The Agri-Food Immigration Pilot began accepting applications in May 2020. The third-year pilot aims to fill labor shortages, particularly in meat processing and mushroom production, within the agri-food sector and help meet Canada’s ambitious export targets.
The agriculture and agri-food industries are crucial contributors to Canada’s economic progress and vitality, supporting around one in eight jobs in Canada.
Agricultural exports hit an all-time high in 2018, reaching $66.2 billion.
The goal is to help the agri-food sector usher in full-time, non-seasonal foreign workers needed to fill growing labor gaps.
This new pilot aims to draw in and retain workers by providing them with a chance to become permanent residents following an initial two-year stint on a short-term working permit, rather than having to renew their work permits repeatedly.
A maximum of two thousand seven hundred fifty (2,750) principal applicants and relations will be accepted for processing in any given year.
This represents a totality of approximately 16,500 possible new permanent residents over the three-year duration of the pilot.
Who is Eligible for Canada’s Agri-Food Immigration Pilot?
To be considered eligible for Canada’s Agri-Food Immigration Pilot, foreign workers must meet five eligibility requirements:
- have qualifying work experience
- have a qualifying job offer
- meet or exceed the minimum language requirements
- meet or exceed the tutorial requirements
- prove you’ve got enough money to settle within the community
1 – Qualifying Work Experience
You must have at least one year of Canadian work experience (at least 1,560 hours within the past three years). This Canadian work experience must be:
- Non-seasonal;
- In an eligible occupation within an eligible industry and
- Through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (it must be supported by an LMIA with a minimum 12-month duration).
Eligible Industries
Eligible industries for the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot are
- meat product manufacturing (NAICS 3116)
- greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture production, including mushroom production (NAICS 1114)
- animal production, excluding aquaculture (NAICS 1121, 1122, 1123, 1124 or 1129)
Industries are classified by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
You’ll see specific industry definitions by searching the industry codes on the NAICS website.
The National Occupational Classification (NOC) code identifies eligible jobs for the pilot. You will see the duties for every job by searching the NOC database.
Eligible Jobs For Meat Product Manufacturing (NAICS 3116)
- NOC B 6331 – Retail butchers
- NOC C 9462 – Industrial butchers
- NOC B 8252 – Farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
- NOC D 9617 – Food processing laborers
For greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture production, including mushroom production (NAICS 1114), eligible jobs are
- NOC B 8252 – Farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
- NOC C 8431 – General farm workers
- NOC D 8611 – Harvesting laborers
For animal production, excluding aquaculture (NAICS 1121, 1122, 1123, 1124, and 1129), eligible jobs are
- NOC B 8252 – Farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
- NOC C 8431 – General farm workers
2 – Qualifying Job Offer
You must have a real job offer from a Canadian employer. This job offer must:
- Be in an eligible occupation in an eligible industry (see above);
- Be full-time, non-seasonal, and permanent;
- The wage must meet or exceed the Work Bank’s prevailing wage for your job offer’s occupation within the province of employment (or at the national level if no provincial rate is available), and
- Be within the vicinity of Canada but outside the province of Quebec.
3 – Minimum Language Requirements
You must score at the very least level, Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) of Level 4, on an approved language test in either English or French.
4 – Minimum Education Requirements
Minimum completed level of education like a Canadian high school diploma (or higher). Education completed outside Canada must be supported by a legitimate Educational Credentials Assessment (ECA).
5 – Settlement Funds Requirement
You must prove you have sufficient money to support yourself and your relations upon settlement in Canada.
Those already working in Canada with a legitimate working paper aren’t required to supply proof of funds. If you’re yet to be already working in Canada, the settlement funds requirement is as follows:
| Number of family members | Funds required (in CAD) |
| 1 (single applicant) | $13,213 |
| 2 | $16,449 |
| 3 | $20,222 |
| 4 | $24,553 |
| 5 | $27,847 |
| 6 | $31,407 |
| 7 | $34,967 |
| For each additional family member, add | $3,560 |
How to Apply For Canada’s Agri-Food Immigration Pilot?
If you meet the program requirements listed above, you’ll submit your application for permanent resident status to IRCC.
In order to be qualified to submit an application, the applicant must compile an in-depth application using the application guide and forms available on the official Agri-Food Immigration Pilot webpage.
You must provide documentary evidence that you meet the program’s requirements.
Upon completing your application, you’ll be required to apply to a hard-copy text by mail to the address listed on the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot webpage.
How does the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot work?
Employers in the agri-food sector who participated in the pilot are eligible for a two-year Labour Market Impact Assessment.
To supplement the pilot, Employment and Social Development Canada is introducing changes that will benefit meat processor employers who are supporting temporary foreign workers in transitioning to permanent residence:
- A 2-year Labour Market Impact Assessment will be issued to qualified meat processor employers, including employers using the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot or other existing pathways to permanent residence for temporary foreign workers within the same occupations and industries that are eligible for the pilot.
- To be considered eligible, meat processors are going to be required to draw out their plans to support their temporary foreign workers in obtaining permanent residency. Furthermore, unionized meat processors would require a letter of support from their union.
- Non-unionized meat processors will need to meet additional requirements to protect the labor market and migrant workers. A tri-partite working party will be formed immediately to develop these requirements.
- Adjustments will be made to the way the limit (“cap”) on low-wage temporary foreign workers is calculated, taking into consideration efforts made by employers to assist workers to obtain permanent residence.
- Employers who have a recent history of recruiting workers who have made the transition to permanent residence might be eligible to be excluded from the limit calculation. The variety of workers is roughly equivalent to the number likely to acquire permanent residence within the near term.
Why Did Canada Create the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot?
With permanent resident status, foreign workers would have access to more of the social programs they help pay for through taxation, like Employment Insurance and the Canadian pension account.
With the agri-food immigration pilot, more workers will be able to plan long-term settlements in Canada instead of a short-term stint with little to no hope of settling permanently.
When the agri-food immigration pilot was first proposed earlier in 2019, it was welcomed by bodies like the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA).
CFA President Mary Robinson stated, “If you’re a farmer and you don’t have secure labor, then you’re less likely to make investments in your industry, and you’re less likely to expand your business.
“We know that labour is a limiting factor for tons of agriculture industries in Canada,” added Robinson. “It was reported in 2014 that approximately 26,400 jobs were left unfilled and that we lost 1.5 billion dollars as a result.”
The pilot was designed to be conducted in collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).