWP workers are now permitted to continue working beyond their end-date (up to 1-month) as identified on their employer’s LMIA for the 2020 season. For information on extending work permits for workers from other Temporary Foreign Worker Program streams, please visit the government website or view the…

The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has stopped a Scottish vegetable growing business from using workers provided to them by an unlicensed recruitment agency. A Labour Market Enforcement Undertaking (LMEU) has been served to the business based in Angus, north-east Scotland, which supplies…

Fruit growers are appealing to British Columbians in need of work to help with the remaining harvest this year.

The Australian Workers' Union, the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association and the Transport Workers' Union have formed an alliance, calling for a ban on working holidaymaker visa. The unions want Australian farmers to stop hiring international backpackers to harvest their crops and instead…

Since the very beginning of this pandemic, the Government of Canada has taken a number of important steps to ensure the safe arrival of farm workers, who play a vital role in preserving Canada’s food security. To protect the health and safety of Canadian and migrant farm workers, the Government has been working with municipal, provincial and territorial governments, as well as farmers, workers and other employers who participate in the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program. Despite these efforts, there have been COVID-19 outbreaks on a number of Canadian farms that have significantly impacted the health and safety of workers.

An advocacy group supporting temporary foreign workers in B.C.'s Okanagan is raising concerns after two Mexican workers were fired from a West Kelowna nursery for violating the company's policies. 

Four people at Krazy Cherry Fruit Co. in Oliver B.C., have tested positive for the virus and the operation is now under restrictions imposed by Interior Health.

An Air New Zealand flight has carried 300 seasonal workers from Hawke's Bay, Blenheim, Gisborne, Martinborough and the Bay of Plenty home. The airline has been working closely with New Zealand Apples and Pears Inc, the largest employer of Samoan seasonal workers in the country. The company has been…