Ottawa began accepting applications this week from employers seeking workers through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program for 2020. Employment and Social Development Canada is taking applications for workers arriving between January and March 2020. The move aims to help employers avoid delays securing workers, a particular challenge last year for farms hiring workers from Mexico. …
Temporary workers get boost
A three-year pilot program intended to attract foreign workers to the meat, mushroom and greenhouse vegetable sectors is getting mixed reviews in BC. Originally announced in this year’s federal budget, the program will give employers a chance to hire workers for a two-year period through the temporary foreign worker program. Qualified workers will have the …
Ag minister brings cash
Two weeks into parliament’s summer recess, and federal politicians have been busy making the rounds as Ottawa prepares for an election on October 21. Agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau toured several farms in BC last week as part of a swing through the province that saw cash announced for the berry and dairy sectors. The largest …
Flooding hits Chilcotin
The latest issue of Country Life in BC had no sooner hit mailboxes across the province last week when a series of weather systems arrived to counter our report of widespread drought. Severe flooding swept through ranches in the Chilcotin west of Williams Lake after nearly 100 mm fell in four days. A flood warning …
Farm input costs stable
BC farm input costs are increasing on par with the average for Western Canada, Statistics Canada reported this week. The agency reported that BC farm input costs increased 4.1% in the first quarter versus the same period a year ago. The average for Western Canada was 4%, while the increase nationally averaged 3.2%. The biggest …
BC shapes Food Policy for Canada
An in-camera discussion at UBC two years ago was one of six stakeholder meetings held across the country that helped shape the recently released Food Policy for Canada. The meeting on September 5, 2017 was one of six that followed an online consultation that attracted nearly 45,000 responses, including 7,700 from BC. The closed session …