Governments boost worker supports

Ottawa is developing plans to quarantine incoming seasonal workers at no additional cost to farmers, federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced February 12.

The new protocols are under development following an announcement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that international passengers will face tighter entry requirements as of February 22.

Travellers landing at one of four designated airports for international flights will be required to isolate at their own expense for three days at a federally chosen hotel.

This is in addition to proof of testing negative for COVID-19 via one of 18 approved testing methods within 72 hours of arrival and a negative test on entry to Canada. (Ottawa has also said it reserves the right to designate specific providers of the tests.)

However, foreign farm workers can continue to their usual quarantine location until mid-March, Bibeau said. They’ll be given a test kit to be used prior to emerging from their 14-day mandatory quarantine.

The lag time gives Ottawa an opportunity to work out financial arrangements with the individual provinces. It will announce a new quarantine plan for arriving workers at that time.

Bibeau told Country Life in BC that Ottawa is budgeting $2,000 per worker, but this amount will vary by province. She indicated that Ottawa plans to cover quarantine costs that BC has been covering since last year.

According to the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, the province spent $15 million to cover the cost of housing, feeding and laundering clothes for incoming workers last year. This worked out to an average of $3,000 per worker.

The provincial support was in addition to a federal payment of $1,500 per foreign worker that farm employers could receive under the $50 million Mandatory Isolation Support for Temporary Foreign Workers Program launched in April 2020.

Consolidation of the supports could save both levels of government a combined total of $2,500 per worker.

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22 hours ago

It was another sell-out at the 31st annual Fort Langley Cranberry Festival on Saturday with organizers selling 5,000 pounds of locally-grown, fresh berries in less than five hours. Youth from the Fort Langley Lions Club's Young Lions program scooped, bagged and weighed several pallets' worth of cranberries. Ocean Spray donated the berries, which the public bought to benefit the community. Local grower The Bog was also selling fresh berries, having brought 2,700 pounds, which were on track to sell out by the end of the#BCAgt.

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6 days ago

There was a lot of reminiscing and appreciation of how far BC's turkey industry has come at a reception celebrating the 75th anniversary of the BC Turkey Association and the 60th anniversary of the BC Turkey Marketing Board yesterday in Abbotsford. With a slideshow of events and people over the years, guests laughed and had a lot to be thankful for. "It's an opportunity to celebrate the industry at a time of year that's known for turkey. It's a culmination of all the year's work," says Natalie Veles, executive director with BC Turkey Marketing Board.

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Love it - Deb Etsell I see you 🤩

7 days ago

BC was the sole province to see farmland values decline in the first half of this year, dropping 1.9% according to a Farm Credit Canada report released Octover 7. This represented an acceleration in value declines from last year, and contributed to a 3.9% decline in the 12 montsh ended June 30. The drop follows on a 1.7% decline last year, which Farm Credit Canada attributed to tougher times in the fruit sector. However, the mid-year report points to a broader slowdown in value growth diven by higher production costs, tighter margins and uncertainty around trade, tariffs and international markets.

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Ndp

3 weeks ago

Channels of communication remain open between the provincial and federal governments with respect to financial relief for extraordinary costs stemming from this summer's ongoing drought and wildfires, but the BC Cattlemen's Association is urging producers to register for AgriStability to position themselves for any AgriRecovery package. "Hardworking families in the ranching and agriculture sectors, who provide food for the province, need the AgriRecovery program in place as soon as possible," says BC Cattlemen's president Alex Kuchar. But the provincial election creates an unfortunate delay. "It's not fair, in any form of the word, to see all those people who have lost so much in the fires to have to wait in limbo," says BC Cattlemen's general manager Kevin Boon.

Photo | Barb Edmonson / Firefly Ranch, Clinton

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Feedback on changes to rules governing food processing in the Agricultural Land Reserve has drawn about 250 submissions. But the proposal now hangs in the balance with Premier David Eby's decision to call a snap election, which also delays discussions of assistance for farmers hit hard by this year's wildfires and historic #BCAght.

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What would you expect from the NDP, when they still had a 2 year mandate?

Ridiculous timing. We have people needing answers and have to plan for winter supplies. Fires are long past, months have gone by knowing there was going to be the need for support. Drought was written on the wall even before summer began with no snow pack. This is not new to government and they are calling for another year just as bad for 2027. I throw my hands up and wonder what else needs to be more challenging than what we've experienced over the last 6 years in BC?

250 submissions.... I'm pretty sure there are more than 250 farmers in BC