Employer organizations and the largest union for Canada’s food processing sector are jointly calling on the federal government to create a new, dedicated immigration pathway that provides a route to permanent residency for essential jobs in the food sector.

The call follows the cancellation of the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot earlier this year, reportedly leaving employers and workers without a path forward at a time when the sector struggles to fill chronic labour gaps.

“Workers who keep our food system moving deserve the chance to build permanent lives in the communities where they work,” said Shawn Haggerty, national president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada), in a media release. “A fair and predictable immigration pathway is good for workers, families, and the long-term strength of the Canadian economy.”

Food and beverage processing is Canada’s largest manufacturing employer, the largest component of which is meat processing.

Overall, this sector employs over 300,000 people and contributes more than $35 billion annually to GDP.

With the federal government already preparing a package of reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, industry and labour are urging that the food sector be actively included in these discussions.