BAC Members:
Industry makes significant progress advancing emergency labor response
FBC-ABC continues to lead a coalition of 11 provincial and national industry associations as they call for a federal Emergency Foreign Worker Program for the food and beverage manufacturing sector. Over the past 3 weeks, the coalition has met with over 30 federal elected officials. This includes Agriculture and Agri-food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, officials in the offices of Finance Minister Freeland, Labor Minister O’Regan and Employment Minister Qualtrough; and the Parliamentary Secretaries to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food (AAFC) and to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC). This week, the coalition met with senior department staff in AAFC, Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion (ESDC), and IRCC to discuss the details of the industry’s proposal. The departments have committed to meet again with the coalition in the next week to 10 days.
FBC-ABC invited to participate in the upcoming federal National Supply Chain Summit
FBC-ABC CEO Kathleen Sullivan, will join other food and beverage leaders at the upcoming National Supply Chain Summit, taking place on January 31. Several federal Cabinet ministers including Francois-Philippe Champagne (ISED), Marie-Claude Bibeau (AAFC), Mary Ng (International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business, and Economic Development), and Carla Qualtrough (ESDC) will be leading themed discussions.
Call for proposals launched to help Canadians enter the labor market, make a career change or learn new skills
On January 26, the Minister of Employment and Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion launched a call for proposals under the Skills for Success program to provide funding to organizations to develop projects that will increase training opportunities for Canadians. There are stream twos – one dedicated to developing new training approaches, creating self-assessment tools, and providing training resources, and one dedicated to better understanding skills challenges faced by under-represented groups and identifying best practices. For-profit organizations are eligible provided that the nature and intent of the activity is non-commercial.
Port of Vancouver Rolling Truck Age Program Delayed
As of January 14, the launch of the Port of Vancouver program to ban trucks that are 10 years or older has been postponed by 90 days, in view of mitigating ongoing supply-chain issues. Over the coming weeks, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority will be providing an opportunity for industry and community stakeholders to further share information and feedback regarding specific aspects of implementation of the program.
Register for the 2022 Manitoba Protein Summit (February 22 to February 23)
Registration is now open for the 2022 Manitoba Protein Summit. This Summit will feature Natalia Suescun Pozas from the World Economic Forum, Michael McCain from Maple Leaf Foods, Michael Mikulak of Food and Beverage Manitoba, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University, and other organizations including IMPROVE, Wageningen University & Research, The Nature Conservancy , Bridge2Food, Farmers Edge, Regeneration Canada, and more.
Share your thoughts: Proposed changes to the Canadian Grade Compendium: Volume 3 – Processes Fruit or Vegetable Products
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is proposing to change the regulations relating to the maximum size of diced or cubed white potatoes packaged in hermetically sealed packages. Comments are open until February 21, 2022 .
South Korea lifts temporary suspension of Canadian beef
Last week, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food announced that South Korea is lifting its temporary suspension of Canada beef imports that it imposed after Canada detected a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in December.
House of Commons and Senate returns
The House of Commons is scheduled to resume sitting on January 31, while the Senate has postponed its resumption until February 7. The House of Commons Finance Committee is set to kick off its 2022 pre-budget consultations upon its return, with several FBC-ABC Members expected to be invited to appear. FBC-ABC’s submission to the Committee was recently profiled in National Newswatch.