Main Highlights

• COVID-19 highlighted and exacerbated the existing vulnerabilities faced by temporary foreign and migrant workers in Canada
• Migrant workers reported not having access to the healthcare services and adequate housing
• The federal government provided funding to assist with quarantine costs for temporary foreign workers, but there were reports of employers misappropriating the funds

Temporary foreign workers (TFWs) are a vital component of Canada’s economy, particularly the agricultural sector. During the COVID-19 pandemic, TFWs faced an unprecedented level of precarity. While governments acted quickly to limit movement across borders in March 2020, TFWs and temporary migrant agricultural workers (TMAWs) were deemed essential – not in the sense that society cheered for them and called them heroes, but essential enough that they were exempt from the travel ban.[1] Framing their mobility as a kind of privilege is wholly inadequate. Once workers began to arrive for the season in the spring of 2020, it became clear that COVID-19 presented a unique threat to the health and safety of TFWs and TMAWs that neither the government nor employers were adequately prepared to deal with.

[1] Although outside the scope of this blog, it is important to note that this process was not as simple as the government allowing TFWs to enter, and them arriving. There were many barriers presented by COVID-19 for the first group of TFWs in spring 2020

Precarity: TFWs and TMAWs

Each year workers from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean come to Canada through various temporary work programs to fill labour shortages across multiple industries. In 2020, agricultural producers in the Okanagan Valley of BC, a region that relies heavily on seasonal work from foreign workers in orchards, vineyards, nurseries, and fruit-packing operations, were concerned about maintaining the food supply chain without TFWs and TMAWs during the pandemic. Even given the value of their labour, TFWs occupy a precarious position in Canadian society. This is because the housing, income, health, safety, and (temporary) immigration status of these racialized individuals are all dependent on employers. Additionally, TFWs must compete with unfavourable public rhetoric, including the idea that they are ‘stealing’ jobs from Canadians. COVID-19 highlighted and exacerbated the existing vulnerabilities faced by temporary foreign and migrant workers

As a result of the pandemic, fewer TMAWs arrived in Canada in 2020 compared to previous years. This led to employers asking, or forcing workers who did arrive to work faster, work longer hours, and forgo days off to make up the gap. Furthermore, while the government was prescribing social distancing, the living conditions of TMAWs specifically were not at all conducive to provide such. The lack of standards and uniformity in employer-provided housing has been an ongoing issue. In particular, inadequate, cramped and crowded housing is a concern. Many workers are relegated to bunkhouse style accommodations at their worksite. Because most COVID-19 mitigation strategies rely on space, distance, and cleanliness, the inadequacy of worker housing became a more salient issue during the pandemic.

Each year workers from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean come to Canada through various temporary work programs to fill labour shortages across multiple industries. In 2020, agricultural producers in the Okanagan Valley of BC, a region that relies heavily on seasonal work from foreign workers in orchards, vineyards, nurseries, and fruit-packing operations, were concerned about maintaining the food supply chain without TFWs and TMAWs during the pandemic. Even given the value of their labour, TFWs occupy a precarious position in Canadian society. This is because the housing, income, health, safety, and (temporary) immigration status of these racialized individuals are all dependent on employers. Additionally, TFWs must compete with unfavourable public rhetoric, including the idea that they are ‘stealing’ jobs from Canadians. COVID-19 highlighted and exacerbated the existing vulnerabilities faced by temporary foreign and migrant workers

As a result of the pandemic, fewer TMAWs arrived in Canada in 2020 compared to previous years. This led to employers asking, or forcing workers who did arrive to work faster, work longer hours, and forgo days off to make up the gap. Furthermore, while the government was prescribing social distancing, the living conditions of TMAWs specifically were not at all conducive to provide such. The lack of standards and uniformity in employer-provided housing has been an ongoing issue. In particular, inadequate, cramped and crowded housing is a concern. Many workers are relegated to bunkhouse style accommodations at their worksite. Because most COVID-19 mitigation strategies rely on space, distance, and cleanliness, the inadequacy of worker housing became a more salient issue during the pandemic.

The First Outbreak

At the end of March 2020 health officials in BC confirmed a COVID-19 outbreak at Bylands Nursery in West Kelowna where twenty-three foreign workers tested positive. The outbreak drew the attention of the public because it was early on in the pandemic. The media coverage of this outbreak framed it as a positive example of dealing with COVID at a community level. Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, publicly thanked West Kelowna stating “I know the community rallied together and brought food and other necessities to people in self- isolation. That’s what we do in B.C., to support our neighbours and help keep our communities safe and healthy.” These comments beget the questions: who is considered a member of a community, and whose health and safety are prioritized?

This outbreak brought TFWs and COVID-19 together into the public imaginary. This was a double-edged sword. On one hand the conditions faced by TFWs were getting new attention. On the other hand, they were identified as a high-risk group for COVID-19 which is no badge of honour for racialized individuals. The Migrant Workers Alliance (MWAC) reported that workers faced increased racism and were viewed as “disease carriers”. The benevolent nature of the community’s response to the Bylands outbreak was overshadowed by its self-centred undertones. News reports of the outbreak made it a point to let the public know that there was no community spread from the Bylands outbreak, and that the Canadian staff members at the nursery did not test positive. In many ways, COVID-19 worked to further entrench the otherness experienced by foreign workers.

Assuming Responsibility?

In mid-April 2020, shortly after the Bylands outbreak, the federal government announced quarantine and testing requirements for arriving TFWs and set up a $50 million fund to help employers cover the costs. The government funds were meant to be used by employers to provide workers with pay for sixty hours during the mandatory two-week quarantine period, as well as transportation, housing, and access to food and supplies. This move was theoretically a good one, however, the comments by government officials showed that the purpose of this funding was not to benefit foreign workers in Canada, but to Canadians themselves. When the funding was announced, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau’s explanation was quoted by media as the following: “the funds will help employers carry out the “vital” work of feeding the nation while protecting the health and safety of Canadians” (emphasis added).

The federal TFW quarantine funding was never pitched to be for the good of foreign workers who were tasked with keeping our supply chains going. In this context, it is upsetting, but not necessarily shocking, that in practice the funding was misappropriated by many employers without consequence. Although the government warned about fines or jail time for employers who did not comply with the rules around worker quarantine, pay violations and wage theft were still reported. MWAC provided examples of how this played out in their 2020 Unheeded Warnings report which included:

• not being paid at all for the quarantine period
• being paid for a fraction of the sixty hours of the quarantine period
• being asked to sign agreements that stated the quarantine period pay was a loan to be repaid to the employer
• being asked to work during the quarantine period

These egregious violations of the rules were carried out with little to no recourse.

Conclusion

COVID-19 had an adverse impact on many aspects of everyday life. However, not everyone was equally affected. As we yearn to “return to normal”, it would be wise to take a moment and reflect on what aspects of pre-pandemic life we now recognize as conditions that we do not want to recreate. While the pandemic compounded issues faced by TFWs in Canada, their mistreatment is not new. This is one area, one community, that we can serve better.