Group in Leamington 'very pleased' with expansion of mental health support for migrant farm workers

An organization that supports migrant workers inLeamington, Ont., says it welcomes an announcement that more assistance is coming for the migrant labourers who work on Ontario farms.

The federal and Ontario governments announced this week that they are teaming up to expand mental health supportunder the Farmer Wellness Initiative, to provide free mental health counselling, including a 24/7 phone line in Spanish.

Martin Varela, chair of the Migrant Worker Community Program in Leamington, says he's "very pleased" that the two levels of government have joined together to make the initiative a reality.

"We have migrant workers who left their family in their own countries for eight months or a year. There is some that have three-year contracts, so they are facing more hard situations missing the family, the cultural shock, the different language and on top of that they're feeling lonely in the country," Varela said on Windsor Morning.

LISTEN | Martin Varela speaks on expanded mental health supports for farm workers:

Windsor Morning3:58Government expands mental health services to support migrant workers

Martin Varela is the chair of the Migrant Worker Community Program in Leamington.

On Monday Ottawa and Ontario announced that they are investing up to $538,000 through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP) to expand the Farmer Wellness Initiative to Ontario farm workers. Of that total, nearly $178,000 will be dedicated to supporting the delivery of services in Spanish.

Varela said beefing up the delivery of services in Spanish will make "a huge difference," noting that the majority of migrant workers are Spanish-speaking, many fromMexico, Guatemala and Honduras.

"It's very good that they have a line that they can call in Spanish and it will be easy to have this kind of support," he said.

Delivered by Agriculture Wellness Ontario a suite of free programming managed by the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario Division the Farmer Wellness Initiative provides farmers, farm workers and their family members in Ontario with unlimited access to a free, 24/7 phone line that connects them to tailored mental health counselling.

'This is a Band-Aid'

The advocacy group Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW) says while any initiative to address the mental health of farm workers is important, the announcement by the federal and Ontario governments does not go far enough.

J4MW organizer Chris Ramsaroop said there are four main issues affecting the mental health of migrant workers: family separation, a constant fear of being sent home and not being called back the following year, dangerous conditions of workand lack privacy in bunkhouses.

"To really address these structural issues, you've got to address the working conditions, the exclusion from labour laws, and the precarious immigration status for temporary foreign workers who are tied to an employer," Ramsaroop told CBC News.

"There's also large groups of undocumented people as well who are working in the fields who will be excluded from the services So there's a constant stress. These added stress levels around the working conditions the fact that you've got a tied permit, the fact that you could be disbarred or not allowed to come back the following year, and also issues around family separation are huge.

"On one side, this is a Band-Aid that's going to look at the immediate concerns that some workers are going to raise but these larger structural issues that are the responsibility of the provincial and the federal government have not been addressed,"Ramsaroop added.

Meanwhile, Ramsaroop said the expansion only applies to workers who are currently in Ontario, and does not take into account the scores of workers who are back in their home countries suffering with mental health issues linked to their time working on farms in the province.

"There's additional mental health issues faced by former workers who are injured, who've been denied or having problems in their home countries as a result of the injuries and being denied or being unequally treated by the workers compensation system which is supposed to be taking care of them," he said.

"So, whole swaths of communities of injured workers who are no longer in the program, who've lost their place in the program from no fault of their own."

Long hours, unique challenges

Rob Flack, Ontario minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, said the expansion of services to farm workers and their families reflects the reality that the entire agricultural community experiences unique stressors that require tailored solutions.

"By increasing access to mental health services for everyone involved in the business of farming, we are supporting those who work hard to grow our sector and provide food for people across Ontario and throughout the world," Flack said in a news release.

Meanwhile, Lawrence MacAulay, federal minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, said, "As a farmer myself, I know that farmers and folks working on our farms often work long hours and face unique challenges that can make it difficult to prioritize their mental health.

"Through this initiative under Sustainable CAP, mental health resources will be more accessible, providing these hard-working people the tools they need, when they need them most."

Since its launch in January 2022, the Farmer Wellness Initiative has been supporting 617 farmers and their families, the governments say.