Reading Time: < 1 minute If you’re thinking about hiring a student for summer employment, there’s only a few days left to apply for provincial assistance. The Summer Farm Employment Program offers wage support of up to $400 per month for July and August as well as worker’s compensation coverage and safety training information. “Employers must own or rent a […] Read more
Wage subsidy available for student workers on the farm
Workers wanted: Agribusiness sector hiring
CNS Canada — More people have applied for jobs in Canada’s agribusiness sector as of late, according to an industry researcher, but some agricultural sectors still face a critical labour shortage. “People have said that they have received more resumes this year than in previous years,” said Debra Hauer, project manager at the Canadian Agricultural […] Read more
A Liberal ‘fix’ for temporary foreign worker program may be elusive
New government’s pledge to help beleaguered meat processors will be a tough sell
Reading Time: 3 minutes The new Liberal government has vowed to fix the broken federal temporary foreign worker program for Canada’s beleaguered meat processors — but that may not be enough. Despite “endless” domestic recruitment and a seven per cent unemployment rate in Canada, the country’s meat industry is still short about 1,000 workers. And the situation “just gets […] Read more
Provincial grants available to reduce worker turnover
Workforce Development Initiative offers funding up to $25,000
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s 2015-16 Workforce Development Initiative is still accepting grant applications from employers interested in reducing their worker turnover or improving the productivity of their food processing or primary agriculture operation. “The retention grant provides a grant to cover 50 per cent of the costs of having a consultant develop a plan to […] Read more
Farm leaders say workers’ compensation coverage is a good thing
Mandatory enrolment could be announced this fall, but leaders say cost and paperwork won’t be onerous
Reading Time: 4 minutes Changes to farm safety regulations are expected soon — and that might not be a bad thing for Alberta farmers, says the president of the Alberta Federation of Agriculture. “Workers’ compensation or private insurance really is a great risk management tool for farms nowadays,” said Lynn Jacobson. “That protection against litigation is one of the […] Read more
Summer Farm Employment Program deadline looming
Applications processed on a first-come, first-served basis until May 31
Reading Time: < 1 minute Time is running out to get funding from the Summer Farm Employment Program. The provincial program offers wage support for farmers who employ youth during July and August. Employers must own or rent a farming operation in Alberta and have a gross production of $25,000 per year. Work must be directly related to the farming […] Read more
Things have changed in the boardroom of big corporations
Consumers are voting with their wallets, and big companies understand they need to move quickly when issues arise
Reading Time: 3 minutes There are farm, environmental and consumer groups that advocate the elimination of the corporate agenda. They say corporations drive the family farm to ruin, destroy the air that we breathe, and force consumerism at the expense of human rights. In Canada, 98 per cent of farms are family farms and of the 200,000 farms in […] Read more
Abrupt change in rules for temporary foreign workers is wrong
Thousands of hardworking and dedicated people have been cut adrift because of changes to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program
Reading Time: 3 minutes In Alberta, the shortage of workers is so critical that experts estimate the province will be 96,000 persons short by 2023. With unemployment at 4.7 per cent (and well under four per cent per cent in some regions), the situation is warrants attention. At that rate Alberta dips into a demographic that should not be […] Read more
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