As a result of their deliberations committees may make recommendations which they include in their reports for the consideration of the House of Commons or the Government. Recommendations related to this study are listed below.

Recommendation 1

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada reduce red tape to alleviate strain on Canada’s agricultural and agri-food supply chain.

Recommendation 2

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada negotiate with all provinces and territories on integrating the Temporary Foreign Worker Program with their labour policy goals.

Recommendation 3

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada take urgent measures to improve the Temporary Foreign Worker Program’s outcomes for the agriculture and agri-food sector including:

• Measures to make the Program more accessible and more efficient for employers:
  • Increase Temporary Foreign Worker application processing capacity and reduce processing times;
  • Reduce the time frame from the initial application to the worker’s start date, as well as the costs imposed by the federal government;
  • Require only one Labour Market Impact Assessment per site, and make it valid for three years;
  • Extend the work visa validity period from 24 months to 36 months and make visas renewable after three years; and
  • Maintain, streamline, and improve processes for the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, incorporating a trusted employer feature for those situations where full-time employment on a seasonal basis is required annually.
• Measures to increase the long-term availability of workers in the agriculture and agri-food sector:
  • Raise the cap on Temporary Foreign Workers from 10% to 30% across Canada;
  • Make the Temporary Foreign Worker Program a pathway to permanent residence for workers who want it, notably by making it easier for their families to come here;
  • Raise awareness among refugees of employment opportunities in the agriculture, food and beverage manufacturing sectors; and
  • Extend and expand immigration pilot projects for the meat processing sector.

Recommendation 4

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada consider exempting natural gas and propane used for essential agricultural activities—such as grain drying, irrigating land, and the heating and cooling of livestock barns— from the carbon pricing mechanism in jurisdictions where the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act applies.

Recommendation 5

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada explore opportunities to make domestic production more resilient in response to global events, notably geopolitical situations that may result in supply chain disruptions in the agricultural sector. The Government should also address the situation of Canadian agricultural producers and fertilizer distributors who purchased fertilizer from Russian suppliers before the implementation of tariffs on 2 March 2022 and clarify whether they are entitled to an exemption or other compensatory measures.

Recommendation 6

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada work with the provinces and territories to immediately increase the coverage level of AgriStability to 85 % of losses and increase the payment trigger of AgriStability to cover losses below 85 % of the reference margin and that it apply this change fully in the provinces and territories that agree with this measure and cover the 60% of payments for which the federal government is responsible in the others.

Recommendation 7

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada ensure that the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food work in close collaboration with the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Labour to ensure adequate shipping container availability for agricultural inputs and exports through Canadian ports.

Recommendation 8

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada work with the provinces and territories—in partnership with stakeholders from agriculture, industry, and labour—to prepare a comprehensive labour strategy for the agriculture and agri-food industry, including a review and forecast of its labour and skill requirements and an assessment of short and long-term labour and skill availability. This strategy should take note of the sector’s persistent labour shortages and consider the following issues in accordance with the powers of each jurisdiction:

• ensuring Canada’s agriculture and agri-food workforce can meet the sector’s trade targets and help ensure greater food security and domestic food sovereignty, particularly in view of recent geopolitical events;
• attracting young people to the sector, including increased funding for youth training and job creation in the industry and efforts to build awareness of such options among Canadian students;
• developing incentives and other strategies to retain experienced workers, including an examination of federal social security programs to ensure workers are not penalized for remaining in the workforce after they reach retirement age;
• addressing long-term recruitment challenges in the sector by making it more attractive to Canadian workers, including by examining opportunities to leverage private capital for housing options for low- and middle-income workers in proximity to existing agriculture and agri‑food facilities;
• evaluating the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and other Government of Canada initiatives that allow employers to recruit international workers to make sure they align with the sector’s long-term needs;
• addressing worker shortages in ancillary sectors, notably commercial truck drivers; and
• investing in automation and production efficiency as a partial solution to labour shortages and making sure the agriculture and agri-food workforce has the technical skills necessary to keep the sector efficient and innovative.

Recommendation 9

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada establish the National Trade Corridors Fund as a permanent program used to leverage and attract increased private sector financing that directly supports a national supply chain strategy, including predictable and reliable infrastructure to move agricultural commodities and agri-foods.

Recommendation 10

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada ensure Canadian railways have sufficient capacity and resilience to transport perishable goods, including produce and meats, in a safe and timely manner.

Recommendation 11

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada, in collaboration with agriculture and agri-food stakeholders, the provinces and territories, and in respect of the competence of the latter:

• revisit the recommendations from the Canada Transportation Act Review in 2015 and develop a clear performance and evidence‑based National Supply Chain Strategy to ensure that supply chains are not vulnerable to labour disruptions, capacity constraints, or climate impacts, including natural disasters;
• name a supply chain commissioner or designate a minister with the responsibility of leading the industry-government task force to identify immediate solutions to address supply chain disruptions, notably those specific to containerized shipping.

Recommendation 12

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada work with provinces, territories, and industry to improve shipping container transparency, monitoring and specifically the capture and sharing of short-term data on container capacity movement and performance via transport truck and rail to ports and container ships, similar to the partnerships developed to monitor grain transportation, in order to enhance the competitiveness of the agriculture and agri-food supply chain.

Recommendation 13

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada examine the issue of concentration in the international shipping industry and take the necessary measures to ensure the availability of shipping containers at ports for agricultural products, such as an investigation under section 49 of the Canada Transportation Act. The Government of Canada should also review its legal regime for international shipping lines, notably their exemption from certain provisions of the Competition Act.

Recommendation 14

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada ensure the joint working group concludes its efforts to create an effective Code of Conduct for the Canadian grocery sector that is mandatory, enforceable, and applied as consistently as possible across the country, while respecting provincial and territorial jurisdiction in this area.

Recommendation 15

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada strengthen food security and mitigate the risks of long supply chains by supporting local food systems and encourage programming and specific funding in the next agricultural policy framework agreement with the provinces and territories (2023-2028) to diversify and strengthen regional food infrastructure and processing facilities, including small abattoirs to support existing supply chains. The federal government should also examine the streamlining of federal and provincial health and food safety standards and consider working toward a mutual recognition of such standards for processing facilities.

Recommendation 16

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada help agriculture and agri-food supply chain participants located in rural communities adapt to an expected increase in climate change-related extreme-weather events through investments in critical infrastructure including, but not limited to, irrigation, roads, bridges, flood mitigation and the expansion of reliable and affordable access to rural broadband and cell phone coverage in cooperation with provincial and territorial governments.

Recommendation 17

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada, when addressing challenges to the agriculture and agri-food supply chain, give particular attention to reducing its environmental impact and strengthening its climate resilience.