By Lorne Small - April 10, 2015
Foreign labour has become a controversial issue in the last few months. Many people misunderstand the issue and are confused by the media coverage. Forecasts of farm labour requirements indicate that more, not fewer foreign workers will be needed to meet the needs of agriculture in the years ahead.
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Agriculture has had a closely supervised "Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program" for many years. It has worked well and met the needs of many of our fruit and vegetable farms. This agricultural program is an agreement between foreign governments and the Canadian government. The Ontario farmers are required to supply airline tickets, accommodation and meet all Canadian labour law plus some additional conditions dictated by the worker's national government. Farmers will tell you that it is more expensive to employ foreign agriculture workers than local workers. Unfortunately, this vital program may be threatened due to confusion with the much criticised "Temporary Foreign Worker" program. Any significant change to this long standing agriculture program threatens the viability and growth potential of our horticulture industry. In response to the current concerns, the Canadian Human Resource Council and the Conference Board of Canada are undertaking a study of the agriculture employment supply and demand for the next 25 years. Preliminary results indicate a bleak future as demand will greatly outstrip supply in the years ahead. Canada will have to fill the void with either foreign workers or make some fundamental and probably impossible changes to attract domestic workers. There are some less than obvious reasons why domestic workers are not filling local farm jobs. Location of the work is often in distant rural areas, while the potential worker lives in an urban center. Even new Canadians prefer to reside in urban centres as owning a family car is a cost they prefer to live without. Getting to work without public transit is a barrier for many people. In urban Ontario, public transit provides the ability to easily get to and from work. Agriculture is changing rapidly, creating the need for different skills. Farm work is no longer using a pick and shovel, but rather operating sophisticated equipment. To operate a modern combine may require almost the same skill level as an airline pilot. With more sophisticated technology, the new skills and personnel that will be required include computer technicians, software maintenance, electricians and millwrights and, as someone suggested, we may also need drone pilots. Surveys of recent High School, College and University graduates indicate that a career in agriculture is not viewed in a favourable way. Rural jobs are deemed to be poor jobs. Rural job are often too distant from the preferred urban centres. It is understandable that most people prefer the full range of services that are enjoyed by the urban resident and are lacking in rural Ontario. Yet there are good, challenging career opportunities that go unfilled due to the stigma attached to rural living. Aggravating the labour supply issue is the retirement from farming of the large baby boom generation. Farms are consolidating, with larger farms that rely on hired labour replacing the traditional owner operated farms. In reality, Ontario will need to rely heavily on trained, talented foreign workers to keep its agricultural sector viable and competitive. The demand will only continue to grow. Re-focusing local workers and solving the transportation challenge would be helpful. However, foreign workers will continue to be needed in Ontario for the next 25 years.
______________________________________________________________________________________ Lorne Small is the President for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario. The CFFO Commentary represents the opinions of the writer and does not necessarily represent CFFO policy. The CFFO Commentary is heard weekly on CFCO Chatham, CKNX Wingham, and UCB Canada radio stations in Chatham, Belleville, Bancroft, Brockville and Kingston. It is also archived on the CFFO website: www.christianfarmers.org. CFFO is supported by 4,000 family farmers across Ontario.
