Ontario Pork, in collaboration with Meat & Poultry Ontario, Beef Farmers of Ontario, Canadian Meat Council, Food and Beverage Ontario, Ontario Sheep Farmers, Ontario Turkey, Veal Farmers of Ontario and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, submitted a letter to the Hon. Ernie Hardeman, Minister, OMAFRA, to address the needs and opportunities of our livestock, poultry and processing sector to ensure viability, sustainability and prosperity post-COVID-19, with access to labour identified as one of the key limitations to our sectors.
Specifically, our support was communicated for any amendments that can be made that will allow Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) a pathway to becoming a permanent part of the Ontario labour force.
TFWs are a key to the success of the agriculture and agri-food sector and while we support the principle of providing jobs to Canadians first, we recognize foreign labour will also be required to fill a significant and ever-increasing shortfall in farm and processing labour. Labour Market Inventory (LMI) research completed by the Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council (CAHRC) details how severe this labour gap has become and the impact it has on the growth potential of the agriculture and agri-food sector.
