In the endless aisles of strawberries, a slew of Mexicans and Guatemalans, but also a few Hondurans and Salvadorans, pick our precious little red fruits on their knees, one by one, while an automatic machine follows them at a constant speed. Josefina and Maria, panting, are bent over tomato plants, their backs bent. Eduardo, his forehead sweating, is perched on a tractor while Juan has his hands in the grease trying to repair an engine that no longer starts. Pablo, Gustavo, Yolanda and Yasmina, their faces weathered by a scorching summer, shivering in the September wind, pick the heavy flesh of squash and pumpkins, gorged with sunshine, in the tired fields. These workers come from far away who put our local products on our plates. Without them, the stalls of Quebec would lack color – literally.

Essential workers

Fifty years ago, it was families, children, cousins, and neighbors who operated the many small farms in Quebec. But today, our fields have been deserted. The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC) states: "The Canadian agricultural industry is experiencing a growing labour shortage that is turning into a labour crisis."

With urbanization, facilities have become scarce, but agricultural production has continued to grow in terms of volume. In high season, farms that need to harvest with bare hands need several dozen additional workers, such as Ferme Pittet in Mauricie, which would be forced to abandon part of its activities if it did not have these temporary workers. Some companies even hire hundreds, such as Fraises de l'île d'Orléans or Serres Lefort in Sainte-Clotilde, which welcomes nearly 200 foreign workers each summer for a population of 2,250!

The entrepreneur at the head of Potager Riendeau in Saint-Rémi, Montérégie, believes that his 3,000 temporary workers "are saving local businesses. Without them, American multinationals would have made short work of Quebec family businesses. We wouldn't have been able to be big and produce quality products while being productive."

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of foreign workers in the eyes of city dwellers who had been shunning agriculture. The famous blue basket and the importance of buying local had a lot to do with it. When the government launched the call for Quebecers to go work in the fields, there was a temporary craze, but few registered in the field. Moreover, the candidates paled in comparison to foreign workers who are not afraid of hot days, who are present all season, experienced, used to working quickly, who master techniques and knowledge, such as the ability to repair equipment, recognize diseases and pests in the fields, etc.

At home, they are often employed in agriculture; here, foreign workers have become an integral part of the operation of Quebec farms .

The CCRHA estimated that labour shortages alone have cost the industry hundreds of millions of dollars, a figure that continues to rise. “If these foreign agricultural workers were not present, either the fruit would not be harvested or producers would have to produce less, it would be a loss,” analyzes agri-food economist Dimitri Fraeys of the Conseil de la transformation alimentaire du Québec (CTAQ). “The sector is highly dependent on foreign workers,” the CCRHA concludes.

Quite a contract!

The federal Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) allows employers to hire temporary foreign workers (TFWs) for up to eight months, provided they can provide at least 240 hours of work over a period not exceeding six weeks.

Employers must submit their labour needs and demonstrate their local recruitment efforts, meaning that no Canadians or permanent residents are available. This takes approximately five months. The company must cover transportation costs and provide health insurance, as well as adequate housing and a full-time contract in good standing (minimum 30 hours per week).

The program has been breaking records in recent years. The number of these low-wage temporary workers in agriculture is increasing year after year. Around 25,000 foreign workers come every summer to lend a hand to agricultural businesses.

While most of them stay for four to five months, from spring to the end of the summer period, some come to work in Quebec for eight months, and this, for several years. They come back as long as it is possible to do so. But this does not give them direct access to permanent residence, far from it. It is a closed environment.

The work permit is closed, meaning it is associated with a single employer. Workers are therefore very vulnerable, often afraid to denounce their employer since the latter has the power to send them back to their country.

Producers have indeed had bad press regarding the living and working conditions of immigrants in recent years. Crammed into small dwellings with no air or privacy, working with bare hands in fields full of pesticides, with a pace that is difficult to maintain in the heat, in backbreaking positions for hours, discriminated against, etc. However, according to the Foundation of Companies Recruiting Foreign Agricultural Labor (FERME), this seems to be less and less the case: housing is inspected, there is a help line in Spanish, and health and safety guidelines. Recruiting seasonal agricultural workers seems to be a win-win solution…

Quebec, an Eldorado?

Seasonal agricultural workers will earn $12.50/hour this summer, the minimum wage. "For farmers, the wage increase is a little harder to swallow," said the president of the Union des producteurs agricoles. "In some sectors, particularly small fruits, labor costs represent more than 50% of the company's expenses."

The wages may seem paltry for this arduous work, from morning to night, sixty hours, often six days a week. Cheap labor ? Yet it is ten to twenty times more than what they earn at home. The average agricultural wage in Mexico is $12/day, and only $5/day in Guatemala. These months of hard work allow the workers to bring home a nice nest egg from La Belle Province.