Seasonal agricultural labour program begins 49th year
TORONTO– With spring here, the seasonal labour program at the root of Ontario’s fruit and vegetable industry, is ready for the upcoming growing season.
This is the 49th year the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) has operated in Ontario, allowing many farm operations to remain viable in the face of a critical shortage of suitable and available Canadian workers.
Over the winter, Mississauga-based Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services (F.A.R.M.S.) has been busy finalizing arrangements with its international partners for 2015 when approximately 16,000 workers will return to Ontario farms under the 49-year-old Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP).
Because SAWP is a “Canadians first” program, supplementary seasonal farm labour is hired from other countries (Mexico, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad/Tobago and the Eastern Caribbean States) only if agricultural operators cannot find domestic workers to fill vacancies.
“Knowing a reliable source of seasonal workers exists allows farmers to plan for the future, invest in their operations and continue a livelihood that has sometimes been shared by their families for generations,” says Ken Forth, president of Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services (F.AR.M.S.), which administers the program.
Not only does SAWP benefit Ontario farmers, but also the province’s overall economy.  It’s estimated that at least two jobs for Canadians are created in the agrifood industry for every seasonal agricultural worker employed through SAWP at Ontario farms.
“Without SAWP, some operations would be forced to stop growing fruits and vegetables altogether, or move into less labour-intensive crops,” Forth says.
F.A.R.M.S. is busy preparing for early spring when thousands of supplemental labourers will return to help farmers across the province make the upcoming growing season a success. The largest influx is expected in mid-April when fruit growers begin pruning trees and vegetable growers begin field work.
About the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program:
More information about Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) can be found at www.farmsontario.ca
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Jeff Blay
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