Federal Government Commits to Action on Labour! Immediate Relief Still Needed
After years of lobbying for measures to address industry’s labour and skills shortage, Canada’s leading food and beverage manufacturing associations have formed an Emergency Labour Task Force. Food and Beverage Canada, Le Conseil de la transformation alimentaire du Québec (CTAQ), the Canadian Poultry and Egg Processors Council, Food and Beverage Ontario, the Canadian Meat Council, BC Food & Beverage, Food & Beverage Manitoba, Food & Beverage Atlantic, the Baking Association of Canada, and the Canadian Produce Marketing Association are working together and calling on the federal government to address industry’s pressing labour crisis.
Industry Secures Significant Federal Labour Commitments!
Last week, in its Economic and Fiscal Update, the federal government announced $85 million in funds to support processing of permanent and temporary resident applications. The funding, which is expected to bolster processing capacity within ESDC, IRCC, and Service Canada, will commence in April 2022. The government has also committed to come forward with a further strategy to address labour shortages in the coming year.
On Friday, the federal government launched the Atlantic Immigration Program, which will start January 1, 2022 and builds on the Atlantic Immigration Pilot, to help the Atlantic provinces attract skilled newcomers to the region.
Also last week, the Prime Minister published Mandate Letters for all federal cabinet ministers. The Mandate Letters address many of the issues raised by industry and include the following key labour commitments:
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food:
- As an immediate priority, develop a sector-specific strategy to address persistent and chronic labour shortages in farming and food processing.
- Support the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion to implement sector-based work permits and strengthen the inspection regime to ensure the health and safety of TFWs.
- Support the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to expand pathways to Permanent Residence for agricultural temporary foreign workers through the Express Entry system.
Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion:
- With the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, establish a Trusted Employer system for Canadian companies hiring TFWs.
- Implement sector-based work permits and strengthen the inspection regime to ensure the health and safety of TFWs.
- Support the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food in developing a sector-specific Agricultural Labour Strategy to address persistent and chronic labour shortages in farming and food processing in the short and long term.
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship:
- Reduce application processing times, including to address delays that have been impacted by COVID-19.
- With the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, establish a Trusted Employer system for Canadian companies hiring temporary foreign workers.
- Expand pathways to Permanent Residence for international students and temporary foreign workers through the Express Entry system.
Emergency Foreign Worker Program
While the federal government’s recent labour commitments are welcome, they will not address industry’s immediate labour crisis. The Emergency Labour Task Force continues to press the federal government to implement an Emergency Foreign Worker Program. Over the past week, the Emergency Labour Task Force has:
- Written to key federal ministers calling on them to implement immediate changes to the TFW program and to create pathways to permanent residency for food and beverage manufacturing workers.
- Contacted members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food to ask that the Committee hold hearings on Industry’s Labour issues.
- Set up meetings with key departments including AAFC, ISED and ESDC.
- Issued two media releases
- Received media coverage in iPolitics and National News Watch
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