The Legal Harvest: this is the first blog in a series that covers the latest developments in agriculture and food-related law, including litigation, legislation and regulations.
As agricultural labour shortages in Canada continue, the Government of Canada has doubled down on its efforts to attract and retain skilled foreign agricultural workers.
The key tool available is the recently-extended-and-expanded Agri-Food Pilot (the "Pilot"). Since its introduction in 2019, the Pilot has seen considerable success providing critical assistance and relief for farms struggling to operate with limited staff. However, solving the agricultural labour problem is not something that can be done overnight.
Canada needs 30,000 immigrant farmers over the next decade to take over existing farm operations or to start their own farms, concludes a 2023 RBC report. We are still in the early stages of ensuring the continued success of this critical economic sector. The extension and expansion of the Pilot is a step in the right direction.
By supporting the inclusion of foreign workers in Canada's agricultural sector, the Pilot paves the way for the industry to continue to innovate and thrive. Moreover, the extension and expansion of the Pilot illustrates the Government's continued recognition of the struggles faced by agricultural operations in Canada, and the importance of this industry to Canada's economic and social wellbeing.
The Agri-Food Pilot
At the heart of the Government's response to the agricultural labour shortage is the Pilot. Introduced in 2019 and officially launched in 2020, it was originally slated to end in May 2023. However, due to its success and continued labour needs, it has since been extended to May 2025. The Pilot is intended to attract and retain skilled non-seasonal agricultural workers by providing a pathway to Canadian permanent residency.
At the time of announcing the extension of the Pilot in May 2023, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (the "Minister") also announced certain changes to the Pilot – making it easier to use and more advantageous to both employers and candidates. Specifically, the Minister announced the removal of the occupational caps, thus removing the limits on how many candidates can apply for a specific occupation under the Pilot. This resulted in an expansion of opportunity for skilled workers in all eligible occupations.
Further, open work permit access was expanded for family members of Pilot participants. This has allowed family members to accompany Pilot participants to Canada and work in Canada, regardless of the participant's occupation or skill level. This change will allow families to remain together, presumably increasing the feasibility of a candidate's immigration to Canada. Also announced was a decision allowing unions to attest to a candidate's work experience, something that previously could only be done through employer reference letters. Again, this change simply increases the Pilot's accessibility, removing barriers for application and increasing ease of use.
Finally, the Pilot will now consider work experience gained under an open work permit for vulnerable workers, increasing the number of workers eligible to apply under the Pilot. Each of these changes, in addition to the extension to 2025, will assist in expanding the Pilot and further address the agricultural labour shortage in Canada.
Changes considered, the Pilot operates as follows. To be eligible to apply for permanent residency under the Agri-Food Pilot, applicants must have:
- Eligible Canadian work experience in a qualifying industry or occupation;
- A full-time, non-seasonal job offer from a Canadian employer in an eligible industry or occupation;
- Sufficient language abilities;
- Sufficient education;
- Settlement funds, where applicable; and
- Temporary resident status, if they are already in Canada.
Each of these requirements are discussed in more detail below.
a. Eligible Canadian work experience and job offer
To qualify for the Pilot, applicants must have at least one year of cumulative, non-seasonal, full-time work in the last three years in an eligible occupation and industry.
Only certain industries and occupations are captured by the Pilot. Eligible industries are classified by the North American Industry Classification System ("NAICS"), while eligible occupations are denoted by their National Occupation Classification ("NOC") code. Eligible industries and the occupations falling under each are listed below.
Meat Product Manufacturing (NAICS 3116)
- NOC 63201 – Butchers – retail and wholesale
- NOC 65202 – Meat cutters and fishmongers – retail and wholesale
- NOC 94141 – Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers
- NOC 82030 – Agricultural service contractors and farm supervisors
- NOC 84120 – Specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators
- NOC 85100 – Livestock labourers
- NOC 95106 – Labourers in food and beverage processing
Greenhouse, Nursery and Floriculture Production, including Mushroom Production (NAICS 1114)
- NOC 63201 – Butchers – retail and wholesale
- NOC 65202 – Meat cutters and fishmongers – retail and wholesale
- NOC 94141 – Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers
- NOC 82030 – Agricultural service contractors and farm supervisors
- NOC 84120 – Specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators
- NOC 85100 – Livestock labourers
- NOC 95106 – Labourers in food and beverage processing
Animal Production, excluding Aquaculture (NAICS 1121, 1122, 1123, 1124, 1129)
- NOC 82030 – Agricultural service contractors and farm supervisors
- NOC 84120 – Specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators
- NOC 85100 – Livestock labourers
- NOC 85101 – Harvesting labourers
In order to apply under the Pilot, the applicant must hold a genuine job offer for one of the above-noted occupations, in one of the above-noted industries. The offered position must also be full-time, permanent, and non-seasonal.
b. Language abilities
An applicant under the Pilot must prove sufficient skills in English or French. Specifically, they must meet the minimum language requirement of Canadian Language Benchmarks or Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) Level 4.
c. Educational requirements
An applicant must hold, at minimum, a Canadian high school diploma or equivalent.
d. Settlement funds
Finally, an applicant under the Pilot must show that they have sufficient financial resources to settle in Canada, which includes the financial means to support any family members. However, if the applicant is already working in Canada on a valid work permit when they apply to the Pilot, they are exempt from this requirement.
Express Entry changes connected to the Pilot
In 2023, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced changes to its Express Entry program through category-based selection. Category-based selection allows Canada to issue invitations to apply to permanent resident candidates with specific skills, training or language ability. One of the "categories" targeted by these specific selections were candidates with work experience in agriculture and agri-food. Notwithstanding the targeting, only certain agriculture and agri-food occupations were included in this category:
- Contractors and supervisors, landscaping, grounds maintenance and horticulture services (NOC 82031);
- Agricultural service contractors and farm supervisors (NOC 8230); and
- Retail and wholesale butchers (NOC 63201).
Notably, these are all higher-skilled occupations, meaning that this would have little impact on the general lower-skilled agricultural labour shortage currently seen in Canada. However, due to the need for immigrant farmers to take over existing operations or begin their own farms in Canada in order to meet production demands, the inclusion of farm supervisors and contractors in this category will be undoubtedly valuable for the Canadian agricultural sector.
The ability to fast-track a permanent residency application through the Express Entry System certainly assists in making Canada an attractive option for skilled foreign agricultural workers. The category-based selection draw took place in September 2023, with 600 agri-food and agriculture workers selected to apply.
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada has yet to announce further category-based express entry draws for 2024. However, the Government has consistently expressed intention to prioritize bridging labour gaps in key sectors, including agriculture, via immigration. With this in mind, it is hoped that the category-based express entry process is used again in 2024, with agriculture workers included as a category, as part of Canada's approach to addressing agricultural labour shortages.
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