The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) in May hosted a Roundtable entitled: Fostering Trust & Compliance in International Farm Worker Programs to address administrative and service delivery issues that continue to confront farm employers in trying to access the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in Canada. Attracting a diverse group of interests from across Canada, the Roundtable had inter alia industry leaders, sector councils, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, Ministry of Employment and Skills Development, Ministry Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of as well as Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council. This set the stage for meaningful discourse and for more informed data justifying the concerns and potential solutions.
According to CFA President, Ron Bonnet, some 60,000 vacancies currently exist in the Agri-Food industry, a situation which is of concern if the sector is to reach its proposed goal of $75 billion in agri-food exports by 2025. It was acknowledged that Canadian workers were the first to be targeted for hiring, however due to the nature and location of agricultural jobs, it was usually quite difficult to find interested Canadians. The bottom line which was reiterated by several participants was that Canadian producers needed to access the requisite workforce if it was to compete in the global economy. This could be had through the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) or the Agricultural Stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).
CAHRC provided statistics, case studies and information which underscored the importance of the SAWP in filling the alarming agri-food workforce shortage. Invited by the CFA, the IICA Representative in Canada had the unique opportunity to share perspectives on benefits of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Program (SAWP), which are less known or appreciated. Attention was drawn to the initiative conducted in Jamaica which confirmed opportunities and interest of participating SAWP workers to share knowledge gained in Canada for local agricultural applications. It is anticipated that this new dimension will be a consideration as the programs are reviewed for revision.
For more information:
Audia Barnett
audia.barnett@iica.int
