Finance committee  It's a great question. To give you an idea, I will tell you that out of all the temporary foreign workers coming to Canada, in horticulture they represent about 72% of all that labour force. That's very significant. You're looking at over 32,000 to 33,000 workers. That is below the requirements the industry needs at the farm level and through some of the supply chain.

Finance committee  That's one portion of the supply chain, on the farm, and it's a hard sell. It really is. It's manual, physical labour that we are having a hard time convincing Canadians to do. But there are other parts. There are repackers. There's wholesale. There are other components within the logistics section of our operations that can leverage Canadians to get them involved.

Finance committee  Sorry, I had it on English, so I wasn't able to hear the French version. The translation cut off at the end.

Finance committee  I have you on English, so I'm hearing only the one version. Go ahead.

Finance committee  I will reply in English for the committee. In terms of the limit we're looking at, in an ideal world an exemption would be ideal. Because of the diversity of our entire supply chain and within our agri-food sector, and the regionality of how many of our producers, our wholesalers and our repackers operate, setting a specific limit would be difficult.

Finance committee  As soon as possible; the tax credits will be key, especially right now with the diversity between small and medium- to large-sized companies that are implementing the use of new tools and products. They would never have had that burden of cost in the past. In this case, they may not qualify for the $77 million in benefits that have been put in place.

Finance committee  Raising the cap would be one direction they could go in. I know an exemption may be too far for the agri-food industry or agricultural industry. We need some type of incentive to bring Canadians back to the farm and to agriculture in the positions they can support. How do we do that?

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. On behalf of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association and our 850 companies across Canada, from our supply chain, basically farm gate to dinner plate, I am happy to share our comments around certain tools, incentives and tax measures that we feel are necessary to address some of the short-term and long-term issues that are going to happen to our sector due to COVID-19.

Agriculture committee  Yes, we did, and the industry thought we would be moving forward. We're hopeful with the current government and the current pandemic situation that people will see the need. We've identified how amazingly quickly legislation can move forward and be approved. I think this is essential; I think our sector needs it immediately; and, as I mentioned earlier, we're going to see bankruptcies.

Agriculture committee  In short, the other programs don't satisfy the bankruptcy issue.

Agriculture committee  That's right. That's what I've heard. I have to confirm that, but I was on a call today where it was identified by Agriculture Canada. As well, in Quebec and B.C., there are beginning approaches to identifying the agri-food sector. I have to gather further details. How do we get the provinces on board?

Agriculture committee  We are appreciative of the $77 million for the process industry. Our supply chain does fit within that portfolio. In terms of the gaps that we will see, yes, industry can automate some areas but not everything. The costs that have been incurred relative to plexiglass barriers, a drop in production or an impact on production because of physical distancing, personal protective equipment that's hard to come by but is essential and is being purchased by the sector to protect employees—all of these pieces do qualify, we understand, under the blanket of funds.

Agriculture committee  I will defer some of this to CHC, as they are definitely in a strong position to talk to boots on the ground, but I'll make a quick comment. Everything you said hits it right on the head relative to your question. We're not really seeing issues now—and I feel horrible for the asparagus industry, which I understand will see 50% of their crop not come out of the ground and, in some cases, there will be even more of an impact—but when you look down the road, it's important to ensure that we have the workers for midsummer, the end of summer and for the fall harvest.

Agriculture committee  I'm going to start with that. I mentioned the tax credit model as one potential tool, and there are a few other pieces of current input costs. We're looking down the barrel of a regulatory change under the safe food for Canadians regulations, where lot codes of consumer packed goods will require new packaging for many growers.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee. On behalf of the Canadian fresh fruit and vegetable sector, I welcome the opportunity to share our comments regarding the financial repercussions that the COVID-19 pandemic poses for the fresh produce industry and its supply chain.