The provincial government is investing $15 million to support recruitment and retention
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The B.C. government is investing millions of dollars to help ensure the ag sector has a good crop of employees to choose from.
The Agriculture and Workforce Development Initiative will see the provincial government allocate $15 million for recruitment and retention, the development of labour market strategies and other supports.
B.C. could have a labour shortage of up to 15,000 workers by 2030, says David Mutz, a director with the BC Agriculture Council and berry farmer.
Taking necessary steps to shore up the industry’s workforce is imperative.
“The ongoing labour shortage in the agriculture sector will be detrimental to the livelihoods of thousands of farmers and ranchers in our province if we don't act now,” he said in a statement.
The first organization to receive support under this program is AgSafe.
The organization will receive $75,000 to expand mental health services to the province’s ag sector.
The Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC will deliver the program.
The entire country is facing an ag labour shortage.
A report from RBC, the same one which indicates about 40 per cent of Canadian farmers will retire by 2033, says that when it comes to ag labour, Canada is lacking compared to other countries.
“Canada’s agricultural skills crisis is already one of the world’s worst,” the report says. “The country has one of the highest skills shortages in food production compared to other major food exporting nations-only trailing the U.S. and the Netherlands.”
Canada’s ag sector has also let the federal government know about labour challenges.
Government consultations with the ag sector identified an inability to retain domestic and foreign workers, and ensuring workers have the proper skills and training, among the current labour issues.
Members of B.C.’s ag sector interested in applying for support under the Agriculture and Food Workforce Development Initiative can find more information online.