Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph has developed an internship course for graduate students in masters’ programs
WINNIPEG — Agricultural workers are getting old. The average Canadian farmer is in their late 50s, which is problematic, but the demographic challenge in agriculture is much bigger than grain, livestock and vegetable production. Companies that provide services and products to Canada’s ag industry have employees that are planning to retire soon. Those firms need […] Read moreTag Archives labour — page 2
A third of agricultural jobs could be automated in next decade, report says
Glacier FarmMedia – One third of agricultural jobs could be automated in the next decade according to a recent report from the Conference Board of Canada. “While these technologies [automation, data analytics, etc.] hold the potential to optimize production and enable data-driven decision-making,” the report said, “their adoption has led to increased demand for workers […] Read more
Employment legislation exempts many farming activities
The Saskatchewan Employment Act governs many aspects of the employer-employee relationship in Saskatchewan. Part II of the act sets minimum employment standards that employers are required to provided to their employers in most circumstances. However, these minimum standards do not apply to certain employees, depending on the nature of their employment. For example, Part II […] Read more
GSU accepts Viterra offer
REGINA — Members of the Grain and General Services Union who work for Viterra have voted to accept the company’s latest contract offer. The GSU announced the decision today, saying the support wasn’t overwhelming but enough to accept the offer. Local 1 voted 63 percent in favour and Local 2 voted 68 percent to accept. […] Read more
Taking the long-term approach to recruitment
Case IH’s partners with technical schools in Canada and the U.S. to identify and train future employees
LANGHAM, Sask. — Nobody needs to tell farmers that today’s ag equipment has gone high tech, making modern equipment capable of remarkable efficiencies that improve a farm’s bottom line. However, it also means that the days of expecting to fix a breakdown with a small toolbox full of wrenches and a tube of grease have […] Read more
Frustration evident in labour report
After hearing from hundreds of farmers, agricultural and food employers and farm workers, the federal government sees widespread challenges in the labour market and few easy solutions. “The sector requires a reliable and sustainable agricultural workforce and innovative technological solutions for the labour challenges of today and the future,” said federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau […] Read more
Frustration evident in labour report
Farmers and other employers reported problems with understanding the labour market and being able to see where potential workers might be. Widespread misperceptions about agriculture hurt the industry, respondents said. People don't consider agriculture at all, or consider it a primitive industry.
Immigration ag program extended
The federal government has extended the Agri-Food Immigration pilot program until May 2025. The program provides a pathway for temporary foreign workers employed at greenhouses, mushroom farms, livestock farms, meat-packing plants or retail butcher shops to become permanent residents of Canada. The three-year program started in 2020, but Minister of Immigration Sean Fraser said May […] Read more
Federal ag immigration program will continue to 2025
For years, meat packers, hog farmers, greenhouses and many other segments of Canada's agri-food sector have struggled to attract domestic workers. They have relied on temporary foreign workers (TFW) to fill the void. The Agri-Food pilot program was designed to help more TFW become permanent residents of Canada, so farmers and meat processors have a stable workforce.
Report outlines plan to tackle labour shortage
About 170 results pop up when “meat cutter and Alberta” are typed into the Indeed.com search engine. The postings include jobs at beef packing plants, lamb processing plants and retail butcher shops across the province. Many of the companies on Indeed say they are “hiring multiple candidates,” meaning the number of available jobs is much […] Read more
