Migrant Farmworkers Project
The Bikes for Farmworkers Program refurbishes donated bikes and for a nominal fee of $25 are provided to the migrant farmworkers. This year we are able to distribute 100 bikes along with safety helmets, reflector vests, and a tool kit due to a $10,000 USD grant from UMCOR.
We are all connected. We need our farms. 
Our food comes from farms.
Our wineries need the grapes and fruit grown on our farms.
Our farm equipment industry needs farms.
Our economy depends on farms.
Many of our farms cannot operate without migrant workers.
Thank you for supporting the important work of the Migrant Farmworkers Project through your financial gifts and your gift of time.
Each year over 4,000 migrant farmworkers become our neighbours in the Niagara Region for about five to eight months of the year. Of this, about half are Spanish speakers from Mexico and parts of Central America. The seasonal workers leave their families and communities to work for the wineries, farms, and greenhouses, that bring your Ontario grown produce, flowers, and wines.
The Migrant Farmworkers Project (the Project) engages the seasonal farmworkers, farmers, community partners, and volunteers to work together. The Project provides the seasonal workers access to needed services to address their holistic needs including physical, mental, and spiritual. The Project builds welcoming relationships and spaces with seasonal workers and supports those engaged with the workers. The project is hosted bythree Angican parishes; St. Alban’s, Beamsville, St. John’s, Jordan, and Christ Church McNabb, Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Specifically, the Project engages the migrant farmworkers’ community by operating several programs including bikes and reflective vests for farmworkers; health clinic with translators; clothing bank and welcome kits; a community meal most Sunday evenings between February to September, which is temporarily on-hold due to COVID-19 and in its place we offer a free grocery drop off that includes culturally specific food items; and spiritual, liturgical, and pastoral care in Spanish.
Our Mission
The Project engages with farmers, community partners, and migrant workers in the Niagara Region. We assist farmworkers, establish beneficial relationships, integrate workers into our community and improve their access to healthcare and other services.
To learn more, visit Migrant Farmworkers Project website.
Before becoming a volunteer with the Migrant Farmworkers Project I knew nothing about the migrant workers in my area. Now each week I join 20 other volunteers to transport, sort, bag, and drop-off groceries to the migrant farmworkers we serve in Grimsby, Lincoln, St. Catharines, and Niagara-on-the-Lake. It gives me such a sense of purpose.
The Seeds of Ministry with Migrant Farmworkers from Mexico
By The Reverend Antonio Illas The genesis of ministry with Spanish-speaking seasonal migrant farmworkers from Mexico in the Niagara region dates to Easter 1988. In
October: Latin American Heritage Month
By The Reverend Antonio Illas I am humbled and honoured to serve in the diocesan Anti-racism Working Group and to be a proud member of
Grocery Bag Drop-Off & Bikes for Farmworkers initiative
By The Reverend Antonio Illas with contributions from Gillian Doucet Campbell and Canon Christyn Perkons The Migrant Farmworkers Project (MFWP) is a missional outreach ministry focused on
Advocacy Oct 2020 Migrant Farm Workers
Presentation on the Issues of Migrant Farm Workers in Canada and potential Solutions Source: Sponsored by St. Luke’s Church, Burlington, Ontario
Invisible No More
Invisible no more: Migrant worker outreach moves from the church to the field Anglican Diocese of Niagara’s Migrant Farmworkers Project continues to distribute food and
Pandemic Puts Vulnerable Food Workers in Focus
The people who come from other countries to work on Canada’s farms have never had it particularly easy—but the pandemic
Migrant Farmworkers Project and COVID-19
“It was a hard decision, but the right decision,” says Rev. Antonio Illas, missioner of the Migrant Farmworkers Project located in the Niagara region. He
