The Canadian federal government will continue the Agri-Food Pilot till May 2025

The trial program, which will start in May 2020, aims to make it easier for employees of Canada’s agriculture and food industries to get Canada permanent residency there.

According to the government, finding and keeping a qualified staff is essential for Canadian farmers and food processors to succeed.

The Agri-Food Immigration Pilot Program extension and the elimination of the annual occupational caps—which set a restriction on the number of applicants for a certain occupation under the pilot—were both announced by Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship. According to the administration, removing these restrictions will enable more qualified applicants to submit applications.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) plan to gradually implement new changes to the pilot by the end of the year. These changes will include:

• The Agri-Food Pilot will provide open work permits regardless of skill level to family members of participants;
• As an alternative to employer references, unions can attest to a candidate’s work experience
• Allowing candidates who reside in Canada to choose whether to satisfy the job offer requirement, which includes the median income requirement for the job offer, or the educational requirement, which includes the verification of educational credential evaluation.
• Accepting employment history obtained through an open work permit for vulnerable workers, allowing more candidates to meet the requirements

These revisions have received support from a number of agricultural organizations, including the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and the Canadian Meat Council.

In 2020, Canada’s Agri-Food Immigration Pilot was established with the goal of assisting in the reduction of workforce shortages in the industries of meat processing, mushroom and greenhouse cultivation, and cattle husbandry. This program complements economic immigration in Canada. Included in this are the Provincial Nominee Program, Express Entry, Rural and Northern Immigration Pilots, and Atlantic Immigration Program.

When it was first launched, the IRCC stated that for the ensuing three years, it would accept up to 2,750 primary applicants and their families per year.

The pilot’s application cut-off date was supposed to be on May 14, 2023.

More than 243,000 Canadians are working in the agriculture, hunting, fishing, and forestry sector, according to recent statistics on job openings from February 2023, while there are more than 14,000 open positions. The COVID-19 pandemic, which led to factory closures, market volatility, and supply chain delays, had a significant negative impact on the sector.

Which Profile fall under the Program’s Eligibility?

The following professions and industries fall under the pilot’s eligibility:

Producing meat products;

• Retail butchers
• Industrial butchers
• Farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
• Food processing laborers

Greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture production, including mushroom production;

• Farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
• General farm workers
• Harvesting laborers.

Animal production excluding aquaculture:

• Farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
• General farm workers.

Meat industry

A two-year Labour Market Impact Assessment will be given to meat processing industry employers who want to participate in the trial program. The strategy must describe how the firm will help the temporary foreign worker get permanent status.

According to the IRCC, in order to preserve the labour market and migrant workers, non-unionized meat processors will need to meet additional conditions and unionized meat processors would need a letter of support from their union.

Candidate Eligibility

Additionally, applicants must fulfill additional eligibility criteria, such as:

• 12 months of full-time, year-round employment in one of the approved occupations under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program;
• Canadian Language Benchmark level 4 in either English or French;
• A full-time, non-seasonal job offer in Canada outside of Quebec at or above the going rate for an indefinite period of time,
• The foreign equivalent of a high school education or above is also required.