The agri-food pilot closed in 2025. They capped it. That was a five-year program, starting in 2020. We benefited greatly from that. We were able to grow our labour force and bring in skilled workers. When I say “skilled”, this isn't regular labour-intensive work; these are people who know how to use a knife and can break down a carcass within fast-paced line expectations.
Currently, there is no federal pathway, so we have to go through provincial nominee programs. Currently, in Alberta, we're facing hurdles with that. Skilled meat cutters are not categorized the same way as, let's say, an employee with a higher education who's going into the health or IT sector. We're constantly being rejected. We're not getting PR applications at all, which means we have to continually, year after year, renew their temporary foreign worker status.
It's also hard on these employees. They come to Canada looking for a new opportunity. These are good, hard-working people. They're not taking away Canadian jobs. I run an ad year-round for meat cutters, and I don't get anyone remotely qualified for the skilled work we need.