Pork sector worries tariffs will hit labour pool

Glacier FarmMedia—The Canadian pork sector is worried its limited labour pool may evaporate if tariffs slow down the sector in the coming months.

Hog producers and processors have long complained of labour shortages and have resorted to using temporary foreign workers and other stop-gap measures.

We’re looking at how do we protect the people that work in the pork industry, the skilled labour that we have working on farms, working in our processing plants sector,” said Cam Dahl, general manager of Manitoba Pork. “How do we protect those jobs, so that when we come into a recovery, when the tariffs are lifted, they’re still there?”

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Tariffs of 25 per cent on Canadian and Mexican products, (except Canadian energy which is subject to a 10 per cent tariff) took effect on March 4 at 12:01 EST. Dahl said the central question is how to protect producers and others related to the sector, but he could not share the details of discussions taking place with the Province of Manitoba or with Ottawa, or what potential relief efforts for producers might include.

““I don’t know the answer to that yet,” Dahl said, though he encouraged pork producers with other questions to contact Manitoba Pork.

On the labour side, Manitoba Pork is discussing the potential of using employment insurance as a tool to protect workers in the pork sector, said Joey Dearborn, the group’s communications co-ordinator.

Premier Wab Kinew announced on March 4 that businesses impacted by the tariffs will have the option to postpone payments on both the provincial sales tax and the payroll tax. This deferral will apply for a minimum of three months, beginning with the tax period for February.

“This is positive,” Dearborn wrote in an email to the Manitoba Co-operator, adding that Manitoba Pork is looking into additional measures like those that were rolled out during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Longer-term challenges from the tariffs include finding alternative markets for Canadian pork and adjusting production levels to consider lower demand form the US.

“We are in discussion with all parts of the value chain on how to best respond,” Dearborn said, adding that increased investment could help diversify markets, such as an investment into the cost of compliance with European Union regulations.

Manitoba Pork will also lobby for improvements to business risk management programs like AgriStability and is advocating for farmers to have adequate access to capital through pre-existing avenues like Farm Credit Canada and the Advance Payments Program, and increasing interest-free limits as needed, Dearborn said.

On a federal scale, the Canadian Pork Council is also taking an active role in discussions with the federal government tot assess impacts from the US tariffs on the pork industry nationwide, said René Roy, council chair.

“For the past several weeks, we have been working to ensure that any necessary support measures are in place to help producers navigate these challenges,” Roy said in an emailed statement to the Co-operator.

The council’s main priority now is to safeguard the competitiveness of Canadian pork producers and maintain stability across the sector.

“We continue to advocate for solutions that will mitigate financial train and protect market access for our producers,” Roy said.