Agri-Food Immigration ProgramThe Trudeau government enacted the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot project in May 2020, which "provides a pathway to permanent residence for workers with full-time, non-seasonal in-Canada work experience in certain agricultural and agri-food industries." The program is capped at a maximum of 2,750 principal applicants plus their family members annually for three years, with applications accepted up to May 14, 2023. Quebec has a similar program for up to 550 applicants annually for a five year period. The pilot project is open only to workers who have already worked for at least one year under the Temporary Foreign Workers' Program as non-seasonal farm workers, including greenhouse and mushroom production, butchers, retail, wholesale and industrial meat cutters, fishmongers, poultry preparers, or labourers in food and beverage processing. Candidates must also meet a Canadian Language Benchmark level 4 in English or French and have a high-school diploma, post-secondary certificate or degree equal to a Canadian equivalent. Candidates currently living in Canada must maintain their temporary resident status during the processing of their application for permanent residence. Employers who use the program will be issued a two-year Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). Meat processors will be required to outline their plans to support the temporary foreign worker in obtaining permanent residency. Unionized meat processors will require a letter of support from their union, and non-unionized meat processors will have to meet additional requirements to ensure the labour market and migrant workers are protected, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada states.
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