source: Farm and Food Report
Looking to Mexico to recruit farm labourers might not have been Shawn Hansen’s natural choice, but it sure has made a whole lot of difference in his ability to deliver on his Craven Riverside Gardens’ contracts.
“It is like an insurance policy to make sure that we get our crops off the field in time and shipped off to the markets,” Hansen says. “You never know what the weather is going to be like in the fall. We couldn’t do this without these employees. It really does give us the added flexibility at crucial stages.”
Hansen is one of a handful of producers who are taking advantage of the Commonwealth Caribbean and Mexican Seasonal Workers Program, a temporary work visa program for farm jobs in Canada. The program is administered through Human Resource Development Canada as a pilot project, with the active participation of Saskatchewan Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization (SAFRR).
Scott Wright is SAFRR’s Director of Crop Development: “Our growers have expressed how pleased they are with the pilot project so far. We are going into our third year of the three-year pilot. We expect to bring in between 30 and 40 workers from Mexico next year to Saskatchewan, after which we will evaluate results for the whole project.”
“Typically, these are skilled or semi-skilled workers who have worked before in agricultural operations in Mexico or in programs such as this elsewhere,” says Wright. “The intent is to use this additional workforce to help grow our fruit, vegetable, nursery and apiary sectors, and to create new opportunities for employment in Saskatchewan agriculture through that growth.”
Before they enrol in the program, the sector undergoes a diagnostic to examine the challenges their particular operation faces, and affirm the labour constraints. They must assume a number of responsibilities. For instance, they must pay the travel costs of these employees and provide them accommodations while they are in Saskatchewan.
Craven Riverside Gardens has recruited six employees through the program this year:
“They have been busy lately packing potatoes and trimming cabbages for our Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba clients,” explains Shawn Hansen. “One of them speaks English reasonably well, so he supervises the others. Two of them came in June; two at the beginning of July; and, two more at the end of August. They go off in the fields, they are shown what to do and they catch on really quick because they have done this kind of work before.”
Two of Hansen’s Mexican employees worked with him last year, which makes it easier for them to get rolling when they arrive. They generally ask for 60 hours a week of guaranteed work to make it worth their while. They have families back home that depend on this income, and they earn considerably more here than they would back in Mexico.
“They all live in a house on the farm,” says Shawn Hansen. “They look after their own needs and we tend to give them their space and some privacy when they are not at work, which is normal under the circumstances. We take them to Regina every two weeks so they can get some groceries. If one needs to see a physician, we look after that and costs are covered by Saskatchewan Health under this arrangement.”
Hansen notes that, since he started to participate in the pilot project, he has experienced much less of a turnover among his regular Canadian employees —a development that can be directly attributed to the ability of these workers to fill in the gaps in a timely manner.
Given the role they play in helping ensure the success of the operation, it is not surprising that growers consider these migrant workers somewhat of an extended family. Viva Mexico!
For more information, contact:
Scott Wright, Director
Crop Development Branch
Saskatchewan Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization
(306) 787-4661
Looking to Mexico to recruit farm labourers might not have been Shawn Hansen’s natural choice, but it sure has made a whole lot of difference in his ability to deliver on his Craven Riverside Gardens’ contracts.
“It is like an insurance policy to make sure that we get our crops off the field in time and shipped off to the markets,” Hansen says. “You never know what the weather is going to be like in the fall. We couldn’t do this without these employees. It really does give us the added flexibility at crucial stages.”
Hansen is one of a handful of producers who are taking advantage of the Commonwealth Caribbean and Mexican Seasonal Workers Program, a temporary work visa program for farm jobs in Canada. The program is administered through Human Resource Development Canada as a pilot project, with the active participation of Saskatchewan Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization (SAFRR).
Scott Wright is SAFRR’s Director of Crop Development: “Our growers have expressed how pleased they are with the pilot project so far. We are going into our third year of the three-year pilot. We expect to bring in between 30 and 40 workers from Mexico next year to Saskatchewan, after which we will evaluate results for the whole project.”
“Typically, these are skilled or semi-skilled workers who have worked before in agricultural operations in Mexico or in programs such as this elsewhere,” says Wright. “The intent is to use this additional workforce to help grow our fruit, vegetable, nursery and apiary sectors, and to create new opportunities for employment in Saskatchewan agriculture through that growth.”
Before they enrol in the program, the sector undergoes a diagnostic to examine the challenges their particular operation faces, and affirm the labour constraints. They must assume a number of responsibilities. For instance, they must pay the travel costs of these employees and provide them accommodations while they are in Saskatchewan.
Craven Riverside Gardens has recruited six employees through the program this year:
“They have been busy lately packing potatoes and trimming cabbages for our Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba clients,” explains Shawn Hansen. “One of them speaks English reasonably well, so he supervises the others. Two of them came in June; two at the beginning of July; and, two more at the end of August. They go off in the fields, they are shown what to do and they catch on really quick because they have done this kind of work before.”
Two of Hansen’s Mexican employees worked with him last year, which makes it easier for them to get rolling when they arrive. They generally ask for 60 hours a week of guaranteed work to make it worth their while. They have families back home that depend on this income, and they earn considerably more here than they would back in Mexico.
“They all live in a house on the farm,” says Shawn Hansen. “They look after their own needs and we tend to give them their space and some privacy when they are not at work, which is normal under the circumstances. We take them to Regina every two weeks so they can get some groceries. If one needs to see a physician, we look after that and costs are covered by Saskatchewan Health under this arrangement.”
Hansen notes that, since he started to participate in the pilot project, he has experienced much less of a turnover among his regular Canadian employees —a development that can be directly attributed to the ability of these workers to fill in the gaps in a timely manner.
Given the role they play in helping ensure the success of the operation, it is not surprising that growers consider these migrant workers somewhat of an extended family. Viva Mexico!
For more information, contact:
Scott Wright, Director
Crop Development Branch
Saskatchewan Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization
(306) 787-4661
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