Government, industry and educational institutes must act now to address the labour challenges confronting the emerging plant-based protein industry in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, according to a new report.
Tag Archives labour market
Protein sector faces labour crunch: report
Nearly two thirds of agri-food companies can't hire all the workers they need
Viterra workers suspend strike to vote on new offer
Workers will be working to rule during the voting period
Today, Grain and General Services Union workers employed by Viterra in Saskatchewan said they will vote on the grain handling company's latest final offer over the next two weeks. Locals 1 and 2, representing country operations and head office staff, respectively, were set to walk out at 2 p.m. today if a deal had not been reached.
Robots may help grain farmers diversify
Tech could support labour-intensive higher-value crops
Chuck Baresich, who owns an agricultural robotics business in Ontario, says controlling weeds with robots is probably best suited for high-value, horticultural crops in Canada. However, large-scale grain farmers could also use the technology if they think about it differently. “Let’s say my brother and me are growing 1,500 acres of corn,” said Baresich, who
Think outside the agriculture box for labour, ag and tech leaders say
Agriculture in the Classroom is reaching non-farming students with inspiration for ag jobs, panelists say
Ag and tech leaders encouraged employers to think outside the agricultural box when looking to hire workers in order to expand the labour pool. “I’m one of the lucky ones,” said Brenna Mahoney, general manager of Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP). Mahoney entered the industry with no agriculture experience. She had training in human resources and
Pilot plan to cut red tape for reliable TFW employers
Farm employers can apply starting next month
Canada’s temporary foreign worker (TFW) program is set to give farms a head start in an express lane expected to cut the annual paperwork for that program’s most “trusted employers.” Federal Employment and Workforce Development Minister Randy Boissonault last week launched a three-year pilot meant to “help to address labour shortages and reduce the administrative
Saskatchewan to incentivize rural vet techs
Remote learning, loan forgiveness on offer
Saskatchewan plans to clear a few new paths for veterinary technologists and veterinarians in training to take up work in underserved rural areas. The province on Tuesday announced the two-year registered veterinary technologist program at Saskatchewan Polytechnic will offer a distance delivery option, starting this fall, for vet techs to train in rural and remote
Laid-off foreign workers may get conditional clearance for other jobs
Workers allowed to start new jobs while permits are processed
Approved temporary foreign workers (TFWs) whose jobs disappeared before they could begin work in Canada this spring can now get much quicker approval to start at other workplaces, including farms, where the workers are needed. The federal government said Tuesday it will, effective “immediately,” temporarily waive its rule requiring a TFW to receive federal approval
Supply management sectors also face labour shortages
More stable employment means less employee loss, but key skills are still in short supply
Despite the relative stability supply management provides the dairy and poultry sectors, they suffer from labour shortages like the rest of agriculture. Those shortages are more in the manager and owner categories though, says the Canadian Agri-Food Human Resources Council (CAHRC). As part of its extensive study of worker shortages in agriculture, CAHRC has issued
Worker shortfall a three per cent hit for farms: Study
Having the Canadian economy’s highest job vacancy rate has cost the country’s primary ag sector three per cent of its value, new research shows. The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council on Tuesday released labour market information (LMI) research which, based on data for 2014, pegged primary agriculture’s annual farm cash receipt losses at $1.5 billion,
Foreign worker hiring headache?
Farm labour shortages continue to be a problem across Canada and especially on the Prairies where oil dollars lure workers away from farms
Bill Martin’s phone has been ringing off the hook. The vice-president of Saskatoon-based Farmers of North America got 30 calls in the first two days after his organization launched a new initiative last month to streamline the process of getting temporary foreign workers. “Members started calling in immediately after receiving notifications,” said Martin. “The feeling
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