Migrant workers have called on the Canadian government to provide them with more rights and security following the death of a Jamaican man who worked on a farm in southern Ontario last week.

On August 14, the Ontario Ministry of Labour said it was notified of a death at a farm in Norfolk County, stating in a statement that a temporary foreign worker "sustained fatal injuries while operating agricultural equipment".

The Ministry of Labour in Jamaica confirmed the identity of the worker as Garvin Yap, 57, from Jamaica, in a press release on August 16. 

The Ontario Ministry of Labour has launched an investigation into the incident. According to the Jamaican ministry, Yap participated in the agricultural work program in Canada.

The statement reads: "Yap, who hails from the Tangle River area in Saint James, is a 35-year veteran of the program, and was so well regarded that the employer used to spend his vacation at Yap's home during visits to Jamaica." 

Migrant workers are usually in temporary immigration status when working in Canada, and Hussain, the executive director of MWAC, told CP24 that this prevents workers from protecting themselves. "The migrant agricultural workers program is actually a human rights disaster.

Hussain added: "...They face conditions involving physical abuse, verbal abuse, and their property being destroyed when they do not work fast enough, and they are called mules."

Every day we hear about injuries, every month we hear about deaths. He said, "There were three deaths we only learned about in the past week."

Hussain says the workers are calling on the Jamaican ministry to pressure the Canadian government to provide full and permanent immigration status, labor rights, and housing rights.