News release
Positive changes improve experience for seasonal and temporary farm workers in Ontario
Years of collaborative improvements have enhanced wages, housing, mobility and safety for essential farm workers
For immediate release
Guelph, ON – 19 September 2025 – As fall harvest season kicks into high gear across Ontario, thousands of seasonal agricultural workers are playing essential roles in helping fruit and vegetable growers bring in their crops.
It’s one of the busiest times of the year for Ontario’s horticulture sector — and an opportunity to reflect on the many positive changes that have been made recently and continue to be made to Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) programs for agriculture.
“Seasonal and temporary foreign workers are an essential part of local fruit and vegetable production in Ontario,” says Bill George, grape grower and chair of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association’s labour committee. “While there is always more to do, we are proud of the many positive changes that have been made in recent years to improve the experience for farm workers who come to Ontario and the ongoing process for continuous improvement.”
Over the last several years, federal and provincial governments, with the support of employers and workers’ home country governments, have introduced a series of new measures designed to strengthen worker protections and support, including:
- Open work permits for vulnerable workers — giving workers the ability to change employers if they experience unsafe or unfair treatment.
- Expanded mobility — making it easier for workers to apply for new work permits while already in Canada, while preserving the special mobility features of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) which allows workersto transfer between approved employers without a new work permit.
- Stronger protections from reprisals — ensuring workers can raise concerns about working conditions without fear of retaliation.
- New supports and funding — including a 24/7 federal multilingual support line, and nearly $50 million in federal funding for worker advocacy and support organizations to ensure workers are aware of their rights, and have the tools and resources to exercise them.
- Improved workplace injury coverage — Ontario has updated how the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board compensates injured farm workers to better reflect the realities of seasonal farm work.
All workers in Canada through SAWP or the TFW program’s agricultural stream are employed under government-approved contracts and standards, and they receive the same — or in some cases greater — protections as Canadian workers, including minimum wage requirements, and access to health care, Employment Insurance, Canada Pension Plan, and workplace safety coverage
Federal data shows that agriculture has consistently had above-average employer compliance rates compared to other industries using government-regulated worker programs, with Ontario farms among the top performers. This reflects significant investments growers have made in housing, safety, and worker well-being in recent years.
“These positive changes didn’t happen overnight — they are the result of years of collaboration between and input from employers, governments, and worker support groups,” says George. “We’re committed to being active partners in further strengthening these programs so that they continue to work well for both workers and employers.”
Through its More than a Migrant Worker initiative, the OFVGA has been giving a voice to the thousands of seasonal and temporary workers who come to Ontario each year, empowering them to share their stories and highlighting what these jobs mean to them and the essential role they play in feeding Canadians.
“Many of these workers return year after year — some for decades — and they are proud of the work they do here,” adds George. “Their contributions are vital to the success of our farms and the security of Canada’s food supply.”
The Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Growers’ Association is the voice of Ontario’s fruit and vegetable producers on issues affecting the horticulture sector.
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For more information:
Bill George, Labour Committee Chair, 905-984-0994 or george2vineyards@gmail.com
Stefan Larrass, Senior Policy Advisor, 519-803-9914 or slarrass@ofvga.org
Additional information about Canada’s TFW programs for agricultural workers
Why seasonal workers are essential for Canadian fruit and vegetable production
Fruit and vegetable farming is very labour-intensive. That’s because many crops bruise or damage easily, so they need to be planted, harvested and cared for by hand. Fruits and vegetables also have very specific and often short planting or harvesting seasons, so often a lot of work has to be done very quickly. This means farms need a large workforce to produce many of the fruit and vegetable crops Canadians know and love.
Farmers prefer to hire Canadian employees first, but there is always a significant gap in terms of the availability of local help and the jobs that need to be filled. In fact, on-farm jobs in agriculture have one of the highest vacancy rates of any industry in Canada, with the fruit and vegetable sector leading the way at 15%. One third of jobs posted by Canadian farms don’t receive a single interested applicant.
That’s why, without international workers, many farms and food businesses would face crippling labour shortages, reducing domestic food production, increasing dependence on imports, and putting food security at risk.
Filling agriculture’s labour gaps
Canada welcomed its first seasonal workers in 1966, when 264 Jamaicans came to Ontario to help with the apple harvest, which laid the foundation for the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), now one of Canada’s longest-running and most respected labour programs.
Today, more than 30,000 workers from Mexico, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, and the Eastern Caribbean Islands come through SAWP each year to support Canada’s horticulture sector. Thousands more arrive through the agricultural stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), forming the backbone of the workforce that grows, harvests, packs, and ships the fruits and vegetables Canadians rely on.
Why eliminating TFW programs won’t solve Canada’s broader issues
Despite their success, Canada’s agricultural TFW programs have faced increasing scrutiny as Canada grapples with housing shortages, strained public services, broader immigration pressures and youth unemployment. It’s easy to blame temporary foreign workers for these challenges, but that oversimplifies complex issues.
Ending SAWP or the TFWP would not solve Canada’s housing or infrastructure problems — and it would create new ones. These are jobs that, year after year, employers struggle to fill with Canadian workers despite offering competitive wages and good working conditions.
They are also jobs that can’t simply be filled by students during school breaks, for example, as employers need a reliable workforce throughout the entire growing season, which is much longer than school holidays.
Worker rights and employer responsibilities
Canadian farmers who employ international farm workers under either of these two government programs have the same and, in some cases, higher obligations to their temporary foreign workers as they do for their Canadian employees, including government-approved wage rates, access to health care such as OHIP in Ontario, Employment Insurance and the Canada Pension Plan as well as workplace insurance coverage and safety protection.
Farms are also required to provide every worker with a copy of the federal government’s publication outlining workers’ rights and protections to ensure they are aware of their rights.
To ensure these requirements are being followed in practice, farms are subject to frequent federal, provincial, and in many cases, foreign government compliance inspections.
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. The federal government has provided close to $50 million in funding through its Migrant Worker Support Program to help raise worker awareness of their rights and entitlements while in Canada and to help workers access the resources and supports available to them here.
For SAWP workers and for most workers in the other agricultural programs, local liaison or consular officers from their home countries are also available to provide support and address complaints related to their employment in Canada. If workers are unable to have their specific employment-related concerns resolved through these channels, an open work permit program is available for vulnerable workers in these situations.
Housing
Farms are typically located in rural and often remote locations, so many agricultural temporary foreign workers rely on their employer to provide accommodations during their work period. That’s why the agriculture sector has special obligations imposed by the federal government to provide housing to TFW employees in the vast majority of cases.
Farmers typically house their international employees in homes they’ve built specifically for this purpose on the farm property, especially when the farm is a remote or rural location.
Employment contracts
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 for agricultural workers on the agriculture stream of Canada’s TFW program 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.
Contracts for workers on the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) 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.