A large workers union has launched a lawsuit against Health Canada over pesticide safety failures, it was announced in early June 2025. 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.
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.
Without wearing proper personal protective equipment, Ecojustice said farm workers exposed to pesticides can experience both immediate and long-term health issues.
"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," said a Guatemalan agricultural worker.
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