Thank you for your question.
It is certainly true that the labour shortage is creating a lot of uncertainty at the moment. Indeed, despite the steps we are taking, we are not sure that we will be able to get the number of workers needed. That is why one of the elements we want to put in place is a guarantee. Let me explain. As agricultural producers, if we have a service contract with workers, we must ensure that these workers who come here will remain in the agricultural field as agricultural workers. When you expect to need 20 workers to do the spring planting and harvesting, but only 10 come in, that really hurts productivity. So the profitability of businesses is compromised very quickly. We thus need to provide some security in this regard, with safeguards. As I mentioned earlier, it's very important that, as responsible organizations, we show respect to these workers.
Maybe we need to go a little bit further, too, because there's a seasonal aspect that's asking a lot of us. Maple products, for example, are noble products and Canada is the place in the world where more than 70% of maple products are generated. This is still important. We therefore need workers who come on a seasonal basis to do these activities. Then, quite often, these same workers can contribute to the work of vegetable producers, among others.
So we need to be flexible. All members of this committee need to understand that this labour shortage will not just last a year or two. The government can see the trend that is developing and with the low unemployment rate, it will last until 2030 or 2032.
Simultaneously, we have to support the workers and we have to look at the productivity of our agricultural businesses. When I talk about productivity, I'm talking about new technologies that could allow us to reduce the impact of labour shortages.