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Protein sector faces labour crunch: report

Nearly two thirds of agri-food companies can't hire all the workers they need

Government, industry and educational institutes must act now to address the labour challenges confronting the emerging plant-based protein industry in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, according to a new report.

Feds plan to invest in processing projects

Feds plan to invest in processing projects

The money comes from a fund earmarked to help supply managed sectors hurt by trade deal

The federal government will invest $89 million in 49 processing projects in the supply managed sector. Agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay was in Ingleside, Ont., at the Lactalis Canada cheese plant to make the Feb. 5 announcement. The projects are through the six-year, $397.5-million Supply Management Processing Investment Fund, which is part of Ottawa's commitment to help sectors that lost market share due to trade agreements.



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Italy moves to ban lab-grown food in drive to protect tradition

Ag lobby praises government move; angry reactions from food companies, animal rights groups

Rome | Reuters –– Italy’s government on Tuesday approved a bill banning the use of laboratory-produced food and animal feed as it aims to safeguard the country’s agri-food heritage, its agriculture minister told a news conference after a cabinet meeting. If the proposal is passed by parliament, Italian industry will not be allowed to produce […] Read more


External view of the U.S. Department of Labor headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 30, 2020. (File photo: Reuters/Andrew Kelly)

U.S. to crack down on child labour amid massive uptick

Food processing plants among alleged offenders

Washington | Reuters — The Biden administration in the U.S. announced measures to crack down on child labour on Monday amid a steep rise in violations and investigative reports by Reuters and other news outlets on illegal employment of migrant minors in dangerous industries. U.S. officials said the Labor Department had seen a nearly 70 […] Read more

File photo of greenhouse food production systems in British Columbia. (KarenMassier/iStock/Getty Images)

B.C. to back Indigenous food system projects

New program taking applications starting Monday

A new British Columbia program will provide up to $80,000 each for projects in agriculture, food processing or other sectors to improve food security in that province’s Indigenous communities. The province on Wednesday rolled out a new Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Partnership Program, which is set up to take applications starting Monday (Sept. 26) […] Read more


File photo of the Agropur logo on its former fluid milk plant in Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

Agropur backs major upgrades for Nova Scotia ice cream plant

Dairy co-op puts up $34M to 'redefine space' at Truro

Major dairy co-operative Agropur is putting up eight figures to upgrade an ice cream and frozen novelties plant it owns in Nova Scotia to handle new premium product lines. The co-operative said June 17 it will invest $34 million in the former Scotsburn plant at Truro, to “redefine the space within the plant (and) support […] Read more

Workers in the JBS beef plant at Brooks, Alta. appear in a screen shot from a 2018 corporate video. (JBS Canada video screengrab via YouTube)

Changes to TFW program to expand worker availability

Workplace LMIAs now valid for 18 months

The federal government is boosting the availability of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) to ag and other understaffed sectors under a list of policy changes announced Monday. Employment and Workforce Development Minister Carla Qualtrough announced what’s called the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program Workforce Solutions Road Map, which the government said “marks the next step in […] Read more


Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland appears at a news conference in Ottawa on Sept. 24, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

Agriculture, agrifood wish lists pile up ahead of long-delayed budget

Freeland's budget due out Monday afternoon

Agriculture and agrifood sector stakeholders will learn Monday which of their requests make their way out of the pile and into a long-awaited federal budget. Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s 2021 budget is scheduled to be released Monday in the House of Commons, at about 4 p.m. ET. Canadians didn’t get a 2020 budget: it […] Read more

File photo of rye at a grain market in India. (Deepak Sethi/E+/Getty Images)

Indian cabinet minister quits over farm legislation

New Delhi | Reuters — India’s minister for food processing resigned on Thursday over her opposition to planned laws to allow farmers to sell produce directly to bulk buyers and make contract farming easier, saying the legislation will hurt millions of the country’s farmers. “Proud to stand with farmers as their daughter and sister,” Harsimrat […] Read more