County of Brant is welcoming Temporary Foreign Workers back to the municipality.
Temporary Foreign Workers are employed by a variety of farms to help harvest the County’s diverse crops including roughly 5000 acres of vegetables and over 2000 acres of ginseng.
“Many workers return to the County year after year, supporting our agricultural operations,” said Russell Press, Director of Economic Development and Tourism. “We are thankful they offer specialized farming skills and we certainly value their contribution to our community.”
The County of Brant welcomes 800 to 1000 workers in a typical year. The Brant County Health Unit has taken a proactive approach and issued a number of requirements to ensure the safety of workers and the community. A variety of COVID-19 testing opportunities are available to workers including PCR testing for those living in congregate settings.
Additionally, the Chamber of Commerce Brantford-Brant and Paris and District Chamber of Commerce have rapid tests available to small and medium sized businesses and are a free resource to the agricultural community.
“These workers not only provide much needed labour to run our agricultural operations, but they are also part of our community and contribute economically,” said Press.
The County of Brant Economic Development team has been working hand-in-hand with the agricultural community and all pertinent levels of government from the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the agricultural sector within Brant is supported.
