Profits trump COVID-19 protections for migrant seafood workers in Atlantic Canada
Profits trump COVID-19 protections for migrant seafood workers in Atlantic Canada
March 4, 2021
Canada’s federal government recently imposed new air travel restrictions in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. The government and four major airlines agreed to temporarily stop all incoming flights from Mexico and the Caribbean, and closed the Halifax and Moncton airports to international arrivals.
Maritime farming and seafood-processing industries, typically reliant on foreign labour, will be hit hard by the ban, with Mexico and Jamaica among the top source countries of temporary foreign workers. In media reports, spokespeople for those industries worried that the regulations would disrupt their labour supply or potentially lead to increased costs.
Temporary foreign workers have historically provided significant labour to Maritime food industries. In 2019, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia employed 1,178; 1,963 and 2,824 such workers respectively. However, in 2020 these numbers declined by 18 per cent, leaving the Canadian farm and seafood-processing industries fearful of the impacts of further cuts to the program for the 2021 season.
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