Good day, all.
Mr. Chair, thank you for the invitation and the opportunity to appear today before the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.
My name is Thomas Beretta. I'm the general manager of Beretta Farms, which is a multi-generational Canadian family-owned and operated meat business. Founded by my parents in southwestern Ontario, Beretta Farms' roots are grounded in the traditional methods of cattle farming through organically raising our animals and offering Canadians and the world a premium option for their protein needs. Today, with operations across the country, we are proud to be Canada's leading meat provider in the organic and antibiotic and hormone-free categories and Canada's largest exporter of beef into Europe. We take pride in our niche branding and abilities to grow, process and market Canada's premium beef and bison.
Our federal slaughter facility is located in the small rural town of Lacombe, Alberta, and is approved to process beef, bison and elk. We are eligible to export to markets such as Europe, the U.S., Japan, Korea, the U.A.E. and China. Our volumes put us at the small processor level, but our role in the food supply chain is essential. Not only does our plant market our product, but it also offers processing solutions for other, third party meat brands looking to market meat in local and national markets. This gives our business a unique perspective on some of the government's current policies.
As you may be aware, small meat processors in Canada's beef sector are currently operating under a series of regulatory and market pressures that limit our ability to compete and serve consumers effectively. With our facility being in a rural town in central Alberta, access to skilled labour in the meat-processing industry is extremely limited. We rely on temporary foreign labour to fill in critical positions that are nearly impossible to hire for in the domestic labour market.
The closure of the agri-food pilot in 2025 has created an overwhelming sense of uncertainty for both the company and our workers. We are currently operating in an unknown period when our foreign staff are either being refused PR status or stuck in limbo—not able to work and waiting for a decision. We are forced to renew the temporary status of individuals and cannot grow our labour force as we must adhere to a 20% cap on foreign workers. Without an extension or a clear pathway to move temporary foreign workers into permanent residence status, we risk losing skilled workers who cannot be replaced locally. This directly undermines food security and production capacity initiatives and puts small meat processors in rural areas under unnecessary pressures to operate efficiently.
The current permanent residency options for temporary workers are not good enough and will continue to put a strain on our business operations if no improvements are made. We stand by the Canadian Meat Council's request for the government's amendments, and I strongly recommend following through with the request for extending the labour market impact assessment from one year to two years, improving the support of the provincial nominee programs and creating a sector-specific immigration stream to ensure that food processors get the staff they need.
The last topic I would like to touch on involves the closure of the Lacombe Research and Development Centre. Being a meat processor in the town of Lacombe, we have always worked very closely with and have had an invaluable resource in this government branch of research and development. With the announcement by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the news comes as a sad blow to the country's ability to continue to excel in the meat-processing and agricultural development sectors. The value of the relationships and resources built with our close ally at the LRDC is hard to put into words.
I ask the committee, if we want to remain competitive with other beef-producing countries, how will we do it without government support to develop the best food production practices, both at the farm and at the processing levels?
In closing, I would like to say that Beretta Farms is committed to providing Canadians and the world with the very best beef and bison products this country has to offer. We feel strongly about our role in the food system, and we need the government's support to improve our current labour and immigration systems in order to produce the high-quality products that our customers expect to receive.
Thank you for the opportunity to share our experiences. I welcome any questions you have.