Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP): Farm Work in Canada for Mexican and Caribbean Workers

The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program is one of the oldest temporary worker programs in Canada. It is run by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) under agreements between Canada and the governments of the participating countries.

The program fills seasonal labor needs on Canadian farms. Many workers return to the same farm year after year. Workers come for up to 8 months at a time and must leave Canada by December 15.

SAWP is part of the agricultural side of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Farms that want workers from other countries, or for non-seasonal jobs, use the separate Agricultural Stream instead.

SAWP is open only to citizens of:

• Mexico
• Participating Caribbean countries: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago

If you are from another country, you cannot join the SAWP. You may still find farm work through the Agricultural Stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which needs a job offer and an LMIA.

See our guides to moving to Canada from Mexico and from Jamaica.

You don't apply to a Canadian farm directly. Each country's government recruits and selects its workers:

• In Mexico, the federal labor ministry runs recruitment through the national employment service.
• In the Caribbean countries, each country's ministry of labor, or a similar office, recruits workers and sends them to Canada.

The home government also keeps agents or liaison officers in Canada who help workers during the season. Farmers can ask for workers by name, which is why many workers return to the same farm.

Be careful of scams. Nobody can sell you a SAWP spot or a guaranteed job offer. Contact your country's labor ministry directly, and read our scam protection guide.

SAWP jobs must be on-farm work in primary agriculture, in commodities on the program's national commodities list. The list covers crops and animals such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, nursery trees, sod, apiary products, tobacco, and many types of livestock.

Work that happens off the farm, such as processing food in a factory, is not SAWP work. Food processing jobs need a different LMIA.

Farmers who hire through SAWP must:

• Get a positive LMIA from ESDC for each position (on-farm primary agriculture positions are exempt from the CAD $1,000 LMIA processing fee)
• Sign the SAWP employment contract for the worker's country, which sets out wages, hours, and deductions
• Pay at least the wage required under the program, and the same as Canadian workers doing the same job
• Provide adequate seasonal housing that passes inspection
• Arrange health coverage until the worker is covered by the provincial plan
• Follow provincial labor and health and safety laws

The low-wage LMIA refusal in high-unemployment cities does not apply to agriculture, so SAWP applications are not refused under that rule. See low-wage LMIA refusal areas.

For employers, see hiring agricultural workers from abroad.

Your pay and deductions are set by the SAWP employment contract for your country, which is updated each year. The contract covers:

• Wages. You must be paid at least the provincial minimum wage and at least the wage set for the program, whichever is higher, and the same rate the farm pays Canadians for the same work.
• Hours. Farm work can involve long days in peak season. The contract describes normal hours, rest days, and overtime rules.
• Deductions. Some costs, such as part of the airfare or housing-related utilities, may be deducted from pay only if the contract for your country allows it. Employers cannot make deductions that the contract does not list.
• Canadian payroll deductions. Income tax, Canada Pension Plan contributions, and Employment Insurance premiums are normally deducted. You may be able to claim some of these back, for example by filing a Canadian tax return, and some workers later qualify for Canada Pension Plan benefits.

Keep your pay stubs and a record of your hours. They help if there is a dispute and when you file taxes.

Arrival dates depend on the crop. Greenhouse and nursery workers often arrive early in the year, while fruit and vegetable harvest workers usually arrive in spring or summer.

As a SAWP worker, you have the same basic workplace rights as Canadians:

• Being paid for all hours worked, on time
• A safe workplace and safety training
• Health care and workers' compensation if you are injured at work
• The right to refuse dangerous work
• Keeping your own passport and work permit; your employer cannot take them

If your employer abuses you, or you are at risk of abuse, you can apply for a vulnerable worker open work permit. This lets you work for a different employer. You can also report problems to ESDC's confidential tip line or to your country's liaison office.

Usually not directly. Seasonal jobs don't fit most permanent residence programs, which need full-time, non-seasonal work. Most SAWP jobs are in TEER 4 or 5 occupations, which don't count for Express Entry. TEER stands for Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities, the job levels used in Canada's National Occupational Classification (NOC).

Some workers move to year-round farm jobs and then look at provincial programs or pilots. The former Agri-Food Pilot is no longer taking new applications. Check the permanent residency hub for current options.

The US has a similar program, the H-2A visa, with different rules.