Eight temporary foreign farm hands in B.C. developed COVID-19 symptoms while isolated by province GlobeBC
Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
B.C., along with Ontario and Quebec, relies heavily on temporary foreign workers for farm labour. Most years, roughly one-quarter of all agriculture workers in those provinces are in Canada under the temporary foreign worker program. But B.C. is the only province of the three providing quarantine services before those workers travel to the farms for seasonal jobs.“It’s costly, but probably saves money if you look at the cost of businesses shutting down,” B.C.
The program was implemented after a nursery in the B.C. Interior was shut down after a coronavirus outbreak infected 23 workers; the illness is believed to be traced to the arrival of temporary foreign workers in Kelowna in early March. The workers were living in shared housing provided by the nursery.
Prince Edward Island is the only province other than B.C. that provides accommodation for those workers before they travel to their workplaces. Other provinces have been helping agriculture businesses to manage the quarantine period on their farms. Ontario has had dozens of COVID-19 cases among its temporary foreign workers working in agriculture.In B.C., if the new arrivals have no symptoms when they land, they are sent to hotels near Vancouver International Airport.
Kris Maan of Mann Farms in Abbotsford said the B.C. support program has been critical to keeping his operation running.
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