Saanich Peninsula farmer Dan Ponchet was happy to find out that the provincial government will again be covering the costs of isolation for temporary foreign workers who come to sa国际传媒 every year to work in the agricultural sector.
He is expecting nine workers to fly here from Mexico next year to work on his land and anticipates they will be covered by sa国际传媒鈥檚 program in 2021.
鈥淲e are definitely very relieved it is going to happen again,鈥� Ponchet, who runs Dan鈥檚 Farm and Country Market at 2030 Bear Hill Rd., said Friday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 critical for us to have the foreign workers. We can鈥檛 operate without [them].鈥�
He is grateful that sa国际传媒 stepped in this year to pay for isolation in hotels for workers, required in order to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. Local farmers credit the provincial move with saving their season.
Early on, it was suggested that farmers would isolate the foreign workers themselves, but that would not have been feasible, Ponchet said.
Typically, about 10,000 foreign workers come to sa国际传媒 every year, although fewer arrived this year.
The province has said it will cover the self-isolation costs for 11,000 foreign workers coming to this province next year to work on farms. Details of its plans are outlined in a published request for proposals.
In April, the province began paying for two weeks鈥� isolation for thousands of workers after the pandemic hit.
This year, Ponchet鈥檚 workforce was augmented by seven temporary foreign workers. Two are still here. Their final day is Saturday. After a day off on Sunday, Ponchet will drive them to Victoria International Airport on Monday for their morning flight home.
While working on his farm, they lived in the retrofitted basement of his house. Other area farms also use trailers for foreign workers.
Six of the seven who worked this year at Ponchet鈥檚 farm are planning to return in 2021. One worker has come back annually for more than 10 years. They mainly weed, plant and harvest produce.
On Friday, the final two foreign workers were washing sweet potatoes to fill orders, Ponchet said. Prior to that, they pruned kiwi fruit and berry plants.
Workers are here for seven to eight months, and try to save as much as they can before returning home, he said.
Ponchet expects the first foreign workers he is hiring to arrive at the end of February.
Under the foreign worker program, which is regulated by the federal government, farms pay for their own workers鈥� flights to sa国际传媒. Workers earn a minimum wage of $14.60 per hour, pay for their meals and stay in accommodation at a minimal cost.
Ponchet said the workers like the smaller size of the local Peninsula farms, where everyone gets to know each other. The farm provides a special pizza dinner for workers with every paycheque.
The province is aiming to contract with hotel chains for hotel rooms within 10 kilometres of Vancouver International Airport. Each worker would be put up for 14 days and provided with food, laundry and other services before being transported to a farm to work, provided no symptoms arise.
This year, the province spent approximately $15 million on accommodations, meals and laundry service for the more than 4,800 temporary foreign workers who came to sa国际传媒 beginning in April and needed to isolate for two weeks, because of the pandemic, a Ministry of Agriculture official said in a statement.
Those workers headed to 495 farms and more than 750 farm sites (some farms have more than one site) for this year鈥檚 season.
Most went to the Fraser Valley and the Okanagan, but some worked on Vancouver Island. Ponchet does not know how many worked Saanich Peninsula farms, but estimates 50.
The ministry statement says helping farmers hire foreign workers during the pandemic supports not only the provincial food supply, but the province鈥檚 agricultural and food-processing sectors, which employ about 65,000 British Columbians and generate about $15 billion in annual sales.
In the capital region, 1,003 farms cover 13,265 hectares and generated $64.5 million in gross receipts in 2016.
Most of the farm workers coming to sa国际传媒 are from Mexico, Jamaica and Guatemala.
Of the workers who came to sa国际传媒 this year, 63 tested positive for the virus and all have since recovered, the ministry said. Once fully recovered, workers can be taken to their farms.
Hotels that want to bid on the program have until Dec. 18.
The province鈥檚 request for proposals says it will try to protect the anonymity of participating hotels, citing potential 鈥渞eputational damages鈥� from 鈥減ublic perceptions associated with COVID-19 prevalence and transmission.鈥�
