FREDERICTON — Farmers in New Brunswick are calling on the provincial government to rethink new restrictions on temporary foreign workers that they say are unnecessary and will increase costs.
Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick president Lisa Ashworth said Tuesday farmers have been told temporary foreign workers will have to quarantine inside individual accommodations for 14 days upon arrival.
Farmers had been previously permitted to quarantine workers together on farms as long as workers were able to remain two metres apart.
Ashworth said the new rules for the province's 200 foreign agriculture workers come without warning, adding that they will increase costs on farmers. She said the new rules stipulate that workers must have separate bedrooms, bathrooms, laundry and kitchens.
"Our understanding was that the protocols from last year — which our minister of health said publicly worked well — would be the basis of what we do this year with the enhanced screening at the country of origin and screening at arrival in Canada," Ashworth said in an interview Tuesday.
Nova Scotia is permitting workers to quarantine together on farms, she said, adding that Prince Edward Island is requiring individual isolation but also paying for it.
"We are at a competitive disadvantage here," Ashworth said. "If people can't afford to do this, they won't. It will mean fewer acres planted."
Ashworth said she doesn't understand the new health order because workers are still required to test negative for COVID-19 before they can begin working.
"If these people are quarantined on farm, what risk is there? They are not out in the community. They are not going to work with our local labour force until they all test negative," she said.
But Health Department spokesman Bruce Macfarlane says the main reason for the change is the arrival of COVID-19 variants.
"I can advise you that temporary foreign workers are not specifically targeted, but are entering Canada from countries where many variants of COVID-19 have been detected," Macfarlane said in an email Tuesday.
"The measures required to deal with COVID-19 have changed, as the virus has evolved since last summer and we have a year’s worth of experience and research on which to draw," he said.
Macfarlane said the measures will likely change again as COVID-19 vaccines become more widely administered.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2021.
Kevin Bissett, The Canadian Press
