Ag workers exempt from travel ban

Mar 23, 2020

Seasonal ag workers and temporary foreign workers will be allowed to enter the country with screening protocol and 14 days in self-isolation, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced

By Jackie Clark
Staff Writer
Farms.com

The Canadian government updated air travel restrictions enacted to limit the spread of COVID-19 to exempt seasonal agricultural workers. The feds announced the news in a Friday evening release from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, with the promise of more details to follow.

Other temporary foreign workers are also exempt from the travel ban.

Additional changes including waiving the two-week recruitment period required for the Labour Market Impact Assessment for ag and food processing employers, and increasing the maximum allowable employment duration from one to two years for the low-wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

Workers who are entering Canada under these exemptions will be subject to health screening before travel and required to self-isolate for two weeks upon their arrival.

“Allowing foreign workers to enter Canada recognizes their vital importance to the Canadian economy, including food security for Canadians and the success of Canadian food producers. The arrival of farm workers and fish/seafood workers is essential to ensure that planting and harvesting activities can take place,” the statement said.

Producers and farm organizations welcomed this news and await further details on protocol.

"Farmers are pleased to see the government respond so promptly to the looming shortage of agri-food workers and we are committed to working with all the appropriate agencies and departments to ensure their entry maintains strict public health protocols to prevent further spread of COVID-19,” said Mary Robinson, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, in a March 20 release.

Workers affected by these exemptions must wait to travel until they have been formally enacted, which should be early this week, the government release said.

“The participation of temporary foreign workers on our farms and our food businesses is absolutely necessary. It is nothing less than an issue of food security,” said federal ag minister Marie-Claude Bibeau in a March 20 statement, following the announcement of the exemptions. “The over 60,000 temporary foreign workers who come to Canada to work in our agriculture and agri-food sector are crucial to our food security and our rural economies. … We’re standing by our farmers every step of the way.”

branex\iStock\Getty Images Plus photo

Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.