Glacier FarmMedia – The 2024 federal budget’s promise to reduce “temporary immigration” could reduce the number of temporary foreign workers available to Canadian agriculture and ag businesses. The document states the government “will reduce the share of temporary residents in Canada to five per cent of the total population over the next three years,” which […] Read more
Tag Archives Temporary Foreign Workers Program — page 2
Canadian Meat Council decries TFW changes
Glacier FarmMedia – The Canadian Meat Council says incoming changes to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program are going to add to the sector’s already significant labour challenges. In a media release the group, which represents federally licensed meat packers and meat processors and suppliers of goods and services to the meat industry, said the move […] Read more
Report finds foreign worker program compliance
Statistics based on government inspections find nearly 95 percent of employers follow temporary foreign worker rules
Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program may be controversial, but it is transparent. The federal government has a public website with a list of employers who have broken the program’s rules. It explains what the business owner did, or failed to do, and the consequences of non-compliance. For instance: The Calgary Kickboxing Company was fined $18,000 […] Read more
Are temporary foreign workers at risk?
Bill George, who grows grapes for winemaking in Ontario’s Niagara region, has heard hundreds of comments about temporary foreign workers employed at Canadian farms. Most accusations are delivered through social media and are based on misinformation. But it’s especially frustrating when a person of influence makes what he considers a ridiculous comment about foreign workers […] Read more
Temporary foreign workers at risk for ‘slavery’ in Canada – UN rep
Envoy should do "his homework", says agri-food labour expert
Bill George, who grows grapes for winemaking in Ontario’s Niagara region, has heard hundreds of comments about temporary foreign workers employed at Canadian farms. Most accusations are delivered through social media and are based on mis-information. But it’s especially frustrating when a person of influence makes what he considers a ridiculous comment about foreign workers […] Read more
Feds ease paperwork to hire foreign workers
Recruiting and hiring temporary foreign workers is almost a full-time job. During certain times of the year, pork producers, beekeepers and others in Canada’s agriculture industry may spend 30 to 40 hours a week on paperwork if they want to hire these employees. That load may soon be reduced, thanks to a new program from […] Read more
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.
Food sector welcomes changes to foreign worker rules
Raising the limit on the number of workers allowed to be hired applies to meat packers and food processors for one year
Labour shortages at Canadian meat-packing plants have been a problem for years. But in 2021, the number of job vacancies became ridiculous. Last year and into 2022, many packers closed production lines and stopped making certain meat products because they lacked employees. “In early 2021… we were at over 4,500 (vacancies). By fall we were […] Read more
Foreign worker program changes expected to ease labour shortage
The federal government has listened to food manufacturers who have been struggling to hire meat cutters and fill other job vacancies in the food processing sector. On Monday, the government made significant changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program to help with the labour shortage in Canada’s agri-food sector. “The coalition of leading Canadian food […] Read more
