The warm embrace of a spouse or the excited screams of joy from children as their mother or father arrive home from work — those are the things that will improve the mental health of migrant workers in Ontario, not a new Spanish-language 24/7 crisis line, says a leading advocacy group.
The provincial and federal governments announced a joint investment of $538,000 on July 22 through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership to expand a program in Ontario known as the Farmer Wellness Initiative.
Services offered through the project include an around-the-clock call-in line that can provide crisis counselling, risk assessments and face-to-face, phone or video sessions with a counsellor.
Of the money earmarked, $178,000 is being dedicated to supporting the delivery of services in Spanish.
Syed Hussan, executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change in Toronto, said he thinks both levels of government missed the mark on what the biggest stressors are that migrant workers face today — stressors a call-in line can’t adequately address.
“In no way, shape or form does this respond to the needs or demands of migrant workers,” he said.
“Their mental health is not being affected by something a counsellor can fix. There are real and clear policy changes that need to happen,” he said.
“We surveyed our members on mental health last year and the number one thing we heard is: ‘My mental health is affected by my lack of family nearby.'”
“And the second thing we heard from our members is: ‘I’m living in a state of permanent precarity because I don’t have permanent resident status.’ “
Permanent residency in Canada allows people to live, work and study in the country for an indefinite period, putting them on an easier trajectory to full citizenship status, which they can apply for after three years.
And, Hussan added, since migrant workers do not have a permanent residence in Canada, they cannot get telephones with Canadian numbers, making it impossible for many to even make the call to the crisis line.
“I would say this is all a distraction,” he said. “It is a waste of money and does not address core concerns that migrant workers have been raising for decades.”
Over the years, advocates for migrant workers in Canada have noted that many workers have been part of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program for several working seasons.
Many farmworkers in Niagara-on-the-Lake and across the region have been returning here for work, season after season, for two decades or more.