Hiring Foreign Agricultural Workers in Canada

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Employing agricultural foreign workers can help you as a producer meet your labour needs during peak agricultural periods.

Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will carefully balance these types of job offers with your comprehensive efforts to hire Canadians, and the well-being of the foreign workers in Canada.

BACKGROUND :

The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) allows the organized entry of foreign workers to work in agricultural labourer occupations in Canada. The SAWP was developed by HRSDC and CIC in cooperation with agricultural producers and a number of foreign countries including Mexico and several Commonwealth Caribbean countries.

The SAWP currently operates in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and meets the needs of specific agricultural commodity sectors.

If you are interested in hiring foreign workers under the SAWP, please contact HRSDC to ensure that your commodity sector is currently being serviced in your province. If your commodity sector is currently not serviced in your province, a comprehensive labour market study is required before allowing for the entry of foreign workers. Please contact HRSDC before proceeding with a labour market study.

GUIDELINES :

Before you apply to hire a Foreign Worker under the SAWP, you should be prepared to :

• Demonstrate your efforts to hire Canadian agricultural workers. This should be done eight weeks before the start of the work;
• Make efforts to hire unemployed Canadians through HRSDC and provincial employment programs;
• Offer foreign workers the same wages paid to Canadian agricultural workers doing the same work;
• Pay for the foreign workers' airfare to and from Canada. A portion of this cost can be recovered through payroll deductions;
• Provide free seasonal housing to the foreign worker that has been approved by the appropriate provincial/municipal body;
• Pay the immigration visa cost recovery fee for your worker. This fee can be recovered through payroll deductions;
• Ensure that the foreign worker is covered by workers' compensation;
• Ensure the foreign worker is covered under private or provincial health insurance during their stay in Canada;
• Sign an employer-employee contract outlining wages, duties, and conditions related to the transportation, accommodation, health and occupational safety of the foreign worker.

Please note that you may also be required to pay a non-recoverable fee to two non-profit corporations that assist with the processing of foreign workers in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.

HIRING STEPS :

Employers hiring agricultural foreign workers must :

1. Contact the Service Canada Centre responsible for your area.
   
   
   ** Please contact your local office for an application form and related information.
     
2. Complete a human resources plan eight weeks before the work starts explaining your efforts to find Canadian workers.
   • Learn more about the HRSDC assessment criteria and what is expected from employers, noting that a Quebec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ) issued by the province is also required for jobs in Quebec.
   
   
3. Be prepared to fill a SAWP employer-employee contract.
   
   
4. Once HRSDC has approved your job offer, you and the two non-profit organizations will receive a copy of the HRSDC confirmation.

   Next, the foreign countries (Mexico and Caribbean) recruit the agricultural workers.

5. The foreign workers are helped by their respective foreign governments and apply for work permits from CIC. Please note that the employment contract must be signed by both you and the foreign worker before CIC will issue a work permit.

   Next, CIC issues a work permit for no more than 8 months as long as the foreign worker meets all other CIC criteria for working and residing temporarily in Canada .

** NOTE for BC agricultural employers: For specific information on hiring agriculture workers in BC, please see the Information kit (2006). You must submit the 2006 SAWP Agreement with your application. Please note that proof of accomodation inspection MUST BE PROVIDED for the 2006 season. For forms, guidelines and a list of inspection services, please contact your commodity group directly. BC employers must also submit an HRSDC Foreign Worker Application for a labour market opinion (LMO) with your 2006 SAWP contract.

NOTE : Please note that if you are interested in hiring foreign workers in managerial, professional, or technical occupations in agriculture, you can follow the steps explained in hiring foreign workers in Canada. Also, if you are interested in hiring foreign agricultural labourers from countries other than Mexico and the Caribbean, you may do so based on the conditions explained in the in the pilot project for hiring foreign workers in occupations that require a high school diploma or job-specific training.