Alongside the 80 to 85 per cent of Jamaican returnees on Canada’s seasonal agricultural workers programme are newcomers who, each year, seize the opportunity to participate in the decades-old engagement. One such is St. Catherine’s Mark Grant*, who works on one of the largest apple farms in Ontario.   Mr. Grant is a transferee from a neighboring peach and nectarine...

Guided by a strict and attentive mother, veteran Educator, Beverly Rose, always felt she knew both her life’s destiny and chosen calling. Ms. Rose, a 66-year-old retired school principal and recipient of the Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for Service to Education, tells JIS News that her love for students and passion for teaching took her straight inside the walls...

Chief of the Moore Town Maroons in Portland, Colonel Wallace Sterling, is hoping his national award will help to further strengthen the heritage and culture of the maroons. Colonel Sterling was awarded the Order of Distinction in the Rank of Officer (OD), for the promotion and protection of maroon heritage in Jamaica. He was among some 221 outstanding Jamaicans who...

The name Lloyd Barnes Smith is synonymous with the city of Montego Bay, St. James as is the popular and much sought-after community newspaper, The Western Mirror, which he has helmed for over 30 years. Widely referred to as ‘The Governor’, Mr. Smith is renowned for journalistic prowess, sharp business acumen and unwavering generosity to his beloved city. For these...

A good educator is one who seeks to improve the lives of future generations through deliberate actions in their daily work. This can be said of nation-builder and 2022 Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for Service to Education awardee, Raymon Treasure, who was among 80 recipients honoured in September.   The decorated Principal of York Castle High School in St....

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Chukka Caribbean Adventures, Marc Melville, is more committed than ever to investing in tourism as a key driver of the growth in the sector and national development. Widely regarded as a visionary and one of tourism’s most influential minds, the 52-year-old, who heads the biggest attraction company in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, says the...

O’Connor Basil Dawkins’ illustrious career in theatre has made him one of the industry’s greats. His exploits will, this year, see him being awarded the Order of Distinction in the rank of Officer (OD) for his stellar contribution to the creative industry, in particular theatre. “I am elated. I feel like I am collecting it on behalf of so many...

If the image of farmers on bended knees, manually tending to crops, comes to mind when thinking about the Canadian seasonal agricultural workers programme, then it might come as a surprise that the reality is it is largely mechanically driven. For the most part, Jamaican workers on the farms which JIS News has so far visited while accompanying a team...

Among the thousands of Jamaicans, who leave the island every year for Canada to participate in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Programme, is a large group of women, who are holding their own alongside their male counterparts. They are employed on properties, such as a 2,500-acre apple farm in the Simcoe, Ontario area, where they are picking and packing the fruit....