Changes to housing requirements for TFWs in 2026

Mar 10, 2026

Employers are reminded of the following change to housing requirements for 2026. Effective Immediately – As per section 2.6 of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) contracts, all employer-provided housing must include, “… secure, exterior locking doors and windows…”. The Integrity Service Branch will be looking for this during inspections.

To maintain consistency in farm worker housing in British Columbia for SAWP and Ag Stream, the housing inspection standard for Western Agricultural Labour Initiative (WALI) is being updated to include this wording. Employers are also reminded that the way doors and windows are secured must not violate any other regulations (e.g. Fire Code) or housing requirements (e.g. provide adequate ventilation).

*From the 2026 SAWP contracts, section 2.6 – [The Employer agrees to] Provide secure exterior locking doors and windows on EMPLOYER-provided accommodations, with door keys or numeric code provided to WORKERS, at no cost to the WORKER. In the case of loss of keys, a reasonable cost for replacement shall be agreed upon between the EMPLOYER and WORKER and shall not exceed $10.00.

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Video: The Corn Looks Good!

Border View Farms is a mid-sized family farm that sits on the Ohio-Michigan border. My name is Nathan. I make and edit all of the videos posted here. I farm with my dad, Mark and uncle, Phil. We also have a part-time employee, Brock. My dad started the farm in 1980. Since then we have grown the operation from just a couple hundred acres to over 3,000. Watch my 500th video for a history of our farm I filmed with my dad.

I started making these videos in the fall of 2019 as a way to help show what I do on a daily basis as a farmer. Agriculture is different from any other industry and I believe the more people that are showing their small piece of agriculture, helps to build our story. We face unique challenges and stressful situations but have some of the most rewarding payoffs in the end. I get to spend everyday doing what I love, raising my kids on the farm, and trying to push our farm to be better every year. I hope that I can address questions or concerns that you might have about farms and agriculture.

I hope you enjoy my content and ask questions as you have them. I do my best to answer anything I can. Thanks for watching!