Foreign migrant workers entering the country to toil on our farms and grow our food are now receiving COVID-19 vaccinations on-the-spot before they can leave the airport.

The measure is set to begin April 10 and will affect 200 migrant workers arriving at Pearson Airport from Mexico to work in dozens of farms across Southern Ontario.

The federal government said shots will be offered to the 200 workers as they arrive.

Officials from the ministries of health and agriculture, health-care practitioners and representatives from the Mexican Consulate will be at Pearson to meet the group, offering doses after the workers pass through customs.

The workers will be offered doses of the Moderna vaccine, which will be administered in a screened-off area after they take a mandatory COVID-19 test on arriving.

The government says it will follow up with farms to administer the second dose through the local public health unit where the individuals work.

The program will become permanent after implementing lessons learned from a pilot program.

There are plans to offer shots to more arriving workers next week.

As many as 20,000 migrant workers are starting arrive in Canada to work on our dairy and agricultural farms in Southern Ontario.

Many return here to work yearly from South and Central American and Caribbean countries including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Brazil and a host of other countries.

Some of the workers were accused by local residents last year of spreading the virus since they live on farms in congested living areas.