Evidence of meeting #33 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was need.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Thank you very much, Mr. Bachrach.
Next we have Ms. Lewis.
I'd like to welcome you as well to committee. The floor is yours for five minutes.
October 17th, 2022 / 4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Leslyn Lewis Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair. My first question will be for Ms. Frost.
Is it correct that your industry provides around 12% of the world's fertilizer supply and that Canada is the largest exporter of potash? If that is correct, are there any existing government policies relating to farming, labour and transportation that are preventing Canada from supplying their own fertilizer needs and exporting their product abroad?
Director, Policy and Industry Standards, Fertilizer Canada
Thanks so much for the question.
Indeed, you've done your homework correctly, Ms. Lewis. Canada is a a major supplier globally of fertilizer, and it does account for 12% of the global supply. A big part of that by volume is potash fertilizer, which is mined in the province of Saskatchewan. Canada, as I mentioned in my remarks, exports 95% of potash fertilizer. We are the number one exporter of potash fertilizer. A lot of countries around the world depend on Canada for that as an important agricultural input.
With regard to the second part of your question, I think that as it relates to the study this committee is working on, fertilizer doesn't do very much good in a warehouse. It needs to get into fields to be useful. That's important and critical, both for Canadian farmers and for the farmers around the world who depend on Canada as a supplier.
I think our industry is really dependent on the reliability of our transportation network, a lot of which does depend on labour and access to labour, in order to be able to get these goods to market within Canada and around the world.
I appreciate your emphasis on the importance of that.
Conservative
Leslyn Lewis Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
What would you say the financial impact on the fertilizer industry is if you are unable to get your product to market? What would you estimate the financial loss to be if you were to quantify that?
Director, Policy and Industry Standards, Fertilizer Canada
I don't think I have a single number for you, because it really depends on the timing.
As I mentioned in my opening remarks, there are a couple of critical windows in the spring and fall when fertilizer is applied each year. If there are disruptions in the supply chain in the spring or fall or leading into those seasons, they have a disproportionately high impact not only from an economic perspective but also for the downstream users of our products.
The export of fertilizer is a little bit more continuous in terms of impacts. If there's a rail disruption, we can look at the number of days or weeks when that's impacting the ability for goods to be moved to export markets. We've done analyses and assessments in the past when there were rail disruptions and supply disruptions. If there's a one-day labour strike that's impacting service at a class 1 railway, that's not a one-day impact to those users of the railway. It's one to two weeks of disruptions, because, as has been mentioned by some of the other experts here, the disruptions don't start the day the strike is called; they start two weeks ahead of time, when service is being curtailed and products are being pulled off the rails.
Conservative
Leslyn Lewis Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
However, there can be a significant financial impact.
Director, Policy and Industry Standards, Fertilizer Canada
Absolutely, yes. In terms of quantifying that, it's very dependent on the situation, but the financial impact could be huge.
Conservative
Leslyn Lewis Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
Thank you.
My next question is for Ms. Splinter.
You spoke about the gap in labour for truck drivers. Is this a 1,000-, 5,000- or 20,000-person shortage? What is the number of truck drivers you need in order to fill that gap?
Chief Executive Officer, Trucking HR Canada
The vacancy is 28,000-plus right now. As of today, we're short that many truck drivers.
Chief Executive Officer, Trucking HR Canada
Yes. It's 28,210. That's the number of vacancies today.
As was mentioned earlier, the challenge there is that those vacancies have been posted for 90 days or longer, which means we're in a state of constantly recruiting, so even when we get that one driver, we're still behind. We're not moving forward in terms of addressing that shortage.
In terms of the projected shortages, those came from our labour market information work from 2019, and those projections were from before COVID. We are now looking to update that information based on the census data, which will be coming out in November, so that we can get a more accurate number.
Craig, you may have more to say in terms of some of the projections.
Conservative
Leslyn Lewis Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
I asked that question because we were talking about anticipated shortages—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
I'm sorry, Ms. Lewis. Your time is up, unfortunately.
Thank you, Ms. Splinter.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
It does indeed go quickly.
Mr. Iacono, you are next. The floor is yours. You have five minutes.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I thank the witnesses for joining us today.
My first question is for Ms. Frost.
Ms. Frost, to what extent can greater automation and technological improvements play a role in addressing the problems created by labour shortages?
Director, Policy and Industry Standards, Fertilizer Canada
In terms of the future of the transportation sector and how automation has a role in that, I think it really does come down to the supply chain players themselves as to how that gets integrated into their workforce, so I would really defer to the expertise of folks working within the trucking and rail industries.
I think from our end, in the fertilizer sector, it's really about the levels of service received from the supply chain players but also about the reliability and redundancy of the system. If automation can support that in a safe, secure and efficient way, then definitely I think it's something to be considered going forward.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Thank you.
Ms. Splinter, can you tell us if there are any programs in Canada or abroad that have addressed labour shortages in the transportation sector that could serve as models?
Chief Executive Officer, Trucking HR Canada
Yes. I think Canada has a unique situation in terms of addressing our shortage in particular, but I can share one example of getting more women into the trucking industry. During the pandemic in the U.K., there was an increase in women becoming courier drivers, clearly responding to that demand. It was a nine-to-five job. It was very accommodating. They've used that initiative to then reach more women, encouraging them and letting them know they can make a higher wage if they transition into long-haul truck driving.
That's one example of an international initiative. I think it's an interesting point that we should look at further to identify some other innovative best practices we could learn from.
