Evidence of meeting #11 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was question.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Marian Campbell Jarvis  Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Matt de Vlieger  Director General, Immigration, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Louis Dumas  Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Jonathan Wallace  Director General, Temporary Foreign Workers Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
Clerk of the Committee  Mr. Marc-Olivier Girard

2:45 p.m.

Liberal

Marco Mendicino Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON

First, I want to say that if we haven't gotten back to him, we will make sure we get back to him as quickly as possible. I acknowledge that it has been a very challenging time for our team and our officials, but we will be sure to get back to him with a response as quickly as possible.

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB

Thank you.

You did talk earlier in your presentation about some of the numbers regarding temporary foreign workers coming into Canada, but my colleague, Ms. Rood, did mention that Quebec and B.C. seem to be lagging far behind compared with Ontario, for example. In Quebec they're still quite short of the temporary foreign workers who are supposed to be coming in to that province. The numbers that we have seen are close to around 50%. Is that accurate and why is there such a discrepancy?

2:45 p.m.

Liberal

Marco Mendicino Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON

You're quite right that there are some regional disparities. We are looking at ways we can increase and accelerate the rate of arrival for some of the provinces who are perhaps not as far along, like British Columbia, as you mentioned. I think we have seen good progress in Ontario and Quebec. One of the ways I think we're going to pick up speed in facilitating the arrival of temporary workers is by continuing to invest the resources that are necessary in the dedicated team within my own department, and also among a number of other departments like Agriculture, as well as Employment and Social Development, and Public Services and Procurement Canada. We understand there's a challenge there, but we are really expending every effort to get those workers here as quickly as possible.

2:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

Mr. Barlow, just to let you know, Mr. Lehoux is back. Do you want me to switch and then come back to you?

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB

Yes, please.

2:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

Mr. Lehoux, if you are ready, I give you the floor for three minutes.

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC

I am ready, but I have unfortunately not heard the question Mr. Barlow asked. I hope I will not repeat it.

Good afternoon, Minister.

My riding has a number of processing plants involved in the agri-food industry. Several of those plants employ temporary foreign workers. However, the permits of many of those workers are expiring. The situation is fairly complicated.

I know that an announcement was made last week, but couldn't the process be further simplified to enable those employees, during this time marked by COVID-19, to keep their job? It is very difficult to recruit factory workers right now.

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Marco Mendicino Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON

I am always ready to work with you and with all of our colleagues from the House of Commons to find solutions that could simplify the process or to create a more efficient process.

The announcements our government has made are the result of collaboration with all the parties, all the members, and we will continue with that exercise. It is very constructive.

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC

Thank you, Minister.

Just to make sure I am being understood, I want to specify that the plant has not stopped operating. The workers are still at their jobs, but their work permits have expired. The employer wants to keep them at work because the need is really high. I am talking about a pork processing plant.

Will the government ensure that those workers can keep their jobs?

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Marco Mendicino Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON

Yes. Just to clarify, as I said, if their visas have expired, they are able to stay on implied status and continue to look for new work. As soon as they get that job offer, they are able to start that work.

Policies are in effect to enable workers who have lost their job or whose permit is expired to remain in Canada, to search for another job and to start working more quickly.

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC

Thank you, Minister.

Mr. Chair, do I have a bit of time left?

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

Now you have five minutes of your own time, John, or you can split it whichever way you want. I'll leave it to your discretion whether you want to continue with Mr. Lehoux or get your five minutes.

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I may ask a couple of questions. Then I'll pass it over to Mr. Lehoux if he has a couple of others.

Minister, thank you for getting back to us when we had questions early on about this program. I understand that it was sketchy at the beginning as to whether we would be able to offer this labour force to our producers. I hope you understand now how critical the seasonal agricultural worker program and the temporary foreign worker program are to our food supply.

This is a bit off-topic, but I just want to put this on your radar to see if there's anything that we can do. We have a lot of agricultural producers in the southern part of many of our ridings that have American borders. I have ranchers who have cattle on the Alberta side as well as on the Montana side, and some who have grain. They are having a really difficult time going back and forth to check cattle, feed animals and those types of things.

I know this isn't necessarily an immigration thing. However, I have spoken with my counterparts in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, and we all see agriculture as an essential service. They are having similar problems as they have that reciprocity. I'm wondering if it's on your radar or on the government's radar to address this issue, to have some sort of a permit or a process where agricultural producers who are an essential service can make that trip back and forth across the border.

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Marco Mendicino Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON

Thank you for the question, Mr. Barlow. As well, it was my pleasure to be able to collaborate with you in the early days of the outbreak to ensure that we were making the strongest possible case to create the exemption for migrant workers who are plying their trade on our farms. I just want you to know that co-operation will continue.

As a result, I feel as though the government and, I hope, all Canadians truly appreciate the significant contributions of this class of workers, who come from abroad to shore up food security.

Thank you for bringing this specific issue to my attention. I think, as you alluded to in your question, it's one that I will share with my colleague, Madame Bibeau, at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, as well as with Minister Qualtrough at ESDC. We should continue that conversation.

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB

Thank you. I knew that wasn't something you could answer, but I really wanted to put it on your radar as we are having a lot of difficulty with that right now. If there's some sort of program, permitting system or something that we could put in place so that they are not turned away at the border coming back or going south....

Now I'll go to a question that I'm sure you'll be able to answer. I know that you've put some programs in place for processing and the employees that.... I have Cargill in my riding. If that goes down, that's almost 40% of the processing capacity in Canada. It's reliant, certainly, on temporary foreign workers.

Have there been any discussions, Minister, with the unions that are employing some of these employees? I think there's an opportunity for us to have a discussion to address some of the misunderstandings with some of the programs, work safety and some of those things that are going on. Despite the programs that you're putting in place, the unions are really not allowing those workers to go back to work. There is a stop work order, a court injunction, for Cargill.

Have some of those discussions happened to re-educate or to educate the workforce, the unions, Cargill and JBS to get them all onside to ensure that employees go to work?

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Marco Mendicino Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON

As I mentioned, we had a very constructive call earlier this week with a number of stakeholders, and we did talk about the significance and the importance of guaranteeing occupational health and safety on farms and in food processing plants.

As I said in my remarks and throughout the course of today's appearance, everyone has a right to work in a place that is healthy and safe. There is an opportunity to discuss with some of the leaders in the labour sector exactly what their concerns are. I am generally aware of what those concerns are. In the meantime, I want to assure you that's one of the reasons we amended the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act: to set the bar very high, to provide the additional resources to inspectors and auditors, to be there as an important guarantee for not only the temporary workers but all workers who are there to keep our food supply chain going.

2:55 p.m.

Conservative

John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB

Thank you for that. Certainly all of us, I think, thank the workers and the food processors who are going to work every single day. We want to ensure that they're safe, but there has to be some sort of continuity that they are going to work.

I'm not sure how much time I have left, Mr. Chair, but I'll maybe pass it over to Mr. Lehoux in case he has some other questions.

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

You have 15 seconds. It would be a very quick one, if you have one.

2:55 p.m.

Conservative

Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC

Minister, your pilot project is very appealing for immigrant workers, but it won't be able to resolve all the issues.

To remedy the situation in my riding, a way must be found to make the temporary permit renewal process easier for full-time temporary workers who are not seasonal employees. That process must really be made easier because agricultural businesses, including farmers, need those workers.

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Marco Mendicino Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON

I agree with my colleague's comments.

It is true that the pilot project is not a magic bullet that will solve all the problems in that sector. On the other hand, this is an example of an initiative that highlights the value of that sector's workers and the areas where progress can be made.

2:55 p.m.

Conservative

Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC

Thank you.

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

Thank you, Minister, and Monsieur Lehoux.

Now we'll go to Mr. Ellis for five minutes and that will be our final question.

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Neil Ellis Liberal Bay of Quinte, ON

Thank you.

I have a couple of questions and I know the chair has a question, so I'll split a couple of minutes with him.

Thank you, Minister Mendicino, for appearing today. It's nice to see you.

I know that when I took office in 2016, the temporary foreign worker program, to say it politely, was not that great and we had a lot of issues to settle. In 2017 it got a little better, and in 2018 and 2019 there seemed to be a change around. In my community, the Bay of Quinte riding, we depend on the wineries having agricultural workers come to our community. It was smooth in 2018 and 2019, and 2020, fortunately, has been good for us so far. The office hasn't had to do a lot of streamlining or deal with a lot of complaints with the program this year, so we've been fortunate.

Can you tell me what you've done in the last four years to improve the program and why it's been better?

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Marco Mendicino Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON

Mr. Ellis, it's good to see you. I recall with fondness my visit to your riding and our visit to CFB Trenton.

With regard to the progress that we've made with the temporary foreign worker program, it's certainly not the product only of my time in this portfolio. This is the value of having a government that believes in leveraging the skills and experience of workers who are coming from abroad to help shore up the food supply chain, who are truly here to help us keep affordable food—healthy and safe food—on the plates of Canadians.

The way in which we have seen progress is by investing in this program and standing up teams to ensure that we are fast-tracking approvals of the permits, particularly now during COVID-19, by introducing a number of standards in place to protect the workers' health and safety while they're here and, as I've pointed out, by creating a way they can establish a permanent connection to Canada through the agri-food pilot.

These are all important initiatives that are the product of our government, and this work will continue and will position us to recover very strongly after we're on the other side of this curve with COVID-19.

3 p.m.

Liberal

Neil Ellis Liberal Bay of Quinte, ON

I have just one more question. You spoke about changing job permits and that you've switched that process. I know it was very hard to do this before, and I wonder what the process was before and what the difference now is in changing a work permit to move to another agricultural area?