Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for the invite. My name is Peggy Brekveld, and I am the chair of the board of CAHRC.
It may seem unusual for an organization that examines the workforce needs of Canadian agriculture to be speaking on the implications of climate change on the horticultural sector. However, the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council's work reflects on current and future challenges for the farming sector, and provides research and solutions to a $38.8-billion GDP industry. This includes CAHRC's current partnership with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and with Food and Beverage Canada on the national workforce strategic plan.
To set the stage, CAHRC's most recent labour market research, released in November, shows that in 2022, there was a critical sales decline of $3.5 billion due to over 28,000 unfilled jobs. For horticulture specifically, lost sales due to labour shortages were estimated to be over $260 million in 2022. Also, 45% of employers in the fruit and vegetable industry were unable to find all the workers they needed, and 60% lost sales as a result. Forty-three per cent of employers reported that they received no domestic applicants for their job postings. The peak labour demand is projected to increase by 11%, from 61,000 in 2023 to 68,000 in 2030, so labour shortages already exist and are predicted to become more dire.
Secure access to an affordable, safe and reliable food supply for Canadians and the world relies on a skilled and motivated workforce. The future success of the agricultural sector will depend on it as well. What does this look like in a world where there are already increasing challenges related to climate change? Growing fruits and vegetables depends on producers who are able to navigate the unpredictable cyclical highs and lows caused by nature and weather conditions.
Agricultural workplaces have very unique challenges that affect their success. One is the time-sensitive constraint of caring for biological organisms such as plants and livestock and harvesting crops. For example, some foods naturally have very narrow harvest windows of only several days or even a few hours, such as asparagus, strawberries and peaches. Climate change and the weather patterns associated with it further narrow these windows.
From a staffing perspective, this means that I may need more workers for a shorter period of time in an unpredictable time frame, and often at the same time as other growers. Unlike most other workplaces, the work that needs to be done in an agricultural workplace in any given week can typically fall outside of an employer's control. In other words, once a farm has planted a certain number of acres, the crops must be kept alive at nature's schedule, not at the farmer's schedule. For perennial crops like vineyards and orchards, which grow for decades, these limitations extend over multiple years. It leaves farm employers highly dependent on a reliable and predictable workforce.
Beyond harvest, the nature of plants and crops limits the ability of farms to postpone, reduce or otherwise adjust tasks. Crops need to go in on time or else they won't mature before harvest. The need for reliable and skilled labour on farms becomes more critical as climate change disrupts the best management practices that farmers have used up until now. Failure to complete a task, such as harvesting or plant or animal care, within the window prescribed by nature can cause crop failure and can compromise the health of plants, potentially causing irreversible harm. It highlights the need for workers now and in the future.
Finally, no conversation on the future of farming, including on climate change and its effects, would be complete without addressing technology and innovation and their potential. With this in mind, CAHRC emphasizes the need for a vibrant and adequate agricultural workforce with future farming technology, training and practices in mind. It builds a case for additional researchers and innovators, which will help support future farming in Canada. The necessity to have a skilled, nimble and growing workforce to plant, tend to, harvest and even prepare food is even more evident as we look to climate change and the future of food. Without it, we will see direct impacts on the global food supply.
CAHRC research tools, resources and training support horticulture employers in their ability to plan human resource needs so they can ensure they have the workforce ready to go and bring food to your table.