22/03/2024
Hundreds of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) from Mexico who are struggling to obtain their visas to come here could compromise the start of the season, drive up vegetable prices, and even push farms into bankruptcy.
"It seems like a disaster. It's a quarrel between two governments, and we're the ones suffering," sighs Catherine Lefebvre, president of the Association des producteurs maraîchers du Québec (APMQ).
"If the first workers can't arrive, it means there will be repercussions on plantings, harvests, and incomes," she summarizes.
Around 4,500 Mexican workers are expected by mid-June. However, hundreds of them, expected in April to prepare for the harvests, still do not have their papers.
Since February 29, Mexican workers have had to meet the same requirements as other Mexican citizens imposed by Canada: they need an entry visa. But this process is not so simple for them there.
And the effects are already being felt here.
"The imposition of visas on Mexican citizens reduces the purchase of plane tickets, forcing Aeromexico to cancel several flights in April and May," mentions an internal newsletter from the Fondation des Entreprises en Recrutement de Main-d’œuvre agricole Étrangère (FERME) obtained by Le Journal.
According to Catherine Lefebvre, president of the APMQ, these workers urgently need to be here around April 15 or 20 to start field plantings, otherwise "there is no solution."
"The first production affected will be asparagus, as they need to be ready by early May," she points out.
In Saint-Thomas, in Lanaudière, the owner of Asperges Primera, Mario Rondeau, has been sleeping less well since uncertainty looms over his workers.
"It's very worrying. Out of 23, I have 14 who have a visa, five who have paid and are waiting for the embassy's response there," shares the grower of white and purple asparagus for eight years.
"There are canceled flights in April because planes are less full with Aeromexico. It's certain that it will be chaos," shares the one who wrote to his MP to denounce the situation.
"If they arrive two weeks late, the damage will be done," he adds.