Question Period Note: Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program (including travel issues)

Unvaccinated Temporary Foreign Workers allowed to leave Canada on commercial flights

• Temporary foreign workers are essential in the agriculture and food processing sector in Canada. The travel exemptions allowing unvaccinated temporary foreign workers to leave Canada on commercial flights will provide the short-term workforce support necessary to maintain our high-standard levels of trade, commerce, and food security.
• Temporary foreign workers are a key source of labour, particularly in agriculture, agri-food, and fish and seafood processing industry. Ensuring their reliable safe working conditions is vital to the ongoing competitiveness of these sectors, to Canada’s broader economy, and to safeguard food security for all Canadians.
• Put in place early in the pandemic, important travelling measures are still in force to protect the health and safety of temporary foreign workers and communities in response to COVID-19, even as the government adapts its border measures for travellers

Recent news articles mentioned that temporary foreign workers are allowed to board commercial flights to leave Canada until August 31, 2022, an exemption not given to Canadians.
Approximately 72,000 foreign seasonal agricultural workers come to work on Canadian farms each year, which accounts for over 60% of all TFWs entering Canada under the program.
Mexico, Guatemala, Jamaica and ten other Caribbean countries are the main source countries and account for virtually all of the foreign agricultural workers that come to Canada each year.
Early in the pandemic, important initiatives have been advanced to
address the impact of COVID-19 on the TFW Program. Early on, temporary foreign workers were exempt from some restrictions into Canada and flexibilities were implemented to enable timely access to foreign workers, with a focus on agriculture and agri-food. At the same time, a number of important steps were taken to protect the health and safety of TFWs and Canadian communities in response to COVID-19.
The Government put in place regulations, which entered into force on April 20, 2020, that compel employers to meet the requirements of the Quarantine Act. This includes requiring employers to pay workers without requiring them to work during their quarantine period, as well as not preventing a worker from meeting their requirements under the Act or provincial/territorial public health laws related to COVID-19.
As of January 15, 2022, all foreign nationals must be fully vaccinated to enter Canada, unless otherwise exempt. Exemptions include unvaccinated temporary foreign workers in agriculture or food-processing occupations but they must continue to meet all travel document requirements under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) and those under the Minimizing the Risk of Exposure to COVID-19 in Canada Order (Quarantine, Isolation and Other Obligations).
On February 28, 2022, in accordance with the border measures in place for unvaccinated temporary foreign workers in agriculture or food-processing occupations, the exception given to those workers to board commercial flights to leave Canada is extended from February 28, until August 31, 2022.
ESDC continues to work with provincial and territorial governments and other key stakeholders in the TFW Program to inform other potential policy and program changes designed to better protect the health and safety of Canadian and migrant farm workers.

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