Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 9th, 2023

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Keelan Buck]

The headset is approved. The tests have to happen. The appearance wouldn't take place if the headset wasn't approved. Unfortunately, it could be a connection issue. That's all we know at this point.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Members, is that okay? Would you like to continue? Okay.

Madam Brekveld, you may continue. You still have four minutes and 23 seconds.

[Peggy Brekveld]

Thank you.

CAHRC, along with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and Food and Beverage Canada, is leading the national workforce strategic plan for agriculture and food and beverage manufacturing. Together, we have engaged industry stakeholders on ways to address work shortages.

CAHRC's most recent labour market research—which was released only a few days ago, on November 1, 2023—illustrates the critical role the agriculture sector plays in the Canadian economy, fulfilling both domestic and global food, fuel and fibre demands. In 2022, the Canadian agriculture sector generated $38.8 billion in GDP, or 1.9% of the national total.

Canada has established itself as a major producer of diverse and high-quality agricultural products. It ranks among the world's largest exporters, with $92.8 billion in agricultural and processed food exports in 2022.

Secure access to an affordable, safe and reliable food supply for both Canadians and the world relies on a skilled and motivated workforce. The success of agriculture and its sector does as well. The data is impressive. The agricultural sector, including crop and animal production, support services and agricultural wholesale, employed over 351,000 Canadian workers and 71,000 temporary foreign workers, including seasonal agricultural worker program workers in 2022.

Even with these additional workers from other parts of the world, the industry still experienced 28,200 job vacancies in the same year. Over the next decade, expanding global markets for Canadian food products are expected to drive substantial growth in this sector. The challenges to meet this growth will need strategic responses. There are several ways the industry is planning to address this. Part of that response will need to address a labour shortage that is already present and likely to grow. The national workforce strategic plan is examining this issue.

The care and well-being of agriculture workers, both domestic and foreign, are the top priority of agriculture employers. Agriculture employers work very closely with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, and Service Canada to ensure that oversights and regulations are in place to protect workers and employers, that the processes continue to improve and that bad actors are rooted out.

The industry's goal is for workers, both domestic and foreign, to choose agriculture as a place to work. Having a stable, predictable and fully functioning workforce will benefit employees, employers and our food system. We know Canadians deserve a stable food system, and so do the countries that depend on us for food worldwide.

I look forward to questions from the committee. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you, Madam Brekveld.

We will go to questions and answers. We have time for only one round. We will go for five and a half minutes each so that we have a couple of minutes for our committee to do something.

We will start with Mr. Leslie.

Please go ahead.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's a pleasure to join this committee.

I'll start with my questions for Peggy. I understand your background working in the agricultural sector, both with CAHRC and as a farmer yourself, obviously—

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Hold on, Mr. Leslie.

Go ahead, Mr. Perron.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

I'm sorry, I join your committee and I start by causing problems.

The interpreter is telling me that the quality of the sound coming from the communication with Ms. Brekveld is really not good and she will not be able to answer questions. As well, if her mike is not turned off, the interpreter also cannot provide interpretation services right now. So we really have to eliminate the noises coming from Ms. Brekveld.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Okay.

Madam Brekveld, if you could, turn your camera off and see if the quality improves. Also turn your microphone off.

[Peggy Brekveld]

I've turned it on now, but I will turn it off.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Sure, and please, when you speak, try to turn your camera off to see if it improves.

[Peggy Brekveld]

I'm speaking now. Has it improved?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

No. We have to see a picture.

The meeting is suspended for now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

I will call the meeting back to order.

Madam Brekveld, what we'll do is adjust and have you on another panel at some other point in time. For now, we will just focus on our questions for the other two witnesses, if you don't mind. We really appreciate you being with us. You can still stay on, but we will not have questions for you today. I'm so sorry. Sometimes technical issues come up and we are not able to handle them.

We still have five minutes each, so let's go. We will start with Mr. Leslie.

Go ahead, please.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will go to our other witnesses from UPA for answers to a couple of questions.

I am from a farming background, so I have an understanding of this. In my area of south central Manitoba, we have a lot of vegetable production. We have slaughterhouses. We have some wood manufacturing. TFWs are a very important part—as well as the agricultural program—of bringing folks in.

In my experience with the many individuals who farm fields next to my family's farm, and in speaking with many of these individuals, I know they are generally happy. They return year over year and they are well cared for by their employers.

I think a panellist who is no longer with us mentioned rooting out some of the bad actors. I think that's an important part of this, but I'm wondering, Mr. Doyon or Mr. Roy, if you could explain what your experience is in the Quebec system in terms of the way farmers engage with and care for TFW employees on farm.

[Paul Doyon]

I will let you answer that, Mr. Roy.

[Denis Roy, Responsible for the Temporary Foreign Worker File, Union des producteurs agricoles]

Thank you.

We bring together all agricultural employers in Quebec. The Union des producteurs agricoles has 12 regional offices. In each of those offices, we have what we call an agricultural employment centre. The centres are funded in large part by the Government of Quebec under the Canada-Quebec workforce development agreements.

The priority in our regional offices, first and foremost, is Canadian, Quebec and local workers. As we know, there are not enough local workers to fill all the positions on farms. We therefore support employers in preparing temporary foreign worker applications.

Five years ago, as Mr. Doyon said, we also created the round table on temporary foreign agricultural workers, where all the government departments and everyone involved in the issue are represented. There are representatives of the workers, including people from RATTMAQ, people from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, or UFCW, representatives from the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail, or CNESST, people from the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse, and representatives of federal departments such as Employment and Social Development Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. They participate at this table. It is a real forum.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Roy.

Just to expand on that a little further, the conversation surrounding the special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery has indicated that folks working in the agricultural sector here in Canada are under some sort of contemporary form of slavery. I understand the work you've done within the organization to try to fill local employees first, which is what I think every business is obviously always aiming for, but beyond the round table, in your experience, is that an accurate assessment of farms in Quebec?

[Denis Roy]

No, it is not an accurate and complete assessment. Certainly, every case of abuse on the part of an employer is one case too many. The UPA takes concrete action. For example, we have a 1‑800 phone line for temporary agricultural workers that is connected to one of our regional offices. That initiative is supported by a federal program.

We also have direct contact. For example, the UPA office in Saint-Rémi fills out tax returns for over 22,000 temporary foreign workers, and that provides a direct connection with them. We have a lot of discussions and communications concerning foreign workers' concerns. We help them to exercise their rights. We also have an agreement with RATTMAQ—

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

I'll just summarize that question, because it was a lengthy answer to a lengthy question. In your view, do Quebec farmers care about their employees, whether they be local workers, TFWs or agricultural seasonal workers?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Mr. Roy, give a quick answer, please.

[Denis Roy]

Yes, farmers in Quebec care about their employees' welfare.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you very much, Mr. Leslie. You're right on time.

We'll now go to Mr. El-Khoury for four and a half minutes, please.

Go ahead.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to welcome the witnesses and thank them for being here today.

Mr. Doyon, you talked about a round table in Quebec City, where you hold numerous meetings to look after the interests of foreign workers.

What has that round table done to make sure that vulnerable workers know their rights as workers in Canada?

[Paul Doyon]

I will let you answer that, Mr. Roy.

[Denis Roy]

Working with our partner AGRIcarrières, we organized brigades in the first summer of the COVID‑19 pandemic to go out and meet with the workers in their workplaces. Our objective was to explain their rights and how to exercise them.

We also work with the CNESST to find employers and persuade them to agree to have government representatives come in who will explain the workers' rights.

So we have implemented a number of concrete measures.

This summer, we also organized a fiesta for foreign workers in the Laurentians, and their employers provided transportation to the location for them. As well, we had kiosks on site where workers' representatives informed them of their rights.

So we take every possible opportunity to communicate with the workers and remind them that their employers have to respect them. We also give employers a lot of training to make sure they respect the workers' rights.