Hard row to hoe
PANDEMIC UNDERSCORES THE VALUE OF INNOVATION AND MIGRANT WORKERS, AS MAX MARTIN EXPLAINS FROM LONDON, ONT.
From worker shortages and processing backlogs, to hundreds of COVID-19 outbreaks on farms, the pandemic exposed Canadian agriculture's reliance on manual labour.
That's why some experts and farmers are citing the need for change, despite the fact the sector boomed in 2020, with food exports up about 10 per cent from 2019.
Call it a case for smarter farming — think robotics and artificial intelligence, but don't lose sight of the offshore workers who do much of the heavy lifting.
Agriculture accounts for 2.3 million jobs and about $140 billion in gross domestic product. Canada also relies on about 60,000 offshore labourers each year to work in fields, orchards, barns and greenhouses. About 20,000 of those workers head to Ontario, while others go to Quebec and B.C.
When the pandemic hit last year, many farmers had trouble getting the foreign help they needed. Some producers didn't plant crops and processing plants closed.
Outbreaks last spring and summer also trained a spotlight on the living conditions many migrant workers face.
In Ontario, about 1,800 workers contracted the virus. Three died.
Early last spring, an outbreak at a Cargill meat processing plant in High River, Alta., was linked to about 1,500 infections. There, too, three workers died.
Ottawa doesn't track COVID cases among farm workers or outbreaks on farms, and many provinces don't break down workplace outbreaks by sector, making it difficult to get a grip on the chaos the pandemic caused. So far this year, Ontario has reported at least 31 outbreaks on farms and another 19 in food processing centres.
Peter Gubbels, who grows watermelon and squash near London, said he's “hoping and praying” his 13 migrant workers, due to arrive April 20, make it into the country. Last year, he hired high school students to help get the planting done.
“Last year was such a nightmare,” said Gubbels.
“What happens, generally, is everyone interprets rules differently and there's a lot of confusion. It should be one standard.”
Last season, Gubbels' farm was inspected within weeks by local public health, the provincial Labour Ministry and Service Canada.
A post-pandemic emphasis on buying local would not only keep costs lower for consumers, but be a boon for Canadian farmers, he added.
Sylvain Charlebois, a professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said Canada needs to focus on producing food with more emphasis on technology and robotics.
“It's about moving the needle on production and growing crops more efficiently all year-round,” Charlebois said. “With COVID, there's this recognition that perhaps artificial intelligence can help, robotics as well. Robots are very mechanical, repetitive. You can rely on them 24 hours a day.”
Ottawa invested about $50 million to support agri-food automation, robotics and artificial intelligence, and $30 million in an innovation fund. Last year, another $58 million was spent to enhance farm and agri-food safety.
“Advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and automation present opportunities to achieve an even greater level of sustainable production and ensure the sector's long-term competitiveness,” federal Agriculture Minister Marieclaude Bibeau said via email.
As for temporary foreign workers, Charlebois said Canada needs more: “Most provinces have tried to recruit Canadians to work on farms, but it's very difficult. We're not hardwired to work on farms anymore.”
About 16,000 agriculture jobs go unfilled every year, according to Keith Currie, vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. A greater shift to automation would also increase demand for jobs in other fields, such as writing software for robotics or servicing machines, he said.
Currie said the pandemic highlights business risks in agriculture, and supports such as stability insurance need to be enhanced. He cited increased safety precautions on farms as a major shift, adding there are “a lot of misconceptions” about how migrant workers are treated on farms: “They are looked after very well.”
Some disagree, saying migrants often experience “inhumane and substandard” living conditions.
“The most fundamental thing the pandemic has shown is that migrant workers don't have the power to protect themselves as a result of their lack of permanent immigration status,” said Syed Hussan, executive director of Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.
He said granting migrant workers permanent resident status would improve access to health care and labour protections, including the ability to leave unsafe workplaces. Right now, that's not easy to do because most foreign worker permits are tied to a single employer.
Brett Schuyler, who grows apples, cherries and grain near Simcoe, Ont., said the pandemic has been a “roller-coaster.”
He employs about 200 seasonal workers, many from Trinidad and Tobago. Last spring, he did not plant asparagus due to delays in getting workers to Canada. Then in the fall, about 100 of his workers were stranded here over travel disputes with their home nation.
“We've got to make changes so that workers can stand up for their rights.”
Schuyler also said Canada is “spoiled” to have a reliable offshore workforce, but it should become a gateway for immigration: “We've got to continue to make it better so that we don't run the risk of losing it, because we're done without it.”
Schuyler sees hope on the horizon with his migrant workers beginning to be vaccinated against COVID.
“I'm very genuinely ready to get on with life,” he said. “We have an awesome thing going on at the farm, but I really miss being able to take my kids here, walking around, visiting the bunkhouses and letting everybody interact. Those are pretty special memories.”