Greenhouse Canada

News Labour
Provincial COVID-19 quarantine facility to shut down in B.C.

March 14, 2022  By Western Labour Agriculture Initiative


The provincially funded and operated quarantine facility in Richmond, B.C. will be shutting down at the end of March.

According to an emailed statement sent by the Western Labour Agriculture Initiative (WALI) last week, B.C. employers will now be responsible for all on-arrival quarantine requirements that were previously met by the provincial facility. These requirements had been in place for the duration of the pandemic.

“All temporary foreign workers (TFWs) who are not fully vaccinated arriving after March 15th must quarantine in facilities provided by employers,” states WALI. Employers will be responsible for providing workers with quarantine accommodations for 14 days as required by the federal government. Workers in quarantine must avoid contact with others who they did not travel with.

Advertisement

Employers must provide workers with:

  • Adequate quarantine accommodations.
  • Potable water, regular and nutritious meals, and any required medication(s).
  • A means of communicating with the outside world.
  • Wages for a minimum of 30 hours per week.
  • Daily health checks.
  • A safe means of accessing appropriate health care should the worker develop symptoms or health issues while in quarantine.

Employers are required to notify Service Canada by email when TFWs arrive at the farm. Producers may refer to this email sent by Service Canada relating to TFW travel. For more information visit the Service Canada website.

Provincial funding support for TFW self-isolation provided by the B.C. Farm Worker Safe Isolation Program will continue through 2022.

Unvaccinated TFWs arriving in Canada will be instructed to take a Day 1 COVID-19 test and will be given a take-home test kit to self-administer on Day 8. Fully vaccinated TFWs may be randomly selected for a Day 1 test but will not be given a take-home test kit. TFWs who have trouble accessing their test results can call the BCCDC COVID-19 Test Result line at 1-833-707-2792 (press 1 for a translator; press 3 if the individual does not have a Personal Health Number).

There were no changes to the requirements for fully vaccinated TFWs, who can travel directly to their final location and begin working immediately. Workers will now have to enter the farm address and quarantine information into the ArriveCan app.

The additional provincial housing inspection that was enacted for COVID-19 safety is ending as of March 31st.  Employers must have a communicable disease plan and a COVID-19 safety plan in place. WorkSafeBC will continue to carry out inspections for these plans.


Print this page

Advertisement

Stories continue below