THE EFFECTS OF COVID-19 ON THE SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL WORK PROGRAM (SAWP)

In 1973, the “migrant worker” recruitment program was introduced in Canada, under the Non-Immigrant Employment Authorization Program (NIEAP) (Sharma 2002). The purpose of this program was to fill shortages in the labour force by recruiting workers into Canada (Sharma 2002). This program grants temporary visas to migrant workers, with the possibility of applying to permanent residency after at least 24 months of continuous employment (Preibisch & Hennebry 2011). In my research, I focus on the agricultural sector of the temporary foreign worker (TFW) program. Although there are various streams into agricultural work through the TFW program, nearly three quarters are hired under the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) (ESDC 2019; Sexsmith, Minkoff-Zern and Weiler 2021). The main reason for the huge amount of outsourced agricultural labour is largely due to agricultural companies’ push for a legalized temporary farm workforce. However, the temporary residency status that migrant workers are assigned thus places them in a very low status within Canada. They are not granted the same rights and benefits as landed immigrants and suffer vastly as a result. To begin with, migrant workers do not qualify for basic services and social programs that Canadian citizens are entitled to, such as employment insurance (EI), ESL training, or daycare, to name a few (Byl 2010). Scholarship on this topic has largely focused on the poor working and living conditions that migrant workers face during their employment periods (Byl 2010; Carlos & Wilson 2018; Khan 2009; Preibisch & Hennebry 2011; Sharma 2002), however, the recent COVID-19 pandemic brought many of these issues to viral media and public attention when a number of outbreaks were announced on Canadian farms. Because of this, I analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Seasonal Agricultural Work Program (SAWP) in particular.

            My main research questions include: how did COVID-19 affect the Seasonal Agricultural Work Program? What were the changes made to the program? How did the changes occur? Who were the main actors involved in changing the conditions of the Seasonal Agricultural Work Program?

            In my broader research, I frame my perspective on the issues associated to this program within the food regime perspective, which is valuable in understanding why this program has been in place for so long without valuable reform. The food regime perspective takes on a political economy approach, in the sense that it associates the capitalist accumulation of large agri-food sector corporations in the global north on the dependence of low-cost, productive, and compliant workers from the global south (Sexsmith, Minkoff-Zern and Weiler 2021). However, here, I provide an overview of what occurred during the pandemic through a compilation of data sourced mostly from media sources, local organizations, and government websites. This data demonstrates how workers were affected and compensated by the pandemic. I conclude by arguing that the Seasonal Agricultural Work Program (SAWP) is ultimately an exploitative program that relies on the economic inequality between the global south and the global north for outsourced labour; a process that benefits large companies and corporations in the global north at the cost of foreign workers’ lives. Therefore, I illustrate that the COVID-19 government response to the temporary foreign worker program only further demonstrated the disposability of temporary foreign workers at the expense of the Canadian government and transnational agricultural companies/corporations. More substantive reform is required to combat the foundational issues of this program.

FUNCTIONAL PURPOSE OF THE SAWP: A FOOD REGIME PERSPECTIVE

            The Seasonal Agricultural Work Program’s purpose is driven by large food and agricultural corporations’ push for a reliable temporary farm workforce. However, some of the latent effects of this program have to do with the economic advantages that it provides to the Canadian government and retail and agricultural companies throughout Canada, who rely on a temporary migrant workforce for compliant, low-cost, and efficient labour. The harsh reality of this program is that many of the workers who come to Canada (mostly from Mexico and the Caribbean) do so in hopes of leaving the precarious environment of their home countries and attaining permanent residency in Canada. With a 24-month work requirement in place before being able to apply for permanent residency, this dream hardly ever becomes a reality (Fudge 2014). Various scholars have also documented the use of employer deportability as an institutionalized method of deferring permanent residency status applications (Vosko 2018, Nakache et al. 2015). Furthermore, due to workers’ temporary status, workers are largely ineligible for basic social programs and supports. They also hardly ever speak fluent English. The racialized nature of this program is thus what allows the program to function as a legal system of labour recruitment that allows Canadian employers and the state to “exploit the legislated vulnerability and lack of entitlements of those placed in the state category of non-immigrant (Nandita 2002 p. 16).” In other words, the existence of this program allows for employers to bring TFWs into Canada with few safeguards and protection, facilitating the possibility for employers to take advantage of them (Byl 2010). Due to this, temporary workers have been labeled a ‘disposable workforce’, in which deportability and strict control over workers is often facilitated through policy (Byl 2010, Basok et al. 2014). Various scholars have thus considered the economic and political elements to this program, arguing that agricultural programs have historically worked to facilitate capital accumulation in the global agri-food system, and allow Canadians to attain more secure and lucrative employment elsewhere (Glassco 2012, Callon 2016, Sexsmith, Minkoff-Zern and Weiler 2021). In this sense, the SAWP is ultimately reliant on the economic inequality between host countries such as Canada or the United States, and the racialized countries from which agricultural labour is sourced from (typically Mexico or the Caribbean) in order to achieve capital gain (Glassco 2012, Callon 2016, Sexsmith, Minkoff-Zern and Weiler 2021). The food-regime perspective thus encompasses the neo-liberal nature of some of the largest food corporations in the global north, who look to increase production and reduce costs of labour through legalized outsourced labour (Sexsmith, Minkoff-Zern and Weiler 2021). In sum, the combination of state and capitalist power facilitates the continued presence of this exploitative program in Canada.

A visual representation of the food-regime perspective is demonstrated below:

METHODS

            In light of COVID-19, many of the issues and injustices that migrant workers face will be exacerbated, therefore placing these populations in even more precarious and vulnerable positions than they previously were. Meanwhile, agricultural migrant workers have come to occupy an ‘essential’ role within Canadian society, further demonstrated by the introduction of COVID-19, where many Canadian families are relying on foreign workers to provide the food on their tables. My main data collection method consist of media/news sources and data collected by non-profit and community organizations that will directly answer my research questions. There are various media outlets that cover these topics in an effort to re-iterate the necessity of Canada’s migrant workers and provide a platform for these workers’ experiences to be heard, such as CBC News, Global News, and CTV News. There are also various advocate organizations (such as Justice for Migrant Workers and Migrant Workers Alliance), lawyers, and migrant workers that collaborated with the media in order to outline how COVID-19 has affected migrant populations. Another major facet of my data collection pertains to the government responses to the COVID-19 outbreaks on Canadian farms in late 2020. To touch on this, I rely on government websites to compile a list of the major changes made to the program following heavy media coverage on these issues.

DATA ANALYSIS

CHANGES ANNOUNCED TO THE SAWP DURING COVID-19

            Prior to the start of the second wave of the pandemic, temporary changes to the SAWP program were announced. The changes largely resulted from public and media attention regarding the concentrated nature of COVID-19 cases on Canadian farms, which could ultimately endanger Canadians’ food supply. Workers were granted a number of new rights and benefits, including access to EI, CERB, new government-mandated employer demands, such as adequate accommodations for employees, new sanitation stations, COVID-19 protocols, and safe living conditions. It also included employer-provided accommodations for infected workers, and a paid 14-day quarantine for workers upon arrival into Canada. Employers were also made subject to fines for non-compliance, and inspections by the federal government were put in place to enforce fulfillment. In total, there was a $58.6 million investment into the TFW program meant to strengthen the program and safeguard the migrant working population from COVID-19. A summary of the main changes to the program are outlined below (Canada, Employment and Social Development 2020):

• Strengthening of the employer inspections regime
• Improvements to how allegations of employer non-compliance are made (anonymous complaint resources made available to workers—1-800 tip line and on-line portal)
• Implementation of virtual employer inspections, which could be initiated in two ways: from a random selection of employers, or in response to a tip of allegation received through the 1-800 tip line or on-line portal
• Inspections will require employers to provide proof of wages, photos or tour of living, private isolation, and working spaces, and proof of adequate supply of sanitation products for workers to use
• Direct infrastructure improvements to living quarters, temporary or emergency housing (employers must ensure that workers are isolated separately from other workers not isolating or under quarantine; employer accommodations must also provide at least 2 feet of space between workers at all times)
• More PPE, sanitary stations, and other health and safety measures under the Quarantine Act
• Mandatory employer requirements to provide private accommodations for any workers with signs of symptoms of COVID-19
• New employer expectations and requirements (must ensure that workers are paid wages, at least 30 hours per week during initial 14-day isolation period. Must also ensure that they do not do anything to prevent the worker’s compliance with order or regulation under the Quarantine Act/Emergencies Act.
• EI and CERB eligibility
• Temporary health and benefits
• Penalties for employer non-compliance ranging from $1,000 to $1 million over 1 year; ban of 1, 2, 5, or 10 years, or permanent bans from the program for the most serious violations

Source: Canada, Employment and Social Development (2020)

THE MEDIA AS AN ASSET FOR CHANGE

            During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, a number of outbreaks on Canadian farms initially brought attention to the harsh working and living conditions that migrant workers were dealing with. The precarity of their work, coupled with the essential nature of their job within Canadian society meant that their issues were finally being brought to the forefront of Canadian news media. A number of different news outlets covered their stories.

            One of the first major media coverage on migrant workers came in June 2020, when there were over 175 new cases of COVID-19 found on a Windsor-Essex farm in Ontario (Boggart, CTV News 2020). Due to the media attention drawn to the concentrated nature of these cases, it was publicly released that over 1000 agricultural workers had been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Ontario (a dataset made available by Chris Ramsaroop, a spokesperson for the advocacy group Justice for Migrant Workers). This led to a public outcry by various advocate groups to shut down farms as COVID-19 cases soared among workers. Throughout the pandemic, these groups were instrumental in demanding rights and benefits for migrant workers, ever since one of the first media coverages of the issue:

            “The industry must immediately cease production, and, as a society, we must demand that the interests of the workers are paramount, not the profits of a billion-dollar industry…our message to provincial and federal politicians—stop murdering migrants by your inactions (Chris Ramsaroop—Justice for Migrant Workers advocacy group representative; CTV News 2020).”

            Due to the public attention and urgent level of distress demonstrated by workers and various advocate groups, there was an immense amount of pressure put on the government to react to the various injustices migrant workers were facing within a program that enabled such high levels of concentrated virus transmission. Various workers also communicated their stressors to media unanimously, arguing that the working and living conditions of the program made it impossible to contain the spread of the virus. At the same time, they feared of speaking out, needing the money to send back home to their families, and being afraid of termination or deportation.

Syed Hussan, executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change advocacy organization, says many workers aren’t paid off when they are sick off from work, preventing them from sending money home to their loved ones that rely on it…’because we don’t have proper rights, they step on our necks (CTV News 2020).’”

Right away, both the Ontario and federal government pledged to ramp up inspections and oversight at Canadian farms to prevent the further spread of infections. However, media coverage by various Canadian news outlets continued to put pressure on the government by releasing alternate versions of this initial call for the program’s re-assessment. 

            Global News’ Jasmine Pazzano (2020) released her own report on the issue. By that point, more than 1300 foreign workers on farms had contracted the virus, and three people had died. This information was made available, once again, by the advocacy group Justice for Migrant Workers. The group was at the forefront of all media coverage, and in this article, aside from the alarming rate of virus transmission, they also spoke about the mistreatment that workers were facing, including being fed insufficient meals while under quarantine, and staying in cramped bunk beds separated by cardboard; a space that made social distancing and virus prevention impossible. This article also provided coverage on a major re-occurring issue within the program; the ability for employers to terminate workers without any repercussions. It discussed the experiences of two workers who were fired after they invited advocate workers onto their farms. Although visitors were allowed, and the workers had cleared the visit with their supervisor, the workers were fired days after the visit. Therefore, at the time of this news release, workers were ultimately suffering the most, and the government response was nowhere to be seen. In a statement to Global News (2020), Chris Ramsaroop, an organizer for the advocate group Justice for Migrant Workers, stated:

            “We should all be outraged that so many people are falling through the cracks during the pandemic. The people who grow our food are growing hungry and getting sick. The government, the employers…no one is raising a finger.”

The article also included videos taken by workers showing their living quarters, marked by broken toilets and stovetops, grimy showers, and beds in extremely close quarters. Ayres (2020) also spoke with Luis Gabriel Flores, a migrant worker whose work season came to an abrupt end when his bunk mate died of COVID-19, prompting him to speak out about the injustices of the program to the media. He was terminated days after but stayed in Canada illegally, seeking legal compensation for the seven months of employment he was initially entitled to. After a long, hard-fought legal battle, the Ontario Labour Relations Board ruled in favour of Luis.

Jesus Molina and Erika Zavala were another pair of workers terminated for receiving donations of food and clothing at their farm, stating:

            “We have no right to anything. They think that by giving us work, they do us a favour because with the situation in Mexico it’s very difficult. We are their slaves, and we are only going to work and not entitled to anything else.”

            In a comprehensive analysis of this program, it is clear that workers are the ones suffering the most, while Canadian employers, society, and food systems rely on their exploitation to survive. According to Fay Faraday, Labour and Human Rights Lawyer and migrant worker advocate:

            “This entire program depends on there being massive economic inequality between Canada and the countries where the workers come from. If there wasn’t that inequality, workers wouldn’t come (CTV News 2020).” As a result, many workers endure harsh conditions and poor treatment from employers.

      Despite the extensive literature and research on the precarious nature of the SAWP, the most effective method of achieving changes to the program ended up being the vast amount of public attention garnered by the media regarding the concentration of COVID-19 cases on Canadian farms. COVID-19 thus exacerbated pre-existing issues and brought them to light through media coverage. Advocates, justice organizations, employees, and lawyers, then came together and played a communal role in using that media attention to shine a light on workers’ issues in a public way that demanded a government response. Ultimately, it was up to policy makers to decide how the program was to change, but the media attention garnered by these individuals and organizations were imperative in ensuring that changes to the program be made.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE GOVERNMENT’S COVID-19 RESPONSE IN ADDRESSING FOUNDATIONAL ISSUES OF THE SAWP

            I want to focus on the level of precariousness that farm workers face; before and during COVID. Temporary foreign farm workers are essential to Canadian society, and COVID-19 really brought that to light. At the same time, COVID-19 enhanced the level of precariousness farm workers faced due to the poor living and working conditions they faced. As a result, there were numerous outbreaks on Canadian farms populated by temporary foreign workers. In response, the government announced a number of changes late last year to combat the many issues that accompanied those outbreaks in relation to the SAWP program as a whole. Although the government seems to be doing a lot to protect this population, many of the foundational aspects of the program remain unchanged, and a lot of the government’s response policies are labelled as temporary, meaning there is no guarantee that the temporary eligibility given to workers for EI, CERB and other social programs will remain. In fact, one could argue that one of the only certain lasting effects of the government reform to the SAWP is the inspections that will assure safe living conditions for migrant workers. Furthermore, many of the changes announced are catered towards ensuring that employers make sure their workers do not contract the virus and remain socially isolated from each other whenever any suspicion of virus transmission occurs. In sum, however, there are a lot of foundational issues of the SAWP that remain. The table below summarizes the main issues addressed by the COVID-19 response from the federal government, which issues were exacerbated by COVID-19, and which issues were unaddressed by the reform:

*Although the federal government has provided workers with better resources in accessing some social services and resources, there is no guarantee that they will still have access to EI, CERB, and other programs post-COVID-19.

CONCLUSION

            In sum, the COVID-19 pandemic played a unique and crucial role in publicly exposing some of the structural characteristics of the SAWP that negatively affect migrant farmworker populations. This allowed various advocates for migrant rights to come forward and voice their opinions on the nature of the SAWP, pushing the federal government to issue a response to the public outcry. It also demonstrated the extreme necessity of our agricultural migrant worker population. Without them, our food supply system would dissipate. Unfortunately, despite the government’s intervention that saw $59 million in targeted funding towards safeguarding workers’ safety during a global pandemic, it is clear that a large majority of the foundational issues of the SAWP remain unchanged. These changes also fail to address what is largely considered to be the most prominent issue surrounding the SAWP and Temporary Foreign Worker Programs as a whole; the fact that permanent residency is largely impossible for most of these workers to attain. After all, most migrant workers ultimately come to Canada in hopes of someday attaining permanent residency, a dream that hardly ever becomes reality. Using a food regime perspective, it becomes clear that the functionality of this program depends on cheap, reliable, and productive temporary labour sourced from the global south, with the main focus being capital accumulation and a monopolization of the agri-food system in the global north. Thus, the federal government should work to develop more permanent pathway options for agricultural migrant workers that would accommodate them just like any other working Canadian citizen. Although the changes announced under the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 outbreaks on Canadian farms made some advancement in assuring better living conditions for migrant workers, migrant workers and the SAWP need and deserve more substantive reform that looks to fully integrate migrant workers into Canadian society. The temporary changes announced as a response to the 2020 outbreaks on Canadian farms are largely catered around the evitability of COVID-19 transmission, rather than addressing the foundational issues of the SAWP that advocates and researchers alike have been denouncing for years. In conclusion, the government’s temporary COVID-19 response only further demonstrated the disposability of temporary foreign workers at the expense of the Canadian government and transnational agricultural companies/corporations. More substantive reform is required to combat the foundational issues of this program.

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Miguel Angel Becerra

Miguel is completing the final year of his undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto Mississauga, doing a double major in Criminology and Sociology. He is passionate about topics related to social justice and global inequality. Once he graduates, he will be preparing to write the LSATs over the summer as he hopes to attend law school.