Migrant Workers Face Housing Crisis in Summer of Fire

On Saturday night, Lorena Ordoñez got a call from migrant workers on a farm near Peachland, B.C. They had been ordered to evacuate, but their vehicle had broken down as they fled a fast-moving wildfire and they were trying to get out on foot.

Ordoñez, an intake manager with the Migrant Workers Centre, said she often helps out in emergency situations with Spanish-speaking workers, and she was able to call police to tell them where the workers were.

That group of farmworkers had to be rescued by police and other first responders; another group, near Summerland, had to be rescued by helicopter, Ordoñez said.

In total, 47 migrant workers who had come to B.C.’s Okanagan from Mexico to help bring in the fruit harvest ended up in emergency shelters for wildfire evacuees after Saturday’s nerve-racking evacuation.

But that’s where the barriers often faced by migrant workers came into play. The workers were told they couldn’t stay more than two nights and three days because they’re not B.C. residents.

“From the get-go, it's just a stressful situation,” Ordoñez said. “On top of being evacuated, you have to look for accommodations in such a short period of time, with limited resources and connections.”

Ordoñez said the farms that employ the workers are responsible for finding them alternative accommodations, and the workers have now been moved to other homes in Kelowna and Oliver. She said community members from Kelowna, as well as charitable groups, have stepped forward to support the workers with donated backpacks and other items.

The workers were able to grab their passports before fleeing but don’t have access to any other belongings.

Ordoñez said the charity that is running the emergency shelter in Kelowna, Samaritan’s Purse, has done a great job and treated the migrant workers with kindness — but shelter staff are bound by the rules set by the province.

Byron Cruz, a longtime migrant worker advocate who lives in Vancouver, said B.C.’s agricultural industry is dependent on the workers who travel from Mexico to B.C. every year. He called on the B.C. government to change the policy that limits migrant workers’ stays in emergency shelters.

“There should not be limitations on the time at all,” Cruz said. “They should be treated as locals with no difference.... This segregation doesn't help.”

Cruz called on the provincial Ministry of Housing and the federal government to have a better plan for housing displaced migrant workers when natural disasters strike.

The Tyee asked the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness to comment on the advocates’ concerns about the limited time migrant workers are allowed to stay in emergency shelters. A ministry spokesperson responded, saying that “eligibility for Emergency Support Services (ESS) is needs based and based on where a person’s primary residence is. If an individual, such as a temporary foreign worker, is residing within an area under an evacuation order, they are eligible to receive supports, including access to accommodation.”

The response did not address the two-night time limit the evacuated workers experienced.

The Migrant Workers Centre has started a fundraising site to support the workers, who are now out of work and have not been working long enough in Canada to be able to access employment insurance.

The centre says 8,000 migrant farmworkers are currently in the Okanagan, which, along with other areas of B.C.’s Interior, is experiencing extreme fire conditions this summer.

Over 20,000 people have been evacuated because of the Bald Range fire, which started above the Summerland area but grew explosively on Saturday, sparking an evacuation order for the town of Summerland and several rural communities along Okanagan Lake.