Housing conditions 'inadequate and undignified' for migrant farm workers, researchers say
CBC
Researchers and experts from a handful of Canadian universities have developed a new guidance document to help migrant workers live healthier lives on farms.
The guidance document, called the National Housing Standards for Migrant Agricultural Workers, was released last week at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo.
A group of 29 activists, experts and clinicians from across Canada, including some from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, helped develop the new guidance document.
It was inspired by decades of research showing how poor housing conditions led to preventable deaths in Ontario.
Susana Caxaj, one of the lead authors of the guidance document, says they're hoping it will help set a new standard for farms employing migrant workers across Canada.
"The reality is that even when housing does meet current regulations, it is incredibly inadequate and undignified," she said.
"The document details every dimension of housing you might see from the most conventional to washrooms, water quality... exposures to pesticides and... with climate change, heating issues are particularly disproportionately affecting migrant agricultural workers."
Tyrell Mills came to Canada from Jamaica in September 2023 as a migrant worker for a farm in Colborne Township, east of Toronto.
He says he endured unsanitary housing conditions while living there.
"Around seven of us had to share one restroom. There were bunk bends and they are very, very filthy," he said.
"To be frank, I couldn't even sleep. I have to sit up the whole night cause I was really upset. I was like 'What's this? I didn't came here for this.'... It was so dirty. The windows have never been opened... and rats come to eat dinner with us."
Mills worked at that Colborne farm alongside his uncle, Clifford McLiesh.
McLiesh first worked as a migrant worker in Ontario in 2002 and left two years later. He then came back in 2023 and he said his health has suffered.
"We don't have a heating system... I get infected with a fungus there from the bathroom. It was all over my skin. I was scratching and I went to the doctor to get tablets to get it off me," he said.
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