Glacier FarmMedia – Labour issues for pork producers and processors in Iowa and Minnesota are just as dire as in Canada, pork producers heard during Manitoba Pork Council’s annual meeting April 6. “Currently labour is our No. 1 issue on the farm as well as in the plants,” said Kevin Rasmussen, president of the Iowa […] Read more
Tag Archives labour shortages
North American pork producers face tight labour market
U.S. packers struggling to staff up, sending hams to Mexico for processing, producers heard
PM asks federal ag minister to focus on labour
Mandate letter outlines prime minister’s goals for the sector, but critics wanted to see more
Glacier FarmMedia – Federal Agriculture and Agri-food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau says an agricultural labour strategy will be released in phases as Ottawa tackles issues around temporary foreign and domestic workers. Her new mandate letter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said developing a strategy should be her immediate priority. Bibeau said in an interview that work […] Read more
Funding available to address labour shortage
$1.5 million in CAP funds earmarked for research on how to address the problem
$1.5 million funding investment for labour shortage studies may reveal solutions for the agriculture and agri-food sector. “Labour challenges continue to be one of the leading bottlenecks to growth in our agriculture sector,” said Marie-Claude Bibeau, federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. “At the same time, there are countless quality and dynamic job opportunities for […] Read more
Ag and food processing sectors join forces on labour challenges
Two-year industry-led project aims to spur action and attract workers
In Canada’s agriculture sector, 16,500 jobs went unfilled in 2017 due to a labour shortage and recent estimates indicate the problem has worsened. In food and beverage manufacturing, 2020 surveys reveal approximately 30,000 positions were not filled. The 2017 cost in lost sales and decreased yield due to delayed harvest was estimated at $2.9 billion, […] Read more
Premium Brands set to buy three meat processors
A pair of Ontario meat processors with “iconic” brands in Canada are among four firms to be picked up on the most recent shopping expedition by specialty food firm Premium Brands. Vancouver-based Premium announced Friday it will pay a total of $227 million in cash, shares and promissory notes for four companies: Concord Premium Meats, […] Read more
Canada dilutes plan to limit temporary foreign workers
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s Liberal government on Thursday watered down measures to limit the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers firms can hire after complaints the restrictions would cause major labour shortages. Under rules introduced by the previous Conservative administration, the number of low-skilled foreign workers a firm could employ would have dropped to […] Read more
Canada may delay foreign worker limits as packers, farms face squeeze
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada may delay implementing new restrictions on the use of foreign workers as farmers and meat processors warn of severe labour shortages in one of the world’s biggest agricultural exporters, the employment minister said. Employers have reported difficulty finding workers despite a 7.1 per cent unemployment rate. Many Canadians resist jobs […] Read more