Farmerettes

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To address labour shortages during and after the Second World War, the provincial government created the Ontario Farm Service Force (OFSF) to enlist citizens to contribute to the war effort. From 1941-52, an estimated 40,000 young women, aged 16-18, from across Ontario’s secondary schools joined the OFSF’s Farmerette Brigade, with the motto “We Lend a Hand”. They performed essential seasonal agricultural work, much like during the First World War. Whether they joined for patriotism or adventure, they played a vital role in keeping food production running smoothly. Farmerettes were housed in dozens of camps across Niagara Region and Southwestern Ontario, on or near the farms and orchards where they worked long, physically demanding days, earning 25-50 cents an hour. Older women served as Labour Secretaries and Camp Mothers to oversee their scheduling, health, safety and nutrition. With ongoing postwar farm labour shortages, young women continued this critical work until 1952, when new immigration programs provided labour to meet the demand. Farmerettes learned important civic lessons in building communities, financial management and the urban-rural relationship. They were central to food security at a critical moment and made significant contributions to the agricultural sector of the provincial economy.