Large workers union sues Health Canada over pesticide safety failures

Health Canada’s failure to enforce safety data sheet requirements exposes workers to unlawful harm

/EIN News/ -- LEAMINGTON, Ontario, June 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Traditional territories of several First Nations including the Caldwell, the Attiwonderonk, the Anishinabewaki, the Mississauga, and the Myaamia -- United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW Canada) have launched a new legal case challenging Health Canada’s unlawful failure to protect agricultural workers by not enforcing safety data sheet requirements under the federal Pest Control Products Act (PCPA). Without access to critical information about the chemicals they are handling, agricultural workers are unable to protect themselves from hazardous pesticides at work.

The PCPA mandates Health Canada to ensure that pesticide registrants provide pesticide safety data sheets to workplaces. Safety data sheets follow international standards and include essential safety information on the toxic properties of chemicals, and the health conditions that may result from their use. By failing to enforce this requirement, Health Canada is putting the health of agricultural workers, especially migrant farm workers, at risk.

The case is being brought by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW Canada), represented by lawyers from Ecojustice. UFCW Canada represents more than 2,000 agricultural workers in different contexts and also advocates for non-unionized primary agricultural workers. Ecojustice is Canada’s largest environmental law charity.

Francisco, Guatemalan Agricultural worker said:

“The boss gives us the pesticide, tells us to fill the tanks, and sends us to spray the plants. No gloves, no masks, no protection at all, nobody showed me how to protect myself nor how to handle the pesticide. The greenhouse is packed with workers, all of us breathing in the chemical. If we complain, we are fired and deported. So we keep quiet.

“I don’t know how many times I have felt my skin burning, my head spinning, or my stomach turning until I throw up. But what can I do? This job in Canada is my only chance, my family back in Guatemala depends on me. Without it, my kids won’t go to school. The boss knows that and takes advantage of that.”

Shawn Haggery, National President, UFCW Canada said:

"Migrant agricultural workers are among the most vulnerable workers in Canada and are continuously exposed to hazardous and dangerous chemicals in the workplace. Our union has long-advocated for improved working conditions for migrant workers; our most recent report focused on the health and safety challenges faced by migrant workers, including chemical hazards. Health Canada must take action and enforce worker information requirements for pesticides."

Laura Bowman, lawyer, Ecojustice said:

“Frontline agricultural workers are highly exposed to pesticides and other toxic chemicals at work. They should have access to the same safety information that is available to workers exposed to hazardous chemicals in other contexts.

“Canada has failed to implement key pesticide safety provisions for agricultural workers, who are often migrant workers. These same workers suffer from inadequate labour and immigration protections that make it even more difficult for them to protect themselves from toxic chemicals at work. Health Canada must stop adding to this discriminatory and unequal situation by failing to implement worker information requirements for pesticides.”

Agricultural workers face dangerous health risks on the job

Agricultural workers face a complex array of systemic barriers to a safe, healthy workplace. Large farming operations are exempt from a wide array of standards that protect other workers from hazards. In some provinces this includes exclusion from labour legislation and key provisions in occupational health and safety legislation.

Exposure to pesticides is a serious issue for agricultural workers. Even where workers do not use pesticides, the presence of pesticides in workplaces provides a potential route of exposure. Human studies continue to show high potential exposures to pesticides and increased rates of related chronic illnesses such as cancers among populations exposed through agricultural work.

Migrant agricultural workers at increased risk

Canada increasingly relies on migrant farm workers to grow fruits and vegetables. These workers are subjected to draconian immigration and labour rules that prevent them from protecting themselves.

In 2023, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, Tomoya Obokata, concluded that migrant workers (including those in the agricultural sector) were among groups vulnerable to contemporary forms of slavery within Canada. 

A report from UFCW Canada emphasizes the increased and unique health and safety challenges faced by migrant workers due to their living and working conditions, lack of access to healthcare, and language barriers. Migrant farm workers have raised concerns regarding lack of access to information on chemicals used on farms and have reported acute and chronic symptoms of pesticide poisoning. 

Enforcing the legal requirement to provide pesticide safety data sheets to employers is an important first step in ensuring that vulnerable workers’ right to know about chemical exposures on farms is actualized. 

Media Backgrounder: More information about the case and the overlapping labour and immigration vulnerabilities faced by migrant workers. http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/642f416a-0b88-4fdf-a639-9ca52d44ad2b

About
UFCW Canada (the United Food and Commercial Workers Union) represents more than 250,000 members across Canada working in every sector of the food industry from field to table. For over three decades, UFCW Canada has been the leading voice and advocate for domestic and migrant agricultural workers.

Ecojustice uses the power of the law to defend nature, combat climate change, and fight for a healthy environment. Its strategic, public interest lawsuits and advocacy lead to precedent-setting court decisions and law and policy that deliver lasting solutions to Canada’s most urgent environmental problems. As Canada’s largest environmental law charity, Ecojustice operates offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Halifax. 

For media inquiries
Rosemary Quinsey, National Communications Representative, UFCW Canada
647-463-4799, rosemary.quinsey@ufcw.ca

Zoryana Cherwick, Communications Strategist | Ecojustice
1-800-926-7744 ext. 277, zcherwick@ecojustice.ca

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/78e6aa60-cb21-45d5-ac81-5f594027c7ac