Justicia for Migrant Workers began its open letter to the Ford government by stating that 2024 is en route to becoming one of the hottest years on record.
The group is a volunteer-run political collective that strives to promote the rights of migrant farm workers.
This letter the collective submitted was addressed to Doug Ford and Minister of Labour David Piccini: it includes a list of emergency measures the group demands the government implement for the safety of farm workers.
This includes measures that would allow workers to take adequate breaks during hot days and have access to first aid, plus the closure of farms during extreme weather.
The Lake Report attended a news conference last month with Minister of Agriculture Rob Flack and MPP Sam Oosterhoff and questioned the politicians on how they plan to address the concerns of farm workers and advocates.
When questioned on what will be done about workers who may experience heat stroke on the job, Flack said the government is still exploring the issue.
“We’re looking into the matter, obviously,” he said. “It’s just come forward so obviously I want to emphasize the safety and concerns of all Ontarians.”
He promised they would look into the issue and “sustainable” solutions would come.
When questioned on what resources farm workers have access to as it stands now, MPP Oosterhoff insisted that workers have access to the quality of workplace care that permanent residents in Canada have.
“The Occupational Health and Safety Act lays out requirements for every workplace in the province of Ontario,” Oosterhoff said.
A pamphlet published by the Niagara Migrant Workers Interest Group outlined the three basic rights given to farm workers through the Occupational Health and Safety Act: the right to know about any possible hazards on their farm; the right to participate in either electing a health and safety representative or a joint health and safety committee; and the right to refuse work.
Oosterhoff added that having worked in agriculture while growing up on a farm, there are always expectations set in this field of work.
“There’s always an expectation under that act of an employer’s responsibility to their employees, regardless of the program they’re here under,” he said.
During a visit Oosterhoff took to St. Davids Hydroponics in June, he saw no workers outside at 2 p.m.: everyone was sent home due to extreme heat.
“But if there were to be concerns, obviously the Ministry of Labour would be the place to go. And that would apply to the temporary foreign workers as well,” he said.
But for Chris Ramsaroop and Taneeta Doma, from Justicia for Migrant Workers, the answer isn’t so simple.
Doma, the political group’s staff lawyer, said even so much as speaking out about bad working conditions could result in the firing of a temporary foreign worker.
This, combined with the intentional lack of resources given to workers from employers, makes for extremely difficult circumstances when it comes to getting medical help or accommodation.
“What happens in a lot of cases is workers don’t even get their health cards for several weeks or months after they arrive in Canada, so they can’t even access OHIP or any government insurance,” Doma said.
A 2023 article on OHIP for temporary foreign workers, from the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association, highlights this: when arriving to Canada, it states, temporary foreign workers have to submit proof of residence before being approved for OHIP coverage.
“This process can be lengthy and delay access to essential health care services,” the article reads.
With private insurance, Doma said, oftentimes it isn’t available to farm workers, or there are significant limits to the types that they can get so workers will sometimes have to pay out of pocket for care.
The lawyers association’s article states that regulations require all employers who hire temporary foreign workers to provide private health insurance that covers emergency medical care during the period their health insurance isn’t active, “except those who employ workers under agreements for seasonal agricultural workers, which include health insurance provisions.”
If a worker speaks up against mistreatment and is terminated, Doma added, they lose all access to health care — even if they still have a valid work permit.
“What happens is, if workers complain — which they shouldn’t have to — they’re losing their jobs, they’re losing their livelihood and nothing is changing in the workplace.”
In response to Oosterhoff’s answer to farm work distress, Ramsaroop outlined how solutions for foreign workers differ from permanent Canadian residents.
“On paper, we can see that workers do have the same rights. But because of heightened vulnerability, because they’re tied to an employer, because of the way that the laws work for employers and not workers, migrant agricultural workers have unequal access and do not have the same rights as Canadian workers,” Ramsaroop said.
Edward Dunsworth, an assistant professor of history at McGill University, holds an area of expertise in migrant workers and labour.
Historically, farm workers and migrant workers were treated as “exceptional,” in that there were a different set of protections for farmworkers than for other labourers.
“And essentially that logic has kind of continued,” Dunsworth said.
There is a negative incentive for any sort of complaints from migrant workers about unsafe conditions, Dunsworth also said, but there is no simple solution.
An open work permit allowing workers to choose jobs freely would be “huge,” said Dunsworth.
“It’s a basic right that most Canadian workers don’t have to think twice about,” he said.
Dunsworth also recognized the hard work done by activists for “decades” that have made progress in public awareness and small improvements.
“But ultimately, the key structural problems with the program remain.”
