The agricultural stream of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program has been growing in popularity with BC farm employers, but recently it’s been creating headaches, too. Ongoing reports of “mass rejections” of foreign applicants began last fall and have continued this summer, creating time-consuming and costly delays for employers. They have yet to be resolved, despite …
WALI
SAWP points to reforms
Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) could point the way to reforming how foreign workers are treated in Canada, according to a United Nations report. Tomoya Obokata, special rapporteur on the global scourge of modern slavery to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR) issued a statement on September 6 at the end of a two-week …
Foreign worker consultation planned
BC Agriculture Council and the Western Agriculture Labour Initiative are preparing to survey temporary foreign workers this summer in an effort to understand how employers can improve workers’ experience and reduce complaints. “The goal of the work is to collect anonymous information directly from workers on their experience in BC,” a bulletin circulated to fruit growers this week says. “At …
Provincial employer registry backlogged
What should have been the smoothest start to the season after three years of pandemic-related hurdles for growers who employ foreign workers has been bumpier than expected. With regulators keeping closer tabs on hiring protocols, many farm employers in BC found themselves barred from filing applications to source workers from overseas last fall until they …
BCAC shifts to advocacy
Policy development is in, program delivery is out as the BC Agriculture Council prepares to welcome a new executive director in August. Reg Ens announced June 9 that he would be stepping down as executive director July 31, allowing him to step into the newly created position of general manager of the Western Agriculture Labour …
Growers scramble for flights
New international travel restrictions have farm employers scrambling to arrange charter flights for workers, making it a numbers game that hinges on having enough workers for flights to be viable. Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing and Air Transat announced January 29 a voluntary suspension of all service to the Caribbean and Mexico from January 31 until …