HUMA - Foreign Workers Affected by COVID-19 Outbreaks

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, 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, Employment and Social Development Canada/Service Canada is continuing to enforce employer compliance with requirements for agricultural employers, including those related to protecting foreign workers 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 foreign workers.
• 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 foreign workers. IRCC has heard from service providers that the “crisis stage” has passed.
• Based on information gathered from partners and the media, 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 foreign worker affected.
• The largest outbreak in British Columbia was at Bylands Nurseries in West Kelowna where 63 foreign workers were infected in late March. Provincial health authorities believe that foreign workers arrived between January and early March at which time isolation measures had not yet been implemented.
• There have been two confirmed outbreaks impacting foreign workers in Ontario at Greenhill Produce, located in Chatham-Kent and at Highline Mushrooms in Kingsville. Highline confirmed four foreign workers were infected. Greenhill has had 51 employees, including 49 foreign workers, test positive for COVID-19. More than 100 foreign workers are in isolation. The believed source of the outbreak – a local worker – has fully recovered.

Provincial quarantine measures and guidance

• Provincial health and labour authorities are leading the response to COVID-19 outbreaks in agricultural and food processing industries alongside their federal government partners.
• British Columbia health authorities are directly managing 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 foreign workers are also required to develop infection prevention and control protocols which must be approved by the province in order to hire 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 TFW 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. Employer inspections on the new conditions began shortly afterwards and the results of these compliance inspections are imminent.
• To date, Employment and Social Development has launched 417 inspections under the new regulations for employers under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. No enforcement actions on non-compliance have been taken 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.

Support facts and figures

• Based on information from partners and the media, as of May 7, 2020, at least 74 foreign workers have suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 in British Columbia and 53 in Ontario. All worksites have local workers also impacted by infection.
• At the Cargill Foods plant in High River, Alberta, a total of 936 workers have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday, May 6, 2020. One employee has died. At the JBS Foods plant in Brooks, 469 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed as of Monday, May 4, 2020. It is estimated that 15% of the impacted population are foreign workers.
• The key industries experiencing outbreaks are agricultural and food processing involving nurseries, greenhouses, and beef and poultry plants.
• Where employers are required to provide accommodation, foreign workers may be housed in bunkhouses, farm houses, or small apartments depending on the stream under which they arrived.

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 federal employer compliance requirements under the Immigration, Refugee and Protection Regulations came into force related to foreign worker obligations to quarantine upon entry to Canada and employer requirements to support foreign workers subject to public health measures. This includes specific requirements on employers of seasonal agricultural workers who provide housing related to provision of cleaning products and physical distancing measures.
• As outbreaks often relate to the way in which foreign workers are housed, Employment and Social Development Canada 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.