National & Provincial Summit on Migrant Workers

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Agenda

June 18
June 19

National and Provincial Summit on Migrant Workers’ Services Delivery Models and Road Map
June 18–19, 2025 | Junior Farmers Building, located at 172 South Drive, Simcoe, ON N3Y 1G6.

Day 1: June 18, 2025 | 9:30 AM – 5:00 PM (Evening Program: 5:30 – 7:30 PM)

TimeSessionSpeakers & Facilitators
9:30–10:00 AMRegistration and Networking 
10:00–10:15 AMOpening Ceremony + Land Acknowledgement
  • Indigenous representative
  • Ahmed Hussen, CEO, TNO-The Neighoburhood Organization
  • Mayor Amy Martin, Norfolk County
  • Minister of Jobs and Families (to be confirmed)
  • Member of Parliaments, Haldimand-Norfolk (to be confirmed)
  • Berenice Vega, General Manager, Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services (F.A.R.M.S.) and CanAg Travel Services Ltd
  • Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness – (to be confirmed)
  • MPP Haldimand Norfolk
10:15–11:00 AMOpening Plenary: National Landscape of Migrant Worker Services
  • Nawal Al-Busaidi, Vice-President Community Programs, TNO-The Neighbourhood Organization.
  • Juan Gabriel Morales Morales
    Head of the Consular Section of the Embassy of Mexico to Canada
  • Stefan Larrass, Senior Policy Advisor, Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association
  • Denise Faguy (Advancing Women in Ag - Farms.com).
  • Timothy Bernard, TNO Worker Support Services, and Agricultural Migrant Worker
11:00–11:15 AMBreak 
11:15 AM–1:00 PMPanel 1: Promising Practices, Service Delivery and Partnership Models, and Cross-Provincial Challenges
  • Moderator Hugo Velázquez Vázquez (he/him), Director, Family & Settlement Programs, MOSAIC BC.
  • Diana Delgado, Executive Director, Employment & Immigrant Services, Options BC and Iris Solorzano, Program Manager, Migrant Workers Program  
  • Daniel Quesada Rebolledo, Provincial Coordinator, TNO-Workers Support Services and Nudrat, Migrant Services Manager, Bridges Niagara.
  • Scott Small Director of Resettlement Program  Polycultural Immigrant and  Community Services, Toronto Airport Orientation Services for Migrant Workers. 
  • Dany Zakharia and Hector Diaz, TeaMWork Project Manager,  Workforce WindsorEssex   
  • Suddhodan Baidya (he/him), Associate Director, Community Airport Newcomers Network (CANN),
    S.U.C.C.E.S.S. 
  • Fernando Borja, Director, FERME, Quebec.
  • Jessica Juen Manager, CCIS - Calgary Catholic Immigration Society and Leonor Rodriguez Coordinator, Airport Reception, CCIS- Calgary Catholic Immigration Society.
  • Théa Demmers, RATTMAQ, P.Dt., M.Sc. (she/ her/ elle) Doctorante, Centre de recherche en Santé publique (CReSP), École de Santé Publique / School of public Heath (ESPUM), Université de Montréal
1:00–2:00 PMCatered Lunch with Networking 
2:00–3:30 PMPanel 2: Access to Services in Rural Areas and Challenges
  • Moderator: Jennifer Dagsvik (Newcomer Legal Clinic).
  • Terry Hubbard, Migrants Matter Flamborough.
  • Enrique Martinez (Huron Farmworkers Ministry).
  • David Cazares (Kamloops Immigration Services).
  • Amelia Cassimatis (Agriculture Wellness Ontario).
  • Lynda Kohler (Grand River Community Health Centre).
  • Nancy Garner (Quest Community Health Centre).
3:30–3:45 PMBreak 
3:45–4:30 PMStorytelling Session: Worker Voices from Across Canada
  • Ontario, BC, Alberta, Atlantic, Labrador, Newfoundland, Quebec (Live speakers and recordings)
5:30–7:00 PMFood, Music, Raffles, Storytelling, Community Displays
  • TNO WSS Team

National and Provincial Summit on Migrant Workers’ Services Delivery Models and Road Map
June 18–19, 2025 | Junior Farmers Building, located at 172 South Drive, Simcoe, ON N3Y 1G6.

Day 2: June 19, 2025 | 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

TimeSessionSuggested Speakers and Facilitators
8:30 – 9:00 AMLight Breakfast & Welcome 
9:00 – 10:00 AMFacilitated Dialogue: Shared Challenges, Shared Strategies – Reflections from Day 1
  • Moderators: Hugo Velázquez Vázquez (he/him), Director, Family & Settlement Programs, MOSAIC
  • Jennifer Dagsvik (she/her), Assistant Professor, Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, Director, Newcomer Legal Clinic - Lakehead University
10:00 – 10:15 AMBreak 
10:15 AM – 12:30 PMPanel 3: Strengthening Outreach and Employer Engagement
  • Moderator: Eduardo Huesca, OHCOW
  • Althea A. Riley, Chief Liaison Officer, Consulate General of Jamaica Jamaican Liaison Service (Toronto).
  • Shirley Wall-Mayers, Assistant Liaison Officer, Consulate General of Barbados, Barbados Liaison Service.

  • Benny Reyes, Officer-in-Charge Migrant Workers Office (MWO) Toronto, Philippine Consulate.

  • Consulate General of Guatemala in Toronto and Ottawa.

  • Thailand Embassy.
  • Berenice Vega
    General Manager
    F.A.R.M.S. / CanAg Travel.
  • Amanda Doughty, Human Resources Manager, Sandy Shore Farm, Port Burwell.
  • Doug Pasco, Manager, Prevention Programs and Services, Agriculture | Worker Engagement, WorkSafeBC.
12:30 – 1:30 PMLunch 
1:30 – 2:30 PMClosing Plenary: The Future of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).
  • Moderator:  Stacey Gomez, Executive Director Center for Migrant Worker Rights Nova Scotia
  • Jennifer Dagsvik (she/her), Director and Lawyer, Newcomer Legal Clinic - Lakehead University
  • Representative of Mexico.
  • Fernando Borja, FERME -Quebec.
2:30 – 3:00 PMRecap and Next Steps: Collaborative Action Planning for the Ontario Roadmap and National Alignment.
  • Jennifer Ng
    Senior Manager for Migrant Worker Programs
    MOSAIC, BC
 Closing Remarks.
  • Jennifer Rajasekar
    Manager, Social Support Services
    TNO-The Neighbourhood Organization