Canada’s meatpacking industry has a labour shortage crisis, and the industry is calling on the Federal Government to let them bring in more temporary foreign workers. The Canadian Meat Council stated that in Canada, approximately four thousand empty butcher stations at meat production facilities possess on average a 10 percent job vacancy rate. According to the Canadian Meat Council spokeswoman Marie-France Mackinnon, in Alberta, the vacancy rate is around 20 percent. However, in Quebec, the situation is more severe than in other provinces, since the job vacancy rate has approached 40 percent. According to her, the province limits its ‘ability to have made-in-Canada protein. It means more meat is being processed in the U.S. and other countries, and more meat imports for Canadians.’
