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peggy brekveld
News

Peggy Brekveld named CAHRC chair

Ontario dairy farmer looks forward to addressing labour shortages

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The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC) acclaimed Peggy Brekveld for a two-year term as chair on June 20. The northern Ontario dairy farmer and Ontario Federation of Agriculture president will join vice-chair Stefan Larrass representing Flowers Canada Growers; Canadian Aquaculture Industry Association’s Cyr Couturier as treasurer; Brenna Mahoney of Manitoba’s Keystone Agricultural Producers; and […] Read more
One industry group says that primary agriculture has long been dealing with a labour shortage that consistently hovers at around nine per cent.
News

Industry maps out agriculture labour strategy

Steering group proposes five-pillar plan to attract and retain workers with the right skills

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Glacier FarmMedia – An industry steering group has released an agricultural labour strategy it hopes will lead to a comprehensive plan for a stable workforce. The critical shortage of workers in both primary agriculture and food and beverage manufacturing was well known before the COVID-19 pandemic and exacerbated over the last two years. The Canadian […] Read more
Canadian crop farmers, especially those in horticulture had the most effect from a lack of farm workers.
News

COVID-19 underscores the labour shortage impact

Study shows sector vulnerability to labour shocks like a pandemic

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COVID-19 has pushed the already-dire labour shortage in agriculture into sharp relief, and the numbers aren’t promising for the future.   The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council’s (CAHRC) recent survey, Understanding the Effects of COVID-19 on Canada’s Agriculture Workforce, took the pulse of how COVID-19 has impacted agriculture.  Why it matters: The pandemic has accelerated the […] Read more
Producers of strawberries, grapes, fruit trees and other commodities are worried they’ll have nobody to take their crop off in the coming months.
News

Delays continue for foreign worker arrival

Office closures and conditions in other countries continue to be a major barrier

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Glacier FarmMedia – Canada’s immigration minister says Canadian officials are facing challenges in working with other governments to ensure farm workers get to Canada. “There are conditions outside of Canada, in other countries that cause the offices to be closed so we’re still addressing the issues with our partners outside of Canada to improve the […] Read more
RoamIO working in a vineyard where it cuts grass, watches and counts grapes and fertilizes.
Machinery, News

Robot automates hard-to-fill jobs in agriculture and turf

The RomeIO robot is being tested in many uses in agriculture where labour is scarce

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A local start-up has developed a compact, rugged autonomous robot that can automate a wide range of agricultural tasks, like soil sensing, applying inputs, and harvest yield prediction for grapes. Korechi Innovations’ RoamIO features an expandable platform that is compatible with different functional attachments — similar to the DOT technology from western Canada —has a […] Read more
The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council released a report this fall that said 37 per cent of the Canadian agriculture sector will retire by 2029.
News

Comment: Where agriculture fits in a world of constant change

Change isn’t anything new to agriculture, but the sector’s image doesn’t reflect that reality

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Stability was the benchmark word of success for not only our agri-food sector, but all of society. It was the white picket fence, house with a yard and car marked as the iconic ‘American Dream’ everyone aspired to. Stability meant security — get a job, buy a house, stay with the same company for 25+ […] Read more
Mushroom farmers are one of the sectors of agriculture with significant labour shortages.
News

Opinion: Agriculture is finally at the immigration table

Recent pilot program is a large step to making immigration work for agriculture

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Farmers and farm workers feel we finally have a seat at the Canadian immigration table with the recent Agri-Food Immigration Pilot project announced in July. At last we can say agriculture is part of Canada’s official immigration plan, with the new immigration pilot allowing 2,750 federal immigration spots. Farm workers and butchers of all skill […] Read more
Ontario has the highest reliance on foreign workers, meaning significant impacts from policy changes.
News

Ontario expected to have largest farm labour shortage

Large equipment that sits idle will mean greater economic impact of labour shortages in other provinces

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Labour vacancies cost Canadian farmers in 2018 nearly double what they cost four years earlier, according to research released recently by the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council. Why it matters: More farmers are either not expanding or inefficiently operating their farms because of a lack of labour. That’s a problem for Canadian agricultural competitiveness. The […] Read more
News

Horticultural industry trying to rally support for seasonal worker program

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The Ontario horticultural industry is trying to drum up support for a long-standing program that allows growers who face labour shortages to hire seasonal workers from Mexico and the Caribbean. The Fairness for Growers Campaign is designed to provide information about the benefits of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). The website also provides a place where […] Read more
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Green jobs eligible for wage subsidy

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A new Career Focus Green Jobs program is offering wage subsidies to help employers with an environmental focus hire new graduates, a federal release says. The program targets small- and medium-sized businesses to help reduce the cost barriers of hiring new graduates by subsidizing their salary by 50 per cent to a maximum of $13,500 […] Read more

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