By Chris Fell
A celebration in Thornbury this week marked six decades of a relationship that spans from Canada to Jamaica, and it all began on a farm in The Blue Mountains.
The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) started with just six workers hired to help on the Mitchell family farm in Thornbury in 1965 and today it’s a national program specifically built for the agricultural sector.
A special dinner celebration event for the seasonal agricultural workers in Canada working at local apple orchards was held at the Beaver Valley Community Centre on Aug. 22.
Hundreds of Jamaican workers were joined by local apple growers, local leaders and representatives from the Jamaican Liaison Service, which hosted the event.
Pearnel Charles Jr., Jamaica’s Minister of Labour and Social Security, joined the event virtually to bring greetings from the Jamaican government.
At the event, farm workers celebrating significant milestones (25 or more years working in Canada) were presented with special certificates recognizing their achievements.
The dinner event was an opportunity for all the principles to gather and celebrate the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), which has been bringing workers from Jamaica and other countries to Canada to assist with fruit and vegetable production for decades.
Local apple farmer John Ardiel explained that by the 1960s there was a critical shortage of Canadian farm workers, which led to the creation of the program.
“They needed to support their families and we needed horticultural work done here,” he explained.
SAWP has continued to be a significant factor in the fruit and vegetable industry in Ontario and brings workers to Canada from multiple Caribbean countries
“We went from six workers as a pilot program to 22,000 workers in Ontario alone,” said John Ardiel. “It all happened in Thornbury. I think that’s pretty cool.”
Christopher Moore has been coming to the local area to work for the Ardiel family at Apple Springs Orchard for 25 years. He received his 25-year certificate at the barbecue.
“It feels good to be here. I like it,” he said in an interview with CollingwoodToday.
Moore has three children in Jamaica aged 37, 22 and 20. Working in Canada through SAWP has enabled him to support his family and his own farming activities at home where he grows corn, pumpkins, melons and sweet potatoes.
Moore arrived in Canada in August and will remain until the apple crop is finished in November.
“Canada is a nice place, it’s like family,” he said.
Sachelle Kellier-Rudder is the local liaison officer through the Jamaican Liaison Services.
She manages farm workers in a number of areas in the province including The Blue Mountains/Meaford, Sudbury, parts of Simcoe County, Milton, Brampton and Barrie.
“The program is very important to the workers. It helps them build a life and family in Jamaica. It helps them send their kids to school. They ensure their children are very highly, highly educated people,” she told CollingwoodToday. “The workers do sacrifice a lot to come and we are so grateful for the employers who hire them every year.”
The importance of the SAWP program to the local apple producers, the workers who travel to Canada each year and the local economy in general can’t be understated.
“We couldn’t do it without them. Good, reliable help on a seasonal basis is next to impossible to find. It’s physically demanding work and we have a really short window to get the crop off the trees,” said Brian Gilroy, who owns Nighthawk Orchards in Meaford. “Fruit and vegetable production in Canada could not happen without SAWP. Period.”
For apple growers, finding local workers willing to work in the orchards on a seasonal basis is next to impossible. The SAWP program offers them a critical lifeline that enables the harvest to get done and operations to continue.
“I haven’t had a Canadian look for a job in decades. In our area, there are a lot of retired people here. They don’t need the job. We would not be in business without these men,” said Shane Ardiel of Apple Springs Orchards.
Shane started growing apples when he first planted trees in 1985, he quit his job in 1990 to pursue growing full-time.
“I thought I was going to make a lot of money,” he joked, adding that the days of local residents working in the orchards have passed. “I had locals from time to time years ago. But you don’t see it anymore.”
Although the event was a celebration of the SAWP program and benefits and advantages it provides, there was an undercurrent of concern among growers at the event about what the future may bring.
In recent weeks, there has been critical commentary and media coverage of a separate Canadian initiative called the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP).
Gilroy said SAWP and TFWP are separate programs with different rules and he lamented that they have been linked together. Gilroy said anytime he sees a story about the temporary foreign worker program, it is often accompanied by a picture of a farm worker.
“There are differences in the programs. SAWP has strong oversight,” Gilroy said. “We want to make sure the integrity of our program is maintained.”
Gilroy said there are wide-ranging economic benefits to the program for both the workers who travel to Canada and the local areas that host them. While they’re here, the farm workers shop in local stores and purchase goods to take home with them.
“The workers that come are able to provide further education for their children,” said Gilroy. “And they take things back with them, it’s good for the local economy. One fellow’s son has a recording studio and he takes components home with him. It’s amazing.”