The Temporary Foreign Worker Program has come under scrutiny lately, but farmers aren’t part of the problem, says Bob Friesen of Farmers of North America.
FNA, a farm business alliance based in Saskatoon, initiated a program last fall to help farmers hire foreign employees. The first participant in the program recently arrived in Canada and will work for Vern Schultz, who farms near Unity, Sask.
Schultz grew weary of a persistent labour shortage on his farm and applied to the FNA program.
“We’ve struggled for five years to find local people to work for us. We put out ads online. We tried the trainee program and couldn’t get someone,” he said in a statement.
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“After awhile, you’re exhausted and tired of it.”
The FNA said it has recruited 25 foreign employees from Ukraine and Ireland. They will arrive in Canada this spring.
The FNA launched the program last fall in collaboration with a recruiting firm and an immigration consultant.
“We heard from our members that they were having a challenge getting labour for (their) farms … and (we) decided to implement a program,” Friesen said.
“We contact the ILC, the International Labour Council. Their Canadian head office is in Saskatoon and they also have an office in the Ukraine…. They will have a labour pool they can go to, they source the skill level required by the applicant and do all the arrangements … to bring a person over.”
Friesen said the controversy surrounding the program has made it more difficult to jump through the regulatory hoops.
The federal government imposed a moratorium on the program for the food services sector in April. In widely reported incidents, three McDonald’s in British Columbia allegedly gave more shifts to foreign workers, and a restaurant in Weyburn, Sask., fired long-time waitresses to hire foreign labour.
Friesen said the farmers in the FNA project have no intention of abusing the program.
“(They) are quite aware of the due diligence they have to do … to make sure there isn’t domestic labour available,” he said.
“They’re also quite aware this isn’t about saving money and paying lower wages. They are quite prepared to pay the wages required by whatever skill level they need.”
Hog producers in Manitoba want the federal government to make it easier to hire temporary foreign labour for farm work.
Cal Penner, who farms near Argyle, Man., said it’s nearly impossible to hire locals to work at hog barns. He recruited two employees from the Philippines for his farm.
Fifty percent of the employees on Manitoba’s independent hog farms are foreign workers, he added.
