Health unit looks to change bunkhouse inspection fee program

The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit is proposing a new fee structure to cover the cost of inspecting bunkhouses occupied by international agricultural workers.

Under the new structure, the health unit would charge $95 per unit and a re-inspection fee of $45 for the 2024 growing season. At present, the seasonal housing inspection fee stands at $114 per 9-1-1 address and there is no re-inspection fee.

The change was presented to the Haldimand-Norfolk Health and Social Services advisory committee on June 26. The committee accepted the report and proposed new fee structure as information.

Speaking at the committee meeting Alexis Atkinson, the program manager for environmental health, said the health unit is required to inspect seasonal housing.

Atkinson said the existing fee structure covers some but not all of the cost of the program.

A financial analysis of the program conducted by the county’s finance department determined the inspections cost $212.25. The cost of a re-inspection was pegged at $154.90.

The analysis included the time spent driving to and from the various farms as well as inspections of bunkhouses.

Atkinson said the current fee structure creates an inequity because it is based solely on the 9-1-1 address not on the number of units on property. Smaller operators, those with one or two housing units or bunkhouses pay the same fee as large operators who have as many as 10 units on the property.

In 2022, the health unit approved housing for 4,914 international agricultural workers.

The fee isn’t reflective of the services provided, Atkinson said.

The program cost $147,710 in 2022 and the health unit, through its fee program, collected $48,709. The $99,001 balance was covered by taxes collected by the county.

The proposed change would address the inequity and, at the same time, increase the amount of money recovered by the health unit.

“While it’s recognized that this change doesn’t bring about full cost recovery, it is an enhancement that can be re-evaluated when necessary,” Atkinson said.

If the proposed fee structure is adopted the amount recovered by the county is projected to be $65,115, up from the $48,709 collected in 2022.

“I think this is an excellent idea,” Coun. Linda Vandendriessche said. “It’s high time that we have a little bit more equity.

“I’ve always wondered why we didn’t charge per unit.”

count. Chris Van Paassen asked for some clarification on how the new fee structure, if approved, would be applied.

“Many farmers have spent millions of dollars to build new accommodations for their workers,” Van Paassen said.

A farmer may have six or seven pods within one building and Van Paassen wanted to know if the health unit would consider that one building a single unit.

Van Paassen was told that adjoining bunkhouses would be considered one unit under the proposed new fee structure.

Many farmers, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and controversial public health measures, have come up with new ways of housing international migrant workers.

Van Paassen said he is expecting to get some flak for the proposed fee structure change.

He urged the health unit to look for ways to reduce the costs of the program so that the county doesn’t look like it’s always just cranking up the fees.

In 2022, the health unit approved housing for 5,914 international agricultural workers. It conducted 742 inspections including 665 for compliance, 41 re-inspections, three pre-operational inspections and 33 inspections of isolation units.

[email protected]

twitter.com/EXPVBall