BACKGROUND
International Farm Workers (IAW) are cornerstones to food security and production in Windsor and Essex County (WEC) and across the province. IAWs are disproportionately impacted by vaccine preventable and infectious diseases. Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases can impact the broader population by increasing demands on healthcare facilities, diverting resources from other pressing health issues and intensifying healthcare costs. Beyond direct health outcomes, there are also indirect economic repercussions. In the agricultural sector, outbreaks can impede farm operations, impacting the food supply chain and posing an economic threat to an industry heavily relying on international labor.
In Ontario and across Canada, school-based immunization programs are implemented, and some provinces have legislation to verify vaccination status of school-age children (i.e. Ontario’s Immunization of School Pupils Act, R.S.O. 1990, C. I.1, 2021). Unfortunately, similar protections do not extend to all population segments. The lack of vaccine verification, a process confirming immunization status against diseases like measles and chickenpox, becomes even more critical when it is not performed for individuals arriving to Canada like IAWs. Given that over 70,000 migrant farmworkers support Canada’s agricultural industry (Canada, 2024; Canadian Bureau for International Education, 2023), these numbers highlight the scope of this policy gap.
As an at-risk population, IAWs should receive equitable vaccination opportunities and should be prioritized. This population experiences many barriers to accessing publicly funded vaccines in Ontario including an inherently mobile nature of work and location status, vaccine-specific factors that limit mobile opportunities (e.g., vaccine management and storage requirements supported in rural locations), lack of trust of government and healthcare organizations, and baseline challenges in accessing healthcare because of other existing barriers (e.g., language, cultural factors, health literacy).
By not implementing vaccine verification policies, Canada is indirectly perpetuating health inequities, disproportionately affecting those who already encounter numerous social and economic challenges. Providing proactive vaccination at all levels of government and health care interactions to this population could significantly reduce the level of risk both within this population and the surrounding community.
PROPOSED MOTION
Whereas, vaccination against specific vaccine-preventable diseases will protect the IAWs and reduce transmission of infection to others in the community; and
Whereas, risk of disease transmission within congregate settings, which includes both the housing and working environments, for IAWs is high; and
Whereas, there is risk of severe illness or death due to increased prevalence of chronic conditions within the migrant worker population;
Whereas, there is an increased risk of disruption to critical supply chains and the local economy in WEC when IAWs are exposed and become ill due to infectious diseases;
Whereas, implementing vaccine verification policies will mitigate the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases, ease burdens on the healthcare system, and promote social cohesion.
Now therefore be it resolved that the Windsor-Essex County Board of Health recommends that the Province of Ontario, in collaboration with the Federal Government of Canada, develop and implement a supportive, proactive immunization verification process including pre-emptive education strategies at the pre-entry phase, encouraging individuals to travel with records of vaccination to provide upon arrival.
FURTHER THAT, the Ontario Ministry of Health, resource a provincial IAW immunization strategy, specifically utilizing the results of an established vaccine verification process for IAWs, to ensure the provision of publicly funded vaccines to this population upon arrival to reduce the risk of vaccine preventable disease transmission.
FURTHER THAT, the Ontario Ministry of Health engage provincial Health Care Providers, approved to provide publicly funded vaccines, to pursue additional opportunities and strategies to increase immunizations within IAW populations already living and working within the province.