The COVID-19 Agri-Worker Isolation and Recovery Centre will continue to operate in Windsor for the next 12 months.
The federal government has announced the city will receive $17.8-million to operate a 125-room site.
The site is used to accommodate temporary foreign agri-workers in Windsor-Essex who are unable to safely self-isolate at their usual place of residence.
Windsor-Tecumseh Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk took part in the funding announcement along with Health Minister Patty Hajdu, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens and County Warden Gary McNamara.
Kusmierczyk says the site is a critical piece of the puzzle in protecting the region.
"This isolation and recovery centre is absolutely critical to reducing the spread of COVID-19 on our farms," says Kusmierczyk. "This is to protect the health and safety of our community but to protect the health and safety of our temporary foreign workers and our agricultural workers."
He says the funding is in addition to the $7-million the city received last year to operate the centre over the last seven months.
"What's new here is we have a 12 month commitment which doesn't have to be renewed month over month and so this really gives our local health care workers, our farmers and our temporary foreign workers that piece of mind that we were really looking for," he says. "It's sustainable funding."
Kusmierczyk adds the centre will be up and running again on April 1.
"The timing could not be better because we are going through a third wave, we're seeing that across Ontario and across Canada." says Kusmierczyk. "We're seeing variants of concern emerging as well too and so this announcement is incredibly important but it is also incredibly timely because we will have that centre operating and ready to go this week."
Since July, the site has supported more than 1000 workers.
There are roughly 8,000 temporary foreign agri-workers who come to Windsor-Essex and work at area farms.