A new program to help international agricultural workers manage stress, homesickness and isolation is coming to Ontario next year.
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The two-year pilot program will start in Windsor-Essex early next year before expanding to Brant-Haldimand-Norfolk. It will provide recreational activities, primary care, counseling support groups and in-person workshops.
“These workers are away from their families for long periods of time and that can lead to stress and feelings of isolation,” Lynn Hinds, executive director of Canadian Mental Health Association, Brant Haldimand Norfolk branch, said. “This program aims to give them coping mechanisms and support they need to stay healthy.”
Hinds said many of the international workers face language barriers which contribute to loneliness and homesickness.
Resources and support will be available in Spanish, French and English in Year 1 and include Tagalog – a language spoken by the Tagalog people of the Philippines. The program is being delivered in Essex-Windsor and Brant-Haldimand-Norfolk because those areas have the highest number of international agricultural workers annually.
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An estimated 20,000 international agricultural workers come to Ontario to work on farms every year and Hinds expects the program will reach thousands of those workers.
The program is being launched by Agriculture Wellness Ontario in collaboration with CMHA Windsor-Essex and CMHA Brant Haldimand Norfolk.
Hinds said the COVID-19 pandemic served as a springboard for the program because it put a spotlight on the health of migrant workers.
Year 2 of the program will include support to farm operators with workshops on how to create safer workplaces, Hinds said.
The program, formally called The International Agricultural Workers Wellness Program, is funded through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership. The partnership is a five-year (2023-2028), $3.5-billion investment by federal, provincial and territorial governments to strengthen competitiveness, innovation, and resiliency of Canada’s agriculture, agri-food and agri-based products sector.
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