WE LIP Success Story | April 2025
In 2024-2025, the Windsor Essex Local Immigration Partnership (WE LIP) continued its leadership in fostering collaboration to improve the health and wellness of International Agricultural Workers (IAWs) in Windsor-Essex and Southwestern Ontario through the coordination of the Workplace Wellness for International Agricultural Workers’ Task Force (WWIAW).
The Task Force was established in response to a recognized need for cross-sector collaboration aimed at enhancing the health system response for Agri-Food worker needs. This initiative grew from the combined efforts of WE LIP Council members, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, and Ontario Health West, and built upon engagement work conducted by the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG) and the Health Equity for Newcomer/Immigrant Committee (HENI).
Chaired by Sarah May Garcia from Ontario Health West, the Task Force brings together over 24 service providers, government bodies, and community groups. Members share information, best practices, promote partner initiatives, and coordinate joint efforts to better support the Agri-Food sector and worker communities.
The Task Force was created with a clear purpose: to collaborate across health care and community agencies to increase access to quality, equitable health and wellness services for IAWs. This work began with migrant worker patient and provider engagement sessions in 2015 and became even more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the Task Force focused on key priorities, including:
- Primary Care Updates at each bi-monthly meeting.
- Discussions on Continuity of Care, particularly regarding OHIP expiration and service access.
- Presentations by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit on migrant worker residence inspections and CMHA on the Farmer Wellness Initiative.
- Collaborative Problem-Solving to address systemic delays in OHIP processing.
- Support and Promotion of health events like the Caribbean Community Day, Pelee Island Health Fair, and Public Safety Day/Festival of Guest Nations.
- Updates on new services such as Virtual Urgent Care
Moving Forward
In January, the Task Force expanded its mandate beyond Windsor-Essex to include organizations from farther across Southwestern Ontario, including Quest Community Health Centre (St. Catharines and Niagara regions) and Grand River Community Health Centre (Brantford and County of Brant).
As of March 2025, the coordination of the Workplace Wellness for International Agricultural Workers’ Task Force meetings was successfully transitioned to the TeaMWork (Together Empowering Access for Migrant Workers Outreach, Resources and Knowledge) team. WE LIP is proud of the role it played in establishing and coordinating the Task Force and looks forward to continuing its collaboration with TeaMWork and other community partners to support the health and wellness of International Agricultural Workers in Windsor-Essex and beyond.
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