The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit is projecting an increase in inspections of housing for seasonal agricultural workers.
An influx in international agricultural workers over the past several years to meet the rising demand of production within the greenhouse and farming sectors in Essex County, specifically around Leamington and Kingsville, has resulted in a need for more housing for these workers.
Officials conducted 1,165 inspections in 2023, and are projecting a 15 per cent increase in 2024 over last year.
Manager of Environmental Health Elaine Bennett says the volume of inspections is constantly on the rise, something they're already seeing through the first three months of this year.
"We have 26 new seasonal facilities that have requested inspection. Back in 2023, we had overall 46 seasonal housing requests. Those were new premises added to our database," she says.
The health unit currently has 1,131 active seasonal housing facilities listed in its database compared to 817 listed in 2020.
An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 workers come to the region every year, mostly from Mexico and the Caribbean, to work within the area's farming sector.
The health unit has a team of six inspectors who handle the seasonal housing inspections in Essex County.
Bennett says these inspections are quite important to ensure international workers are in buildings that are properly maintained.
"Proper sanitation facilities, sleeping accommodations, ensuring their kitchens are properly constructed, where they need to prepare food and where the cooking would occur. Their washrooms are properly maintained with a proper sewage disposal," she says.
In February 2023, the health unit's board of directors approved a fee increase of $25, from $75 to $100, for annual licensing inspections in the seasonal housing inspection program due to an increased demand for inspections.
Money generated from the seasonal housing licensing inspection fees is being used to support the increasing costs of program implementation within the Environmental Health Department.
The inspections are mandated under Part III of the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA) and the Ontario Public Health Standards: Requirements for Programs, Services and Accountability 2018 (OPHS) and its related protocols and guidelines.
The Environmental Health Department also works with Services Canada and the Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services (FARMS) to approve all seasonal accommodations for occupancy.