By Alex Binkley, Manitoba Co-operator |
By Alex Binkley, Manitoba Co-operator |
Employers who have been in the program the longest are being exempted from further
reductions in the proportion of their workforce that aren’t citizens. 
Meat, fruit and vegetable processors are welcoming a recent announcement that reductions in the temporary foreign workers programs have been frozen for now.
Employment Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk recently said employers registered in the Temporary Foreign Worker Programs (TFWP) prior to June 2014 will be able to continue to use up to 20 per cent non-citizens in their workforce — if they can’t find Canadians to fill the jobs.
Employers who hired foreign workers after June 2014 will still have to reduce their foreign workforce to 10 per cent, under rules brought in by the former Harper government.
“While very far from offering a solution to the widespread and chronic labour shortage that exists in the meat industry, most particularly in rural meat- packing establishments, the minister’s announcement will be of some assistance to those establishments in which foreign-origin workers today constitute between 10 and 20 per cent of the total number of workers,” said Ron Davidson, a spokesperson for the Canadian Meat Council.
As a result, the companies won’t have to further cut purchases from farmers or reduce exports because of additional worker shortfall, he added.
“The meat industry welcomes every reconsideration of the severe constraints that were imposed on access to labour in 2014,” he said. “All of these consequences would have resulted from the previously scheduled government-imposed requirement to slash the workforce in these establishments by an additional 10 per cent.”
Meanwhile Trevor Eggleton, spokesperson for the Canadian Horticulture Council, said the association’s labour committee believes fruit and vegetable processors need special consideration when it comes to foreign workers.
“In some cases, it has not been possible to source an adequate number of reliable Canadian workers to perform seasonal work,” he said. “These same jobs make it possible for Canadians to work in longer full-time, permanent positions involving storing, packing or processing of produce and value-added products.”
Mihychuk called her action a prudent step while the government works on a plan it will announce later this year to address the problems with the program.