Introduction
The Mandatory Isolation Support for Temporary Foreign Workers Program (MISTFWP) is a one time $50-million program to help with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food supply in Canada by assisting the farming, fish harvesting, and food production and processing sectors.
The program will assist Canadian employers with some of the incremental costs associated with the mandatory 14-day isolation period imposed under the Quarantine Act on temporary foreign workers upon entering Canada.
The program will run from May 5th, 2020 (TBC) to September 30th, 2020.
Objective
As the MISTFWP involves the collection and management of personal information, a Privacy Compliance Evaluation has been completed to determine if there were any privacy risks, and if so, to make recommendations for their resolution or mitigation.
The Interim Policy and Directives offer discretion to undertake a streamlined analysis of privacy considerations compared to the normally required Privacy Impact Assessments, to assure privacy protection and compliance with the Privacy Act for urgent COVID-19 related initiatives.
The purpose of collecting the personal information is to deliver the MISTFWP. The information allows to confirm the identity of the applicant, ensure their eligibility with the terms and conditions of the program and to process payments to Canadian agricultural producers under the MISTFWP, authorized under section 4 of the Farm Income Protection Act.
Description
Personal information is collected to determine eligibility of benefits and to process payments to Canadian agricultural producers under the MISTFW Program. Collection is authorized under Section 2(1) of the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act. The personal information is also being collected under the authority of the Financial Administration Act which provides the statutory basis for transfer payments by the Federal government to individuals.
Personal information may be disclosed to the CRA for the purpose of reporting a taxable benefit (Employer Compliance Program; CRA PPU 120) and for program administration purposes (Review and Control; CRA PPU 125). The information may also be used internally for research and statistical purposes, for program policy and evaluation, and for internal audit.
The Personal Information Bank is pending PPU registration.
Conclusion
Measures have been determined to address outstanding privacy concerns including a revision of privacy notices, updating the Personal Information Bank and standardizing retention.
For further information please contact the Access to Information and Privacy Office.