The Consular Section of the Embassy of Mexico in Canada, the Consulate of Mexico in Leamington and the Consulate General of Mexico in Toronto wish you a successful 2024 season, hoping that your farm community remains in good health and prosperity. As part of the progress of the program, there have been updates that we would like you to acknowledge.
The consular offices of Mexico in Toronto would like to underline the following:

REMINDER: As per the contract, EMPLOYERS and WORKERS must report any medical situation such as accident or deceased to their respective Consulate within the first 24 hours. EMPLOYERS should take a WORKER to receive medical attention within those first 24 hours.
Please bear in mind that after a dismissal or transfer request, the obligations of both parties, EMPLOYER and WORKER, remain in place until the transfer or return to Mexico is concluded. Other obligations to the contract and the SAWP may continue beyond the labour relationship, such as insurance compensations and other aspects of the contract.

Kindly make sure that all your workers have a valid current Social Insurance Number (SIN). If any of your workers does not receive a SIN after their arrival in Canada, please contact Service Canada or Central Index at: 1-800-206-7218 immediately. It is extremely important to double-check the status of the workers’ SIN upon their arrival to the workplace.

IMPORTANT: the EMPLOYER should support every WORKER to obtaining their Ontario OHIP Health Card as a priority upon their
arrival to Ontario.

If the OHIP Card, SIN Letter or Cowan Card are not ready and available within 20 to 30 day (maximum) after the worker’s arrival, please notify your consular office immediately.
Due to back to normal since 2023, the OHIP Health Cards processing will continue to be run by every EMPLOYER.
Under provincial law every worker receives OHIP coverage from the moment they arrive to Ontario.
According to the SAWP contract it is the responsibility of the employer to verify that every worker has been duly registered or updated by OHIP and COWAN shortly after their arrival to Ontario.
In the absence of an updated OHIP Health Card a WORKER still has the right to receive medical attention, if requested, payment must be made, reimbursement can be requested when the valid Health Card is received and presented to the medical practitioner.
It is possible to process an emergency electronic Health Card directly with OHIP or through the respective consular office when needed.
The electronic version does not substitute the printed card nor exempts the EMPLOYER of their obligation to update health cards every year upon the arrival of workers.

The Embassy of Mexico will continue to provide verification of the arrival of the workers to the private health insurance company (COWAN).

It is mandatory to share with your employees the internal company rules and any “rules of the house” upon their arrival to your premises in Spanish language in written form. Please make sure they acknowledge the said rules.

The EMPLOYER must notify the respective consulate if there is an intention to process a transfer or an early repatriation, regardless if it is the worker’s choice or part of the company planning. A transfer or repatriation should not be carried out without the expressed consent of the consulate.

We would like to remind you NOT TO SEND workers’ personal correspondence to the Consulate of Mexico, inclusive of Records of Employment (ROE), T4 Forms, Pay Sheets, Pay Stubs, Bank Statements or other services by mail, unless requested by the Consulate.
It is an obligation of the EMPLOYER to keep any relevant documents for the period of time required by Canadian regulations. The Mexican Consulates do not keep backup copies of the employer-worker labor relationship documents.