Inductees

---

For over 25 years, Ken Forth's active leadership in the evolution of securing and maintaining access to foreign workers for Ontario farms has ensured the stability of the agriculture sector.  At the root of farming, it is hard work, good management, and people which move food from “field to fork”.  Ken worked hard both at home, and internationally, so that Ontario and Canada could continue to feed people.

Ken is a fifth-generation farmer at Forthdale Farms Limited, which employs 18 workers from Jamaica, growing 225 acres of broccoli and other horticultural crops. He has, through the Seasonal Agriculture Worker Program (SAWP), been a member of the board since 1992 and President of the Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services (FARMS) since 2005.  Farms is responsible for the policies and logistics of coordinating over 18,000 foreign seasonal farm workers annually.

Since 1990, Ken has been a member of the board of the Labour Issues Coordinating Committee (LICC) and Chair since 2006. LICC works with the Ministry of Labour and OMAFA to develop labour legislation and regulation.  An important component of labour legislation is the safety and care of the workers employed. This is an area where Ken was actively involved as both a chair or director of such bodies as the Ontario Horticulture HR Committee, the Workplace Safety Insurance Board, the Agriculture Safety Audit Program, the Workplace Safety Prevention Service, and the Canadian Employers Council. Ken was the Chair for a health and safety committee representing employers for the International Organization of Employers at the International Labour Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, 2009 to 2011.

Ken's passion for the horticulture industry saw him hold active roles on industry boards, knowing that the industry needed a reliable source of farm labour, as well as access to innovative technologies, food safety programs, and safety nets.  He has been a member of the Halton-Wentworth Growers’ Association since 1980, and a member and President (1992) of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association.  He was a board member and President (2002) of the Canadian Horticulture Council, specializing in labour and international trade; and a board member of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture since 1995.

Ken has received numerous awards in recognition of his outstanding work. These include the Governor General Medal in 1992, Badge of Honour from Jamaica for his dedicated service to the Seasonal Agriculture Worker Program in 2013, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Guelph in 2019, as well as several awards of merit from Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association, Canadian Horticultural Council, Ontario Greenhouse Growers, and the Ontario Grape Growers.

Ken Forth's significant commitment to agriculture and leadership in agricultural labour and safety issues makes him a most impressive addition to the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame.