Press release: Statistics Canada highlights important role migrant workers play in Nova Scotia
Halifax, Nova Scotia (April 26, 2024) - Data recently released by Statistics Canada highlights the increasingly important role which migrant workers, also known as Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs), play in Nova Scotia’s agriculture and seafood sectors.
The data tables were released by Statistics Canada on April 18, 2024. On April 23, 2024, the Government of Nova Scotia’s Economics and Statistics Division released an analysis of the data for Nova Scotia. Highlights include the following:
In 2023, 2,909 TFWs were employed in Nova Scotia’s agricultural industries, as well as food and beverage manufacturing. The highest number of TFWs were employed in fruit and tree nut farming (986), followed by seafood product preparation and packaging (680).
Nova Scotia is among the provinces which “have markedly higher shares of temporary foreign workers in agriculture compared to other provinces.”
From 2022 to 2023, there was a 10% jump in the number of migrant workers employed in the province’s agriculture sector.
On March 5, 2024, Minister of Agriculture Greg Morrow was questioned at the Sub Committee on Supply with regards to migrant farm worker's rights. Minister Morrow stated that his office did not know which Nova Scotia farms employ migrant workers. When asked about his government’s oversight of the working conditions of migrant workers, Minister Morrow stated: "most of this work is led by industry..."
When asked about his efforts to ensure migrant workers have MSI on arrival in Nova Scotia, Minister Morrow responded: “We do hear this from industry and I’ve raised it with my colleague [Minister Thompson] and will continue to do so”
“We can’t rely on industry to regulate itself. The Government of Nova Scotia needs to take greater action to ensure that migrant worker’s rights are respected, including targeted and unannounced inspections of migrant worker’s living quarters and worksites. Healthcare coverage should also not be left in the hands of their employer. For this reason, we are calling for MSI on arrival for all migrant workers,” said Stacey Gomez, Executive Director of the Centre for Migrant Worker Rights Nova Scotia.
