OT temporary farm labour

Jul 01, 2020 9 Replies

Here in southern Ontario, a whole-lotta temporary foreign workers come and work the farms & greenhouses - often living in dorm / barracks / trailers & such - high densiry and shared facilities ... no big surprise where the new big outbreaks are.



" Over the weekend, 191 new cases of the virus were reported among farmworkers at a single farm."



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John T.


The US border is closed until at least July 21. Did Canada go out of its way to import them from Guatemala or wherever? I've seen that act in the Okanagan. When the fruit is in the hired help gets pushed down to Washington.

" Ontario employs up to 20,000 migrant workers a year to perform farm work throughout the growing season. The number nationwide is close to

60,000 ... from Mexico and Caribbean countries .. "

John T.

So I can't drive up to Banff but a Mexican asparagus picker is welcome? Good luck with that.

Simple solution. If you go to Banff, carry a bag, a knife, and a single asparagus. If stopped by the police, just say "I'm looking for more of these, you guys see any?"

We're only accepting workers from countries that believe in science. :-) John T.

You are welcome to go to banff if you have a legitimate need to be there and if you follow Canada's quarantine law - which, apparently different than US Law, REQUIRES 14 days of full quarantine for anyone coming into the country from anywhere else - regardless of nationality

- with a fine of up to $750,000 Canadian dollars for breaking quarantine. Here, when the quarantine law is in effect you are ASSUMED to be INFECTED until proven otherwize. To get into the country you need to provide your quarantine plan, and you will be checked on by phone, at a minimum, on a daily basis. You MAY also be checked in on by either police or public health officials.

The international workers - whether Mexican or whatever - are subject to the same 14 day quarantine. At this popint we don't know if the workers in Norfolk were infected by one of their own, or by someone else on the farm

No habla Espanol. iirc a couple of Americans were fined rather heavily when they had the nerve to get out of the car at Banff and go for a walk when they were supposed to be doing an express run to Alaska.

Most of these same workers have been working the same farms for years

- some for over 25 years. Some are second and third generations of the same family.

They got a pretty small fine compared to the $750000 maximum for ignoring quarantine. Plus up to 6 months in jail and a lifetime ban, IIRC

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