Grown Locally, Harvested Globally

Canadians produce a lot of food, but harvesting that food has increasingly meant relying on a growing force of temporary foreign workers (TFWs). In 2020, however, border restrictions imposed by Canadian governments to control the spread of the novel coronavirus, and perhaps the reluctance of TFWs to travel to Canada during the pandemic, have significantly impeded the use of TFWs in Canada’s food-production system. That has revealed the vulnerabilities of the Canadian food supply chain to globally disruptive events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and the risk to a system that has, historically, provided Canadians with a stable, affordable supply of food for their local grocery stores. 

By the end of 2019, Canada had seen a record number of TFWs employed in the agriculture sector, as the number of Canadian citizens and permanent residents employed in the industry has remained relatively stagnant and even declined. However, travel restrictions imposed by Canadian governments due to the COVID-19 pandemic have coincided with a significant reduction in TFWs working in Canada in 2020. In total, there has been a 14-per-cent drop in the arrival of TFWs working in Canadian agriculture this year. Producers in the secondary agricultural sector, such as meat-processing and seafood-processing facilities, had been experiencing the fastest growth in the use of TFWs until now, and have seen the greatest relative reduction in TFW arrivals in comparison to 2019. Farms, which are primary producers, have experienced the largest reduction in TFW arrivals in absolute terms.

Although the economic effects of the pandemic-related lockdown have put many Canadians out of work, replacing TFWs with Canadian workers may not be practicable. Producers may not be able to hire Canadians willing to work on farms, ranches or in food-processing plants in sufficient numbers to make up for the shortfall in TFWs. When the government of New Brunswick completely banned the entry of TFWs due to the pandemic, it did not result in a significant increase in local hiring. In addition, TFWs often come with experience gained from previous years working in Canada’s food sector; training Canadians to replace them requires time and resources that can jeopardize the precious time that producers have to complete seasonal seeding, harvesting, and fishing activities.

Policy-makers will need to consider ways to ensure that TFWs, which have become critical to Canada’s food supply chain, are able to come to Canada safely and work in safe environments, in the face of the pandemic health risk. This year will already be a more difficult one for producers, and future years could face similar challenges. Canadians have come to rely on the use of TFWs to ensure fully stocked grocery stores carrying affordable food products. If producers are increasingly unable to source international labour to produce that food, Canada’s reliable and affordable food supply may be at risk.

By Robert Falconer

Published July 2020.