Agriculture Committee on May 2nd, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Colleagues, we'll call this meeting to order, and we'll move as quickly as we can.

Welcome to meeting number 102 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Quickly, I'm not going to read through the entirety of the notes, because we already had a session on Tuesday in camera, but with regard to interpretation, please be mindful of earpieces and keep them at a distance from the microphone to avoid audio feedback, and try to be very respectful of our interpreters, who do very good work.

Through no fault of our own, there were a number of votes in the House, and we've been delayed. We have only so much time. Many of us have a hard stop at one o'clock. We're going to bring all the panels together, allow the individual organizations to give statements and then have an open panel to get as many questions in as we can.

This group works very well. If some of you want to stay beyond one o'clock, the resources exist. I'm just looking for a general agreement and unanimous consent that if you do choose to stay and engage on questions, which I think would be good, there will be no procedural elements. We'll be able to stay in that respect.

Go ahead, Mr. Drouin.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

We just have to make sure the witnesses can stay past one o'clock.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

This is for the witnesses who are able to stay past one o'clock. You've spent your time coming in. We want to be respectful of that.

There is now another vote coming. Let's seek unanimous consent to work through the bells, as we always do.

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

We have that. Let's get the statements going, and if we have to completely redo a panel because of this—we can't control what goes on in the House—we will do so accordingly.

Without further ado, I'm going to introduce our witnesses. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Thursday, November 2, 2023, the committee is resuming its study on issues related to the horticulture sector.

First of all, we have Marie-Ève Gaboury-Bonhomme, professor in the agri-food economics and consumer sciences department, Université Laval. Ms. Gaboury-Bonhomme is having trouble with her sound. She will give an opening statement. She will not be able to interact, but you can ask questions on the record, and she will provide written statements.

From the Canada Organic Trade Association, we have Tia Loftsgard, the executive director, who is joining us in person. Thank you for being here today, along with Gillian Flies by video conference.

From my home province of Nova Scotia we have, from the Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia, Peter Burgess, executive director. Thank you for joining us and congratulations on your world championships in curling. That's wonderful.

From British Columbia, we have Sukhpaul Bal, the president of the British Columbia Cherry Association. We had the opportunity to meet last week at CPMA, so it's great to have you on the panel.

From the Canadian Mushroom Growers' Association, we have Mike Medeiros and Ryan Koeslag.

From the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council, we have Peggy Brekveld, who is no stranger to agriculture. Thank you for being here today.

We also have the president of the CFA, Mr. Keith Currie.

Thank you all for being here today.

We're going to get your statements on the record.

Colleagues, I'll walk you through the votes. We'll make sure we can utilize our time, and we'll do our best. That's all we can ever do.

I'm going to start with Ms. Gaboury-Bonhomme.

Ms. Gaboury-Bonhomme, the floor is yours for five minutes.

[Marie-Ève Gaboury-Bonhomme, Professor, Agri-Food Economics and Consumer Sciences Department, Université Laval, As an Individual]

Thank you.

Honourable members, thank you for inviting me to appear before you.

I am a researcher at Université Laval in Quebec. I specialize in analyzing agricultural policy. In 2021, some of my colleagues and I started doing research on risk management and crop insurance in all sectors of agricultural production, including horticulture. Using surveys and interviews, we questioned over 500 agricultural producers and 22 experts. We also looked into what was being done in other Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development, or OECD, member countries. I think some preliminary results may be useful in your deliberations. That is the backdrop against which I accepted your invitation to testify as a researcher. Our research reports will be published starting in the fall.

To begin with, we should remember that agricultural risks are uncontrollable events that are often difficult to predict and that can have a negative impact on income, margins or agricultural production. A risk can be assessed based on three factors: the probability that an event will occur, the frequency with which it may occur, and the impact and duration of the effects it might have.

The agricultural producers and experts questioned for our studies believe that the risks posed by climate change have major effects on agriculture and that the probability of those effects will rise in the medium and long term. In the past, agricultural policies were mainly geared to reducing risks associated with the market. Policies to deal to climate-related risks, such as crop insurance, were often regarded as secondary. Things change, and crop insurance is playing an increasingly important role all around the world. Its share in agricultural program spending in Canada has exploded since 2021. The United States is experiencing a similar situation.

Your committee is interested in the effectiveness of insurance programs and looking for potential solutions for developing greater climate resilience. I have a few suggestions for you.

First, agricultural risks are managed comprehensively at the farm level. To use a metaphor, agricultural producers use a toolbox filled with mutually complementary strategies.

Agricultural managers make decisions that can enhance their resilience by averting some risks or reducing their frequency or adverse effects. That can be done by adopting certain practices such as diversifying production, irrigation, crop rotation, cultivar selection, improvements to soil health, and so on.

Second, certain risks have to be transferred or shared, because the agricultural enterprise cannot deal with them by itself. That is in fact what government insurance programs are for.

The insurance programs do best if they are designed and implemented with a view to encouraging the resilience of the enterprises. In other words, these programs should encourage enterprises to diversify their risk management strategies, build up their toolkits, and ensure they have the proper support and advice so they are able to incorporate innovations into their practices.

In our studies, the support available to enterprises emerged as a factor with a very significant influence on farm risk management. That support appeared to us to be particularly important given that almost half of the producers who participated in our survey assessed their level of knowledge of climate risks to be average.

That being said, some practices, such as the use of synthetic pesticides, cannot be encouraged, even though some people regard them as useful in managing crop loss risks. Those practices have adverse effects on human health and the environment. Instead, insurance programs need to encourage other practices to manage pests. Rather than encouraging synthetic pesticides, we should be promoting integrated pest management, and, more generally, practices that are beneficial for water and air quality, ecosystems, biodiversity and greenhouse gas reduction.

Our studies also alerted me to the fact that production losses cause stress and worry, and even anxiety, in much of the agricultural population. It would be a good idea to expand the connections between mental health programs and insurance programs. This means that agricultural producers who have mental health problems will be able to get referrals to the services they need.

To summarize, there must be innovation and creativity so that insurance programs are designed in such a way as to provide enterprises with good protection against climate risks. As well, they need encouragement to be resilient by adopting practices that benefit the environment and health.

I will not be able to answer your questions orally because of the interpretation problem. However, I will be happy to do so in writing after the meeting.

Thank you for your attention.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you, Ms. Gaboury-Bonhomme.

We will now go to Ms. Loftsgard from the Canada Organic Trade Association.

Ms. Loftsgard, the floor is yours for five minutes.

[Tia Loftsgard, Executive Director, Canada Organic Trade Association]

Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. Thank you for inviting the Canada Organic Trade Association to present today.

The challenges faced by farmers are similar regardless of the method of production, yet we need to consider all possible approaches due to new climate realities. The whole-system approach of organic production means that sustainability is automatically built into this way of farming.

The international acclaim of organically produced goods, attributed to their sustainable cultivation methods, designates them as premium products. The organic fruit and vegetable category accounts for nearly 25% of all organic sales, holding a 6.6% market share. Production is highest in Ontario, followed by Quebec and then B.C. These numbers may seem small, but organic has been outpacing conventional growth. Two-thirds of Canadians purchase organic products weekly. The market is expected to triple in the next 10 years, according to recent SPINS data.

Despite being the fifth-largest organic-consuming nation globally, only 3% of Canadian farms hold organic certification, presenting a substantial opportunity for expansion. Canada's distinct lack of a policy framework for organic agriculture sets it apart as the sole agricultural nation without such a directive. In ongoing dialogues that we've been having, we've been actively engaging with members of Parliament and soliciting political support for the formulation of an organic action plan for Canada.

The regulated nature of the organic sector, coupled with trade agreements involving 35 countries, underscores its global presence. However, without explicit policy directives, support mechanisms, and an overarching framework for organic growth, Canada faces risks to its competitiveness. The U.S. and the European Union, with significant investments and growth plans in their policy directives, present a formidable challenge for Canada's standing in the absence of a comparable approach.

I'll now hand it over to my colleague Gillian Flies to speak to you about some initiatives that are helping to build more resilience and adaptation to climate change, many of which can be adopted by the broader horticultural sector.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Please go ahead, Ms. Flies.

[Gillian Flies, Owner-Operator, The New Farm, Canada Organic Trade Association]

Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for holding this hearing.

My name is Gillian Flies. Alongside my husband, we own and operate The New Farm, near Creemore, Ontario, where we produce certified regenerative organic vegetables, salad greens and livestock.

We are seeing the impacts of climate change first-hand on our farm. Last August alone, we had three rain events of more than two inches in under an hour, including one of three inches in under 30 minutes. It completely flooded our fields. However, thanks to our soil health and structure, the water soaked in within 30 minutes, allowing us to harvest our whole crop, while our neighbours' crops were severely damaged.

Our soil health is key to our climate resistance. Through our practices, we've increased our soil organic matter from 3% to about 5% to 6% across the whole farm. For every 1% increase in organic matter, soils can hold an extra 25,000 gallons of water per acre. Compared with a farm with about 3% organic matter or less, which is the average, we can absorb an extra 75,000 gallons per acre on our farm and survive these storms when they come.

We've achieved this through practices such as no-till and using tarps on our vegetables and salad greens. The untilled soil stays 6° to 9° cooler under the tarp than the tilled soil since it holds more moisture, allowing for better germination and less irrigation. We have successfully integrated livestock, including cattle, pigs and chickens, to rotationally graze our cover crops annually, further reducing our reliance on external inputs and input costs while naturally fertilizing our soils. Research shows that healthy soil also increases the nutrient density of our crops. For example, the Bionutrient Food Association found that regeneratively grown vegetables had 21% more nutrients than U.S. averages for eight crops.

A resilient domestic food supply is critical for food security. Canada imports three-quarters of our fruits and vegetables, including much from California. This leaves us vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and supply chain disruption. In 2018, when the drought in California and the simultaneous hurricane Michael in Florida brought shortages, our cooler soils allowed us to continue producing when others couldn't. We sold out so fast that we had to close our farm two weeks early that year. At the peak of the COVID pandemic, farmers' markets and small-scale producers, many organic, were able to continue supplying Canadians with fresh produce.

This underscores the need to increase not only domestic production but also on-farm resilience. To do this, we must be able to compete with cheap imports, including from the United States. Like many horticulture farms, we participate in the seasonal agricultural worker program, paying fair wages and complying with the higher standards of this program. The committee should consider solutions, such as wage subsidies, to address this imbalance.

We also need better support through the business risk management programs. As a small, diversified operation, these programs are not accessible to us. We need affordable emergency and whole-farm coverage. The BRM programs should also account for and encourage the risk mitigation impacts of soil health practices.

The new climate programs need to be adapted to support innovation on farms like ours. We have not been able to access programs like the on-farm climate action fund despite demonstrating practices that are adopted widely across the agricultural sector.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Ms. Flies, unfortunately we're at time. I even gave you about 40 extra seconds. Please wrap up with a brief comment.

[Gillian Flies]

Okay.

What you can do is increase access to education, provide financial support, especially during the transition period, and build demand to ensure market access for our products. As we enter a period of global crisis, farming needs to be recognized and supported as an emergency service. The time to invest in the infrastructure to rebuild resilient farms and local food systems is now, while we still have time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much.

We'll now turn to Mr. Burgess from the Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia.

It's over to you.

[Peter Burgess, Executive Director, Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia]

Thanks for the opportunity to be here today.

I represent about 630 growers in Nova Scotia as the executive director of the growers association. First, I want to highlight a little about our industry before I talk about some of our challenges.

We are a unique industry. Throughout the world, wild blueberries are only grown commercially in the state of Maine and the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. That's where our blueberries are grown. The bulk of our crop is cleaned and individually quick-frozen within 24 hours of harvest. This fruit is shipped around the world, mainly into the ingredient market—think yogourts, jams and so on. Nova Scotia, in particular, is around 15% of the total wild blueberry industry, but the largest processor, Oxford Frozen Foods, is based in Nova Scotia.

It's an extremely unique crop, as the fields are not planted. Rather, naturally occurring stands of plants have evolved in our climate, and these ecosystems are managed by our farmers. This means there is an abundance of plant biodiversity within every field. Farmers don't breed or select varieties. They manage the existing stands that have developed over hundreds or even thousands of years.

It's a long-term perennial crop. Some existing fields have currently been in production for over 70 years. It's managed as a two-year production cycle. Fields are mowed off to the ground in the fall after harvest. The next year, they grow vegetatively. The second year is when the fruit is produced.

Our industry has challenges similar to those of other horticultural crops: access to labour and increasing input costs. However, we have some unique challenges with subtle nuance in our industry.

We compete on the world market against the highbush blueberry—which is grown year-round in multiple countries around the world—and, of course, other fruit. Increases in highbush blueberry or European bilberry production can affect our market price here at home.

The nature of our crop doesn't allow for some common on-farm adjustments like crop rotation because we are a long-term perennial crop. As a matter of fact, we've run into climate change issues that are impacting us. Spring frost, exposed winters with low snow cover, excessive summer rains and periodic droughts have all impacted production in the last 10 years. Support for climate change adaptation is a strong priority in our industry and something we greatly encourage.

Consistency of production has also slowed market development, partly due to climate change impacts. It is part of the reason for our variable on-farm returns. Funding for applied research is needed. Our crop is only grown in northeastern North America, so that work has to be done here.

Fluctuating returns for growers have slowed on-farm development and investment. Farm-gate prices have gone from $1.12 a pound to 35¢ a pound in the last three years. Farm-gate pricing has always been very volatile. It highlights the importance of a robust business risk management program that needs to level out returns and allow for growth in our industry.

Pollination is a critical component of our industry. If we don't have access to reliable pollination services, our yields will fluctuate as well. A reliable supply of honeybees and complimentary pollinators such as bumblebees and leaf-cutter bees is very critical to our industry.

We have a lot of opportunities in our industry. All blueberries are extremely healthy when part of a regular diet. There's a significant amount of peer-reviewed data that shows this, much of which our industry has funded. Wild blueberries are smaller fruit and tend to have more concentrated anthocyanin, the beneficial compound. It's the one thing we like to leverage in our industry.

Wild blueberries are very sustainable and have a low carbon footprint compared with some other crops, because it's a long-term perennial crop with no soil tillage and it's only on a two-year production cycle. We also have a very good taste profile because of the amalgamation of a lot of different varieties within a crop.

Market differentiation is really critical in our industry for finding niche markets around the world where customers are going to be interested in buying our product. We highlight taste, health, environmental sustainability and the impact of our crops. Support for international market development is critical to the success of our industry.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much, Mr. Burgess.

We'll now turn to Ms. Brekveld for up to five minutes.

[Peggy Brekveld, Chair, Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council]

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.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much, Ms. Brekveld.

We'll move right to the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, with Mr. Currie and Mr. Bal.

[Keith Currie, President, Canadian Federation of Agriculture]

Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee, for having us here today. We appreciate the time.

As most of you know, I'm Keith Currie, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. I'll be sharing my time today, as you mentioned, with Sukhpaul Bal, who's a farmer in the Okanagan Valley.

The environment within which farmers operate, both figuratively and literally, has changed dramatically over the past several years. An increasing number of extreme weather events are having a direct impact on Canadian producers, and our risk management programs must adapt to this changing risk climate. For example, rather than focusing our disaster relief programming on helping producers recover from the extraordinary costs they must take on to recover from disasters, we should be looking to create risk management programs that are more focused on providing timely support and have a clear focus on mitigating future impacts. That is why, at a high level, the CFA has been advocating for an immediate review of Canada's agricultural disaster framework to ensure that farmers have the support needed to manage extreme weather volatility, while identifying immediate measures that can mitigate and prevent impacts from future such events.

Our horticulture sector carries unique risks and costs that are being further compounded by the impacts of climate change. For example, the current suite of BRM programs was not designed to support the diversity of crops grown in the horticulture sector—some 150 different crops—nor was it designed to compensate producers for the high input costs, the high perishability of many horticulture crops, and the production cycle, which can see multiple different crops grown in a single season.

The terms and conditions of Canada's current suite of risk management programs were negotiated as part of the sustainable Canadian agricultural partnership, which is a $3.5-billion five-year FPT agreement that runs until March 2028. We can't wait another four years for the renewal of this partnership before addressing the gaps in Canada's risk management programs. We have to act now to fill the gap in our risk management framework.

That is why we are calling for a focused engagement with stakeholders and FPT governments to immediately establish a relief program to ensure that family farms receive the critical and timely support they need in times of crisis. If we want producers across Canada to become effective partners in the fight against climate change, we need to ensure that we have their backs when climate-related events destroy their harvest, crops and/or livelihoods.

Thanks for the time. I'll now turn it over to my colleague Sukhpaul.

[Sukhpaul Bal, President, British Columbia Cherry Association, Canadian Federation of Agriculture]

Thank you for the opportunity to present before the committee today.

My name is Sukhpaul Bal. I'm a fourth-generation farmer from Kelowna, B.C., and the president of the B.C. Cherry Association.

Farmers understand that risk is part of our business. However, what we've seen in B.C., and specifically in the Okanagan Valley, since 2020 is something different. In 2020, we experienced extensive damage from a polar vortex. In 2021, we were hit with a heat dome that raised temperatures up to 47°C. That same fall in the Fraser Valley, we witnessed the atmospheric river event that was widely displayed on the news across Canada. In 2022, there was a lasting effect from the heat dome of 2021. Buds that were developing on the trees were damaged by the intense heat from the year before. In 2023, a polar vortex greatly damaged the crops and even killed trees. Now, in 2024, yet again, another polar vortex saw temperatures go from 5°C to -30°C in a matter of days.

On a personal note, our farm has lost its entire crop this year due to the freeze event. For those of you keeping count, yes, we are in our fifth consecutive year of dealing with extreme events.

Farmers participate in crop insurance programs, but when they're faced with multiple, consecutive extreme climate events, the current programs fail to meet the necessary levels of support. In light of my first-hand experience with these extreme weather events, I am confident in stating that we are missing a program within the BRM suite to adequately manage risk. We need to make sure that farms remain financially viable when they are faced with these extreme events. AgriRecovery is the current disaster program, but in its current design, it does not address the disaster we are facing.

I would also like to make the committee aware that I sit as a B.C. representative on the national program advisory committee, or NPAC, and I am concerned with the approach that the program branch is taking with climate. To explain it simply, the focus at that level is what farmers can do to improve the climate, as opposed to how we can protect farmers from what is happening in the environment.

Extreme climate is, without a doubt, the biggest threat to horticulture today. The rising costs of production and labour and depressed market prices are all major concerns. However, in my opinion, if we do not help farmers with this extreme climate crisis, farmers will not be around to have to deal with any of those other problems.

Thank you. I'll be happy to take questions, and I look forward to discussing some of the comments that I've made.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much, Mr. Bal.

Colleagues, you can see the clock quickly coming down. I want to take the least amount of time possible. We are going to suspend, with your permission. I think we want to be respectful of our witnesses, so we don't need to suspend for 10 minutes, just until we're confident everyone has their vote in. If this committee is of the same view, I think that should have the most minimal impact possible.

Are we okay with that?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Okay, I'm not seeing any issue.

I'm going to suspend, witnesses, so we can vote. We'll be back with you shortly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Colleagues, we're back. Many of you have voted, so we're going to keep moving along.

Next up I have the Canadian Mushroom Growers' Association, with Mr. Medeiros and Mr. Koeslag.

You have up to five minutes for remarks. The floor is yours.

[Ryan Koeslag, Executive Vice-President, Canadian Mushroom Growers' Association]

Thank you very much for this opportunity to address the committee to talk about the amazing mushroom industry in Canada and our issues relating to the horticulture sector.

My name is Ryan Koeslag and I'm the executive vice-president of the Canadian Mushroom Growers' Association. I'll be sharing my time with our president Mike Medeiros, who is also a farmer.

We currently have a workforce of nearly 7,500 people, including farm owners, substrate makers and mushroom pickers. Those 7,500 people produce over 150,000 tonnes of mushrooms each year, year-round. Our growers supply nearly 100% of the fresh mushrooms in grocery stores across Canada.

Forty years ago, mushroom farmers grew one pound of mushrooms on one square foot of growing space. Now, in 2024, they grow nearly six pounds on that same space. That's a 500% increase. Canada exports approximately 40% of our production to the United States. Every day, our mushroom farmers are expected to compete with our neighbours to the south, who continually have fewer government cost pressures.

We're here today to talk about two bad policies imposed by our federal government: the carbon tax and the removal of the temporary foreign worker housing waiver.

Currently, Canadians comprise 70% of our workforce. For decades, our mushroom farms have advertised to and looked for Canadians to fill all our positions. They have conducted hundreds of labour market impact assessments, all showing the need for temporary foreign workers. I say the word “temporary” only because that's the name of the program. Many agriculture groups, including the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council, indicate huge job vacancies in agriculture, signalling we will always require foreign workers, just like many other developed nations around the world.

For a long time now, when a worker requested moving out of farmer-provided housing while still under the temporary foreign worker program, Service Canada accepted a housing waiver, allowing workers to move in with family members, spouses, children or friends, or simply to have their own independence. Farms have allowed for contingencies for situations where workers may need to return to employer housing, identifying hotels, setting aside housing or making other arrangements. However, since Service Canada has arbitrarily stopped accepting housing waivers when workers choose to live on their own, they punish farmers by demanding they keep empty housing for workers who have moved out. In some situations, workers moved out years ago, having made families of their own. Our farms are reporting that it's extremely rare to have workers request a return to employer housing.

The farmers' cost due to this policy change will be enormous. This impacts all year-round employers, such as for mushroom, pork, cattle, poultry, dairy and greenhouses, which use the temporary foreign worker agriculture stream. We're talking about hundreds of empty houses, hundreds of empty rooms and hundreds of empty beds for people who may never use them. We have an industry-wide survey out right now, with our preliminary data indicating the need for up to 1,000 empty houses.

Now I will pass it to our president Mike Medeiros to talk about the carbon tax.

[Mike Medeiros, President and Mushroom Farmer, Canadian Mushroom Growers' Association]

Thank you for the opportunity to talk here.

The carbon tax is yet another item that challenges the viability of mushroom farms, including mine. Mushrooms are already one of the most efficient water users. They have one of the lowest carbon footprints and grow on recycled agriculture material, and the carbon tax will cost mushroom farms an additional $7.2 million this year alone.

On our farm, we are paying over $16,000 per month in carbon tax. With the new 23% increase, that will go up to just under $20,000 for the heating bill for our farm. My farm and other mushroom farms export about 40% of the mushrooms we grow to the U.S. This also makes it very difficult for us to compete on that level.

I drive an electric vehicle, so I do believe in climate change issues. Back in 2018, we invested $1.8 million into a pipeline to bring natural gas to our farm, which is a cleaner fuel source. It cut down our propane usage by roughly 700,000 litres per year. A year later, the carbon tax was implemented. Any savings I was hoping for to help pay for my pipeline were gobbled up by my carbon tax. Also, I'm building a compost facility nearby in the Prescott area, which will have the lowest carbon footprint in the world of those making mushroom compost, yet my taxes continue to increase.

At the end of the day, the data is showing that the carbon tax will not reduce emissions for mushrooms, as they already have the most advanced technology, and there are no alternative options at the moment. We are trying to work with the Canada Revenue Agency to be included in the greenhouse rebate program, because mushrooms were left out. Despite mushrooms being under the same export pressure and having the same growing conditions, we are not able to apply for that rebate.

We are also supportive of the unamended Bill C-234, and are looking for ways for this committee to help our farmers remain viable.

Thank you very much.