Orientation event for migrant workers – February 26 in Leamington

Feb 24, 2023

The event is a way for migrant workers to learn how the Migrant Worker Community Program can support them within the community.

By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com

The Migrant Worker Community Program (MWCP)—headquartered in Leamington, Ontario— will be offering its first ever Orientation Event for Migrant and Temporary Foreign Workers in partnership with over 15+ organizations in the Windsor-Essex County area.

The MWCP is a non-profit organization that helps migrant workers assimilating into the community during their stay in Canada.

The goal of this event is to provide migrant workers with knowledge of the community and organizational supports available to them, as well as to ensure they have barrier-free access to financial, legal, and Service Navigation information.

To help, the MWCP will be offering bus transportation at key locations within the Leamington and Kingsville areas.

All members of the community are welcome.

Date: Sunday, February 26, 2023
Time: 3 - 6PM
Location: Roma Club, 19 Seacliff Drive East, Leamington

Speakers:

Martin Varela, Chair, Migrant Worker Community Program;
Hilda MacDonald, Mayor of Leamington and Warden, Windsor-Essex County;
Rodrigo Báez, Consul de Mexico/Head-Consul;
Monica Champagne, Project Lead at Windsor-Essex Local Immigration Partnership (WE LIP) and TeamWork Project;
Richard Lee, Executive Director, Ontario Greenhouse Vegetables Growers (OGVG).

The MWCP helps migrant workers navigate the Canadian system by providing various services such as mental health support, connecting them to the health services, legal services, translation and interpretation services, organizing recreational events among others to make sure that they feel welcomed and safe into the community.

The program helps better integrate this large community into the resident population. It fosters inclusion and welcoming of migrant workers through social, cultural, and recreational events.

The MWCP functions as a bridge between the migrant worker population and the community, based on the understanding that there is a cultural and language barrier that presents challenges in day-to-day interactions. The MWCP, through various programs and outreach initiatives, offers support to approximately 4000 migrant workers and over 200 farms in the past year. This service is culturally safe and responsive.

For more information on the MWCP, visit www.migrantworkercommunityprogram.com.

Video: How women saved agricultural economics and other ideas for why diversity matters | Jill J. McCluskey

Dr. Jill J. McCluskey, Regents Professor at Washington State University and Director of the School of Economic Science

Dr. McCluskey documents that women entered agricultural economics in significant numbers starting in the 1980s, and their ranks have increased over time. She argues that women have increased the relevance in the field of agricultural economics through their diverse interests, perspectives, and experiences. In their research, women have expanded the field's treatment of non-traditional topics such as food safety and nutrition and environmental and natural resource economics. In this sense, women saved the Agricultural Economics profession from a future as a specialty narrowly focused on agricultural production and markets. McCluskey will go on to discuss some of her own story and how it has shaped some of her thinking and research. She will present her research on dual-career couples in academia, promotional achievement of women in both Economics and Agricultural Economics, and work-life support programs.

The Daryl F. Kraft Lecture is arranged by the Department of Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, with the support of the Solomon Sinclair Farm Management Institute, and in cooperation with the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences.