The Ontario government is launching an agri-food labour strategy.
It's meant to address sector labour challenges and ensure a stronger, more sustainable and innovative agri-food industry.
Ernie Hardeman, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development announced the strategy and two initial projects during a virtual roundtable with leaders from Ontario’s agri-food supply chain.
The $812,000 investment will be put towards two projects.
$617,400 will go to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture for Feeding Your Future: Connecting Ontario’s Agri-Food Workforce. It's a platform that helps fill the labour shortage through a job matching concierge service, and provides free virtual career fairs, webinar series and specialized training opportunities.
$195,000 will go to Food and Beverage Ontario to implement a strategy that will address critical challenges facing the sector such as talent attraction and retention, skills development, and innovation.
The agri-food sector supports more than 860,000 jobs in Ontario and contributes more than $47.3 billion each year to the province’s economy.
