Ontario’s fruit and vegetable growers are pushing back against recent comments linking Canada’s temporary foreign worker programs to slavery. The statements were made recently by Tomoya Obokala, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, as he ended a two week visit to Canada…

“Seasonal and temporary foreign workers are an essential part of local fruit and vegetable production in Ontario, and we do not support employers who mistreat or otherwise take advantage of people in their employ,” says Bill George, a grape grower and Chair of the OFVGA Labour Section...

Workers apply in their home countries for the opportunity to be part of these programs in Canada and sign legal contracts when accepting employment. All contracts are subject to federal government audits and inspections to ensure they follow program regulations and match the job specifications that the employer received government approval for when workers were hired. SAWP contract terms also reflect decades of collaborative negotiations between Canada and the workers’ home countries, which include Mexico, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, and the Eastern Caribbean Islands…

Workers with SAWP or TFW program permits have access to a multilingual, 24/7 federal government support line they can use to raise concerns and seek help relating to their current employment…