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TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada’s recent move to offer permanent residency to more foreigners living and working in the country is a short-term solution to the economic problems spurred by a pandemic-related immigration slowdown, analysts say, while critics argue the strategy excludes too many vulnerable people.
FILE PHOTO: Travelers from an international flight are directed to the COVID-19 testing area as part of Canada s new measures against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada February 24, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File Photo
With travel restrictions in place, visa offices closed and immigration applications stalled, the Canadian government finds itself on the back foot as it attempts to reach its target of attracting a record 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021.
Advocates push to get migrant workers on COVID vaccine list nationalobserver.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nationalobserver.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Ontario growers worried over COVID travel restrictions and migrant worker mobility
Canada is reliant on foreign workers for its food supply. In a normal year, some 24,000 seasonal agriculture workers will arrive at the nation’s farms and orchards. Most come from Mexico and the Caribbean, but the federal government suspended commercial flights from those locations on Jan. 31.
Ken Forth, President of the Foreign Agriculture Resource Management Service, said they have the resources to get workers on Canadian soil. We can book total airplanes, like we can book charter flights. And that s what we re doing now, he told toronto.ctvnews.ca..
Ontario ramps up COVID safety inspections on farms ahead of growing season
January 28, 2021
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO-Ontario is ramping up pandemic safety inspections on farms where thousands of migrant workers are set to arrive for the new growing season, although the labour minister wouldn’t say if those employees would have access to COVID-19 vaccines.
Monte McNaughton said Wednesday that hundreds of inspectors will visit farms in the coming weeks to ensure safety measures are being followed.
“Last year, we knew farmers needed extra guidance on how to protect workers so our visits focused on education,” McNaughton said. “This year, we’re enforcing and issuing orders, no excuses.”
TORONTO The death of Yassin Dabeh, a former Syrian refugee who died from COVID-19, is a sign of the âhuman rights catastropheâ facing newcomers and migrants working on the front lines, advocates say. The 19-year-old died last week and had worked at Middlesex Terrace Limited long-term care home in Delaware, Ont., which is dealing with a virus outbreak. His family had sought refuge in Canada in 2016 after moving from Syria. âYassin dreamed of starting a new life, getting a job, having a future and proper education,â his father, Ahmad, said Tuesday at a virtual press conference. He described his son as a âsweet, lovable boyâ who was âvery caring.â