ECLS - Prospective Employer Process Map

EASTERN CARIBBEAN LIAISON SERVICES

Can ada-Car ibbean (Season al Agr icu lt u r al Wor k er s Pr ogr am ) SAWP/ AG

St ep 1 Pr e-Ar r ival -

Service Canada Overview: SAWP Overview: Ag Stream Overview:

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SAWP: MIA Application: Contract:

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Ag St r eam : LMIA Application: Contract:

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Housing Inspection Report ? Approval Process:

St ep 2 Pr e-Ar r ival ? F.A.R.M .S. -

Approved LMIAs/Worker Requests: are processed by and can be provided via F.A.R.M.S (Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services- F.E.R.M.E (Fondation des Entreprises en Recrutement de Main-d?? uvre agricole Étrangère -) or any other similar Provincial body.

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SAWP Contracts: There is one Agreement for the Employment in Canada of Commonwealth Caribbean Agricultural Workers, which is applicable to Eastern Caribbean workers (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines). The Agreement covers all aspects of the conditions of employment. The Agreement is reviewed with the worker who is requested to sign it prior to departing for Canada. The agreement is a four-party agreement between the Worker, the Employer, the Foreign Government, and the Government of Canada. This agreement is amended each year by all parties, during the Canada-Caribbean SAWP Annual Review Meeting.

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Ag Stream Contracts:

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CANAG:

St ep 3 Pr e-Ar r ival ? ECLS: Wor k er Select ion -

Approved LMIAs/Worker Requests: are processed by Service Canada and can be provided via F.A.R.M.S (Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services - ) F.E.R.M.E (Fondation des Entreprises en Recrutement de Main-d?? uvre agricole Étrangère) or any other similar Provincial body, to the ECLS, for timely submission to the various Ministries of Labour, months before workers?expected date of arrival in Canada. This critical document includes named (mostly returning) or unnamed workers and is used as a basis for processing returning workers and selecting new workers.

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Selection: An extensive selection process is undertaken, by the respective Ministries of Labour, in each of the participating Eastern Caribbean states. This process is designed to select a pool of qualified workers who are ready to participate in the SAWP, Low Skilled Agriculture and other Temporary Worker Programs. Interested Eastern Caribbean nationals are put through a rigorous selection process which includes: Panel Interviews by relevant industry practitioners; Extensive background checks, including provision of Police Report; Relevant Medical Evaluations; Orientation sessions for selected workers; and Contract signing and return flight arrangements.

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Work Permit: NOWA (Notice of Worker Arrival): Orientation & Travel

St ep 4 - In Can ada -

the aspect of the worker experience during their work assignments in Canada, covered by the core functions of the ECLS, for worker welfare, employer relations and stakeholder engagement.

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Induction: Worker Support Services ? On arrival at the airport and when being received by an ECLS Liaison Officer, workers will be provided with a brochure and other pertinent information to guide their settling-in on the designated farm in Canada. Individual employers will normally prepare induction activities, specific to their type of farming business, during the first few weeks of the workers?employment.

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Facilitating Worker Welfare & Employer Relations: This core function is primarily the responsibility of the ECLS in collaboration with OECS Ministries of Labour. The ECLS sustains healthy communication with/between workers and employers. The ECLS also ensures the maintenance of worker welfare with easy access to the services it provides to workers (e.g.: medical insurance & filing income tax) and good relations with employers; while encouraging labour best-practices.

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Worker Evaluation: Workers are evaluated annually by employers via an online evaluation tool facilitated by the ECLS. This tool assists employers to determine which workers will be requested to return or the following season as a named worker on an LMIA.

St ep 5 Post -Depar t u r e For this final component of the process, the ECLS collaborates with all key stakeholders to ensure smooth continuity for workers returning to Canada for the next season; transition workers returning to their home countries; and conducts Employer Evaluations and participates in Annual Review Meetings.

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Employer Evaluations: The ECLS, in collaboration with OECS Ministries of Labour (Technical Working Group ? TWG), is developing an online tool to evaluate employers. This tool will help the ECLS-TWG to determine which employers continue to maintain the highest standards of employment best practice. The launching of this tool is earmarked for 2019.

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Annual Reviews: An overall review of the participation of OECS workers in Canada?s Temporary Worker Programs is conducted annually. The ECLS-TWG will participates in 2 reviews as follows:

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OECS - ECLS-TWG Annual Review Meeting: This meeting is for the benefit of ECLS management and OECS Ministries of Labour representatives (including PS?,Labour Commissioners or relevant Labour Officers) to review the current year ?s participation in SAWP, to discuss and agree on remedial measures for the next season; and to prepare a unified OECS position, regarding proposed SAWP contract amendments, to be deliberated at the Canada-Caribbean SAWP Annual Review Meeting. The ECLS-TWG is scheduled directly before that meeting, for convenience, to encourage more OECS participation.

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Canada-Caribbean - SAWP Annual Review Meeting: This meeting takes place immediately after the ECLS-TWG Annual Review Meeting, at the end of November each year. At this meeting all Caribbean countries (Barbados, Jamaica, OECS and Trinidad & Tobago) Ministries of Labour, participating in SAWP, come together to hold discussions with FARMS, FERME and other similar provincial employer umbrella coordinating agencies for SAWP, including relevant Government of Canada agencies like ESDC, Immigration and relevant High Commissions, on common issues for the improvement of SAWP. In particular, proposed amendments to the SAWP contract for the ensuing year are debated, negotiated and approved, by the meeting, for implementation.