Canada’s farmers are fostering an agriculture sector Canadians can be proud of – a highly sophisticated and modern industry that will continue to provide an abundance of jobs and quality food for Canadians. Farmers are running sophisticated operations and using modern business tools to run their businesses. The agriculture industry employs more than two million people, equal to one-in-eight jobs in Canada. The imbalance between the supply of workers and the needs of the horticultural industry will continue to be adversely affected by the general trends in labour in Canada.
There is a need to bring horticulture labour issues to the forefront of current discussions particularly as related to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) Agricultural Stream. Unless government is responsive to the particular human resources needs of horticulture, the current situation could contribute to diminished production and an ensuing decline in GDP, trade balance and the overall ability to ensure the long-term sustainability of Canada’s horticulture sector.
Over the last few years and particularly since the implementation of the recommendations of the 2013 ESDC report “Overhauling the Temporary Foreign Worker Program” fruit and vegetable farmers utilizing the Agricultural Stream of the TFWP have incurred the consequences of changes affecting this vital program which, while not directly intended to affect access to foreign labour, have had these effects nonetheless. Labour expenses remain the single highest cost factor as a portion of total operating expenses for horticultural operations. In fact, when compared to the “All Farms” Canadian average scenario, horticultural labour expenses are at least twice as much and in some instances nearly four times higher than in other agricultural sectors.
MEETING CANADIAN HORTICULTURAL LABOUR NEEDS
Farmers generally have access to foreign labour for agriculture either through the TFWP Agricultural stream (Ag Stream) or through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) stream, with the latter being established via bilateral agreements with Mexico and certain Caribbean countries. The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program is widely heralded as a model program and is valued for its purpose, operational ease, longevity, and especially the derived benefits for Canadian farmers and foreign workers, their families, and their communities. Despite the obvious success of the SAWP there is a definite need to access labour outside of this stream’s parameters and as such farmers are also accessing the TFWP Ag Stream.