Hundreds attend migrant worker health fair in Leamington

Hundreds of migrant workers attended a health and information fair in Leamington on Sunday, marking a return to the annual in-person event organizers have paused since the start of the pandemic.

Dozens of community groups were on hand to help newcomers and people returning to Windsor-Essex to work temporary jobs, primarily in the agriculture sector.

"We had an amazing turnout of migrant workers," said Martin Varela, chair of the Migrant Worker Community Program (MWCP), which organized the event.

Varela said they fielded questions aboutaccessing health and dental services, including access to the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).

"All the migrant workers have the right to have OHIP ... but many of them don't know they have the right to OHIP," said Varla.

In earlier stages of the pandemic, Windsor-Essex saw themigrant farm worker populationhard hit by COVID-19 outbreaks.

Across Ontario, at least four temporary foreign workers have died during the pandemic three of whom had COVID-19 and one who died while inquarantine.

They include:

• Bonifacio Eugenio-Romero, who workedon a pepper farm nearKingsville.
• Rogelio Munoz Santos, who workedat a farm in Windsor-Essex.
• Juan Lopez Chaparro, who workedon a vegetable farm near Simcoe.
• Romario Morganof St. Vincent, who diedwhile he was in quarantine in a Mississauga hotel.

Pandemic strengthened relationships

Varela said theMWCPspent the previous two years intensely focused on getting migrant workers tested and vaccinated for COVID-19.

"In the last two years we've been a lot more busier than normal," said Varela.

He said that relationships with healthcare organizations have gotten better because of the pandemic.

"It's sad that we had to go through the pandemic but there has been a lot of positives," he said, pointing to the health fair at Leamington's Roma club as an example of a positive.

"We started working together during the pandemic and now we are strongly working as a team with all the organizations so that has been helping."

Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald was at the event, along with community organizers from the Windsor-Essex Community Health Centre, the Windsor-Essex Local Immigration Partnership and Canadian Mental Health Association.

"It is our responsibility to ensure that our guest workers are aware of all the health and wellness resources that are available to them in our community," said MacDonald in a press release.

"Knowing where to go and who to turn to is key in keeping our workers safe and healthy. "