Canada's farming future in trouble unless 30,000 immigrants fill gap of retiring farmers, report says

As Rehan Khan scans his 160 acres of muddy, partially snow-covered field, he sees golden — and red — opportunity.

"The first year, I seeded oats. Then in 2022, it was wheat. This year, it's red lentils," said the father of two who farms near Yorkton, Sask.

Khan left Pakistan in 2018 so his kids could go to school in Canada.

He said goodbye to his family farm and 20-year career in agriculture advising farmers on chemical and fertilizer use.

Getting into Canada's ag sector was the natural move, but Khan warns other migrants it's not easy.

"There must be local support. Then [immigrants] can be successful farming."

Researchers say Canada needs 30,000 new immigrants like Khan to either start up their own farms, or take over existing ones, to avoid a looming labour crisis in the agriculture industry. Some worry, however, current programs aren't set up to attract or support that workforce.

About 40 per cent of Canadian farmers are expected to retire within the next 10 years, while 66 per cent of farmers don't have a succession plan, according to a recent report from RBC.

At the same time, researchers expect the agriculture industry to be down 24,000 farm, nursery and greenhouse workers.

To fill this gap, the report suggests Canada update its immigration programs to specifically bring in 30,000 farm-focused newcomers. One solution, the report states, is to create a federal process for experienced temporary foreign workers (TFW) to get permanent resident status. 

The TFW program only "scratches the surface of the labour shortage," said Evan Fraser, co-author of the report and director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph, where he is a professor of geography.

"We're also talking about radically new forms of agriculture like the explosion of the greenhouse industry … and the emergence of the vertical farming sector," he said. 

"These are year round operations…. So the very notion of a temporary migrant worker that comes in simply for the growing season doesn't really make sense."

In 2020, Canada started an agriculture-specific immigration pilot program designed to give a path to permanent residency for non-seasonal workers with experience, but it's set to end this May.