AGRI - Foreign Workers Affected by COVID-19 Outbreaks - May 22, 2020

Key messages

• Ensuring the protection of temporary foreign workers in Canada is a top priority.
• The Government is working with a number of partners including provincial/territorial governments, employers, community service organizations, and representatives of the source countries of many workers to ensure the safety of temporary foreign workers in Canada during this global pandemic.
• To help ensure public health, new regulations have been put in place that require employers of foreign workers to support workers during mandatory quarantine and isolation, including by paying wages.
• For most employers, labour laws and workplace safety rules are established and enforced by the provincial government.
• For the Government of Canada’s requirements for employers of temporary foreign workers, Employment and Social Development Canada/Service Canada is continuing to enforce employer compliance requirements, including new conditions related to protecting foreign workers and public health during the COVID-19 pandemic.  
• The Government will continue to work with stakeholders to address issues and questions, and communicate additional information on requirements for inspections.

Supplementary messages

Outbreaks and affected temporary foreign workers

• Provincial and federal government authorities are closely monitoring and tracking COVID-19 workplace outbreaks, including when they affect temporary foreign workers.
• British Columbia health authorities are directly managing temporary foreign worker arrivals with mandatory quarantine measures by providing medical and social support, as well as accommodations to ensure workers remain quarantined. Employers that provide housing to temporary foreign workers are also required to develop infection prevention and control protocols which must be approved by the province in order to hire temporary foreign workers.
• While Ontario and Alberta have not taken the same mandatory quarantine facility approach, the provinces are working closely with employers to clarify requirements and expectations during health and labour inspections. Ontario has also issued temporary foreign workers guidance to employers that detail requirements related to transportation, health care, housing and cleaning.

Enforcement actions under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations

• The new federal employer compliance regulations supporting public health measures came into force on April 20, 2020.
• To date, Employment and Social Development Canada has launched nearly 500 inspections to verify compliance with the new regulations. Many of these inspections have been on agricultural and food processing employers, under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. No findings of non-compliance have been made to date.
• The federal government does not have the power to shut down employers or worksites with suspected COVID outbreaks. Such actions would be the responsibility of provinces and territories.

IRCC-Funded Supports to Permanent Residents Affected by Outbreaks

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has been working closely with the settlement sector to ensure that settlement agencies have the necessary flexibilities and resources to respond to those permanent residents affected by Covid-19.

Alberta

• In southern Alberta, the workers are largely permanent residents eligible for IRCC-funded settlement supports. [redacted] engaged with IRCC early on and requested flexibility in their contribution agreement so they could respond to the situation, which they did very quickly in both High River and Brooks.
• In working closely with [redacted] and other community partners, the Government of Canada has observed a strong level of community-wide coordination and collaboration across Southern Alberta. Several IRCC-funded settlement service provider organizations work together to assess needs and provide essential services to affected newcomers, including emergency supports and case management for those with acute needs. In addition, IRCC ensured multilingual information is readily available for clients.
• IRCC has heard from service providers working on the ground that the “crisis stage” of the COVID-19 outbreak has passed and that they are now focused on providing ongoing support for affected individuals and families.

Ontario

• In Ontario, COVID-19 outbreaks at large employers have largely affected temporary residents, who are ineligible for IRCC-funded supports.
• The employers and local health authorities have been providing the necessary support to the affected employees, and, to date, no request for additional assistance has been received from settlement agencies in these communities. 

Supporting facts and figures

• The key industries experiencing outbreaks are agricultural and food processing involving nurseries, greenhouses, and beef and poultry plants.

Alberta

• Two of Alberta’s meat-processing plants have had significant outbreaks (Cargill Foods in High River and JBS Food Canada in Brooks). The Cargill outbreak is the single largest workplace outbreak in Canada, which led to a two-week shutdown in April. It is estimated that approximately 15% of the impacted population at these plants are temporary foreign workers.

British Columbia

• There have been at least 11 agricultural, food processing, and trucking worksites in British Columbia with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases. The majority of these have had at least one possible temporary foreign worker affected.
• The largest outbreak in British Columbia was at Bylands Nurseries in West Kelowna where 23 temporary foreign workers were infected in late March. Provincial health authorities believe that temporary foreign workers arrived between January and early March, at which time isolation measures had not yet been implemented. On May 11, 2020, the outbreak at this facility was declared over.
• The Province of British Columbia has assumed responsibility for quarantining arriving temporary foreign workers in the province. On May 13, 2020, it was reported that eight foreign workers had tested positive for COVID-19 while in quarantine.

Ontario

• As of May 14, 2020, there have been 69 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Greenhill Produce, located in Chatham-Kent, the majority of which are temporary foreign workers. Chatham-Kent Public Health reports that no one is currently hospitalized due to the virus.
• Highline Mushrooms in Kingsville also confirmed recently that four temporary foreign workers were infected with the virus. Lakeside Produce in Leamington and Conestoga Meat Packing in Breslau have also reported outbreaks and are known to employ large numbers of temporary foreign workers.

Quebec

• As of May 12, 2020, a second Cargill meat-processing plant, located in Chambly, Quebec, is expected to shut down after an outbreak of COVID-19. It is not known if foreign nationals are employed at this facility.

Background

• IRCC collaborates closely with federal partners, including Employment and Social Development Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on IRCC clients, including foreign workers.
• On April 20, 2020, new employer compliance conditions under the Immigration, Refugee and Protection Regulations came into force, which require employers to not prevent a temporary foreign worker from complying with quarantine requirements or provincial health laws related to COVID-19. The employers of seasonal agricultural workers who provide housing must ensure that housing allows for physical distancing measures and are required to provide cleaning products for those in quarantine.
• As outbreaks often relate to the way in which temporary foreign workers are housed, Employment and Social Development Canada’s housing requirements on employers are described below:
  • Housing requirement for Primary Agriculture Stream (including the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program)
    • Employers must provide housing on-farm or off-site. Most of the housing is either in bunk houses or farm houses already established on the farm or in close proximity to the farm.
  • Housing Requirement for Low-Wage Stream (Food Processing)
    • Employers must ensure suitable and affordable housing is available or provide it. For the Low-Wage Stream, the housing is usually small apartments located within the community that the employer has assisted the temporary foreign workers to arrange or has arranged prior to their arrival. Housing is often shared by workers to save costs.