Labour Minister Emma Hippolyte recently travelled to Canada as part of a government effort to get a clearer picture of how Saint Lucia’s participation in the Canada Farm Labour Programme is working on the ground.
The visit included meetings with Canadian employers and government officials, but Hippolyte said it was also important to hear directly from the Saint Lucians doing the work.
That led to discussions with workers in Ontario, including some who have spent decades in the programme. They were given the opportunity to speak openly about their experiences, the benefits of the programme, and the areas they believe more support is needed.
At Monday’s pre-Cabinet press briefing, Hippolyte said one of the concerns that stood out was retirement.
For some of the long-serving workers, the issue has become harder to ignore. Hippolyte said several have spent more than 20 years in the programme, and as they get older, questions around pension contributions and what they will have to rely on after leaving farm work are becoming more pressing.
“You start thinking of pensions because you know when you are young, you don’t think [of] pensions. When you start getting a different age… you have to start looking at, ‘What is the pension contribution?’”
She said that concern came through clearly in the discussions.
“Are they contributing here? Are they contributing in Canada? Is it enough to cover?” she said. “So that was a serious gap to me that we sort of have to look at.”
Workers also spoke about how they feel when they return home.
Hippolyte said she told them they were ambassadors for Saint Lucia while working overseas, but some said they do not always feel that same recognition when they return to the country.
“They said when they come back, they don’t feel that they’ve been received as ambassadors,” she said.
“So we have to do some work on the receiving end.”
The delegation also visited farms and processing facilities and met Canadian employers, who repeatedly stressed the importance of reliable, hardworking workers, noting this can open the door for more Saint Lucians to follow.
“If they are happy with the performance of the full set, then there is an opportunity to bring a second, a third, and a fourth set,” she said.
