September 4, 2023 – While Labour Day is a statutory holiday for most workers in the province, this is not the case for most agricultural workers due to exclusions in the Nova Scotia labour code. As such, migrant farm workers throughout Nova Scotia are working today, without receiving holiday pay.
“It’s unfair. We do the hardest work and don’t get any holiday pay. I think if it goes for some, it should go for all,” said one migrant farm worker from Jamaica.
“Nova Scotians are home today, getting some rest. Meanwhile, migrant farm workers have to be on the job. That’s unfair. So, I think it needs to change,” said another migrant farm worker from Jamaica.
In a 2021 poll conducted by No one is illegal – Nova Scotia’s Migrant Workers Program, over 100 migrant workers in the province indicated that holiday pay for farm workers was one of their top five priorities for change in Nova Scotia.
