Agriculture & Agri-Food is one of the five professional sectors IRCC has prioritized via Express Entry category-based draws in 2023. In an attempt to aid key employment sectors with some of the largest labor market gaps in the nation, IRCC came up with category-based selection draws for Express Entry. These draws are specifically designed to hire agricultural workers in Canada along with immigrants in different fields with relevant work experience.
Well, this is because the government has identified the need for workers in these sectors for the nation to continue to develop & thrive.
In addition, the Express Entry categories include healthcare, STEM professions, trades, transport, & agriculture.
As a result, while standard Express Entry draws rank applicants depending on their CRS scores, these draws instead prioritize applicants with specific employment experience.
Why Is Agriculture Selected As A Targeted Profession?
The CAHRC sector will have 123,000 more jobs than the domestic labor force can fill by 2029.
Such a projection justifies why Canada sees this sector as the one that needs focus as an Express Entry category, as agriculture & agri-food are key to Canada’s development & sustainability.
According to CAHRC, the agriculture sector contributes over $122 billion every year. Moreover, as Canadian food & agricultural products increase across the globe, this contribution to the economy is expected to grow eventually!
As a result, this reinforces the value of agriculture & agri-food industries to Canada as a nation, once again validating why IRCC chose this sector as worthy of its own category-based Express Entry draws this year.
How Many Agricultural Workers In Canada Are Needed?
On April 29, CBC released a story on the requirements of agricultural workers in Canada. The report demonstrated that Nova Scotia could face labor shortages of more than 2,500 farm workers by 2029.
This comes at the same time when Canadian Government job bank data notes that employment will decline by more than 20,000 agricultural workers in Canada. Particularly, the data from Job Bank indicates that provincial employment in the agricultural sector across Alberta will decrease by 28,300 jobs from 2013 to 2022. Moreover, industry employment has declined by 10% in British Columbia over the last ten years.
Considering that some provinces require more workers, this data demonstrates significant labor shortages across the nation in the agricultural & agri-food sector.
In addition, two weeks before the story, CBC also cited a report which indicated that over 40% of Canadian farmers will retire within ten years. Moreover, around 66% of farmers do not have a ‘succession plan’ & researchers expect the agriculture industry to be down by 24,000 farm, nursery, & greenhouse workers.
Considering all these factors, the older report concludes that the nation needs to bring 30,000 farm-focused newcomers.
Lastly, recent stories and data seemingly suggest that Canada will need tens of thousands of agriculture professionals to address labor shortages in this industry over time adequately.
What Opportunities Do Prospective Canadian Immigrants Have?
Data from CAHRC insinuates that Canada’s agricultural sector has relied increasingly on international workers because the nation lacks the domestic talent needed to fill the labor gaps in this sector.
In fact, in 2017, around 75% of labor gaps in agriculture & agri-food industries in Canada were addressed by migrants & more than one in six people in the agricultural workforce in Canada were international workers.
In addition to the fact that Canada could not fill around 16,000 jobs in 2017 & factored in the growth of the labor gap in this industry, prospective newcomers interested in the agricultural sector might witness a sizable amount of employment opportunities through this targeted professional category.
History Of Agriculture & Agri-Food Express Entry Draws Till Date
IRCC recently held its first-ever category-based draw for agriculture/ agri-food workers.
In August 2023, data obtained from IRCC by the Globe & Mail demonstrated that agriculture category-based draws would account for 1% – 2% of all remaining ITAs issued under Express Entry across the remainder of 2023.