MONTREAL -- Some farmers are hoping their fellow Quebecers will take up their offer for work via a recently announced provincial government program.
On Friday, the Quebec government
On Friday, the provincial government announced a $45-million plan to incentivize Quebecers to work on the province's farms. The plan, which Premier Francois Legault mentioned at his daily press briefing, would see those who sign up get paid an additional $100 per week on top of the usual wages offered to farm workers.
Quinn Farm owner Phillip Quinn said the help will be much needed, as fewer migrant workers are likely to be on hand this year.
"Just getting the work done is going to be a tough one," he said. "We usually call upon migrant workers to come and help us out during the season. It's going to be quite challenging to get those guys in to come and work with us."
Agriculture Minister Andre Lamontagne said the program is aimed at offering employment to out-of-work Quebecers and students while also compensating for a lack of temporary foreign workers. Lamontagne said roughly 11,000 temporary foreign workers, mostly from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, come to Quebec each year to help with the harvest but estimated only 8,000 will come this year due to the pandemic. He said his hope is that 8,000 Quebecers will sign up for the program, which would see them working in the fields for 25 hours a week.
“This is a situation that risks a delay in our farming activities and our ability to produce the foodstuff necessary for the population over the next few months,” he said.
Those temporary foreign workers who do make it to Quebec will be equally compensated. Labour Minister Jean Boulet said the goal is for equity between local and temporary foreign workers, with no discrimination.
Quinn Farm's Gabrielle Dumas said she hoped Quebecers will be up to the challenging task.
"They are tough jobs and not everybody's up for a tough job," she said. "They're long days in the fields in the hot sun or in the wet rain, picking berries for hours, day in and out. It's going to be challenging."
Dumas said maintaining social distancing measures will be a challenge, as the farm must cut bunk accomodations by half and find solutions to keep workers in the fields apart.
"Farmers are very creative and we adapt," she said. "We will find ways but it's going to be hard for everybody to respect or to just keep on top of having everybody respect those rules."
Aside from the money dedicated to compensation, part of the funding will go towards training interested workers while some funding will also be dedicated to transportation of workers to the farms.
Lamontagne stressed that there is no danger of a food shortage within Quebec, either from local production or from food imported into Canada.
“We do not fear lacking food, however what is important is we want to be able to eat the fruit of our own production, our own farmers,” he said. “What might be more difficult this year is local agricultural production sowed and harvested by Quebec producers.”
He acknowledged that while some of those who sign up will return to their original jobs when the economy opens back up, he does hope some will choose to remain in the agricultural sector.
“People will go in the field. A majority is people who will have an interest. I will say those people that go work in the field, a lot of them will really enjoy how they contribute to Quebec society by helping. In addition to their job, there will be this satisfacation. Hopefully people will stay and work along with our producers,” he said.
Zachary Richard works at Quinn Farms, a job he returned to after being laid off from a job in construction when the pandemic started.
"Honestly, I just have a hard time staying at home," he said. "I like to be outside, I like to do something. If I stay home, I just get bored so that's the reason I'm here."
