Foreign worker vaccination prioritized

Temporary foreign workers in the agriculture sector are a priority for the second phase of COVID-19 vaccinations, says federal employment minister and Delta MP Carla Qualtrough.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization has recommended the move as part of measures to address COVID-19 among vulnerable populations, including those in congregate housing.

“NACI has recommended that essential workers and anyone living in congregate spaces should be prioritized in Stage 2 of vaccinations, and that includes temporary foreign workers,” Qualtrough said last week in announcing funding of $17 million from the federal Emergency Food Processing Fund to assist 117 food processors in BC make COVID-19-realted safety upgrades.

Qualtrough said Ottawa is working with all stakeholders, including providing funding for initiatives aimed at keeping migrant workers and communities safe.

“We are putting in place the same measures that we learned were the most impactful last year,” she said. “We’ve definitely learned a lot. I’ve heard over the past weeks that people are more comfortable, obviously, going into this season than they were last season, because it was literally on the fly last season.”

An announcement regarding federal quarantine requirements for incoming foreign workers is expected this week. A three-week exemption from the provisions of quarantine requirements that took effect February 21 ends March 14, a period designed to give Ottawa time to work out funding arrangements with the provinces that would ease the burden on employers.

“We’ve done a really good job I think in the past year of working with industry on the quarantine measures around TFWs,” said Qualtrough, who has spoken with the Delta Farmers Institute and horticultural organizations on the file.

“I can’t scoop what we’re going to be announcing,” she told Country Life in BC, “but it will reflect, absolutely, what we’ve heard from industry in terms of their preferences with how to proceed.”

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23 hours ago

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1 day ago

Forty-six regions in BC are eligible to participate in the federal livestock tax deferral program, announced yesterday, more than anywhere else in the country. The program allows producers who downsize their breeding herds by 15% to defer reporting the proceeds until the following year, when they buy replacement stock. But after multiple years of drought, the BC beef herd is cruising 25-year lows and some producers are calling for more support to maintain and rebuild their herds. For more, see: [www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-leads-livestock-tax-deferrals/]

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5 days ago

After weeks and weeks of no moisture, there's rain in Kelowna today. While much more moisture is needed over the coming weeks and months to reduce drought conditions and the air smells of wet campfire, the slow, steady rain is very welcome for fruit grower#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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6 days ago

The first Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust Grassland Set-aside Variety Trial Field Day was held at Delta's family-owned Tecarte Farms, August 27. Co-owner Bill Bates and DFWT executive director Christine Schmalz welcomed more than 35 people to view seven acres planted to different grassland blends specifically chosen to rejuvenate the soil and support the farm's blueberries. For the Bates family, it was time to try something different following the decline of the field's blueberry bushes over the past several years. "We tried everything, and nothing worked," says Bates. The blueberries were removed in May and the grassland crops planted about a week later.

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Bessette Creek is the latest watershed hit with a temporary fish protection order this year as the province moves to protect returning Chinook salmon. A total of 131 surface and groundwater users must cease drawing water immediately, with forage producers, greenhouses and nurseries impacted. "Declining flows in Bessette Creek reached record lows in early July 2026 and have remained below the minimum level required to support fish population survival," says the province. Bessette producers have embraced voluntary cutbacks, scheduled irrigation and other measures to reduce water use, and are also waiting on funding to boost water storage infrastructure. They're the second group of producers hit with a provincial order this year. Salmon River irrigators were told to top watering earlier this month following a reprieve to address wildfire risk. Growers in both the Salmon River and Bessette watersheds are urging the province to support new water storage infrastructure in advance of next year.

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There is a problem... having lived in the salmon river ( silver creek ) area, I remember a fish biologist telling family members that salmon only "survive" in high iron content creeks, they do not "thrive".... salmon river ( silver creek ) is a very high iron content, would stain clothes brown when i would use bleach... So don't expect high salmon numbers off of that creek , even in ideal situations...

I just wish they would take an interest in CHASE CREEK....went bone dry...100% of trout abd other species died...smell was terrible from rotting fish. Understand this has happened many times in the past. Chase Irrigation District totally responsible for this disaster. Now fishermen are complaining about major drop in water levels at Pillar Lake.

They could not mismanage things worse than they have. It's impossible for them to. The fact that farmers that we need for our animals are now suffering the consequences our governments have not protected us from, is absolutely fucking wild.