Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium to highlight how farms can find success in recruiting foreign workers

By Bruce Cochrane, Farmscape & Lynn Redl-Huntington

A professional speaker and trainer says farmers who have encountered challenges finding local sources of labor are finding success in recruiting workers from foreign countries. "50 shades of beige" will be the keynote address at Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2021, which will be held virtually via Zoom November 16-17.

Tina Varughese, named one of Canada’s Top 10 Notable Speakers by Ignite Magazine, says farmers are increasing relying on workers from foreign countries, with the top source countries being Mexico, the Philippines, the UK, Ireland and the Ukraine.

“I think generationally there's a different face to who's owning those farms. It used to be family run farms that would be handed down to children. Some of the kids now are not necessarily interested in taking over those farms to keep them going and, because of growth, farms are starting to outsource labor to foreign workers,” said Varughese, who was recently appointed to McMaster University’s Future of Canada Project Council. “I have also heard that sometimes it's difficult to find local labor to work in such difficult jobs and yet they find foreign workers to be here by choice, they want to be working, highly skilled and very easy to train in the industry, so those are all positives.

Varughese has a strong professional background in immigration where she spearheaded international recruitment missions. She also ran her own relocation and settlement firm prior to speaking professionally.

”The industry has changed quite a bit in terms of technological advances in the industry. A lot of farmers are now using very high-tech pieces of equipment, so there's been a lot of change within the industry that is driving a lot of these factors, said Varughese, who’s work has been featured in the Toronto Star, TSN, CBC Eyeopener, Adrenaline Magazine, and Alberta Venture. Her clients include Pfizer Canada, Kraft-Heinz, Hockey Canada, and Hyundai Canada.

Varughese said many of the foreign workers that go into the smaller rural centers tend to stay and become part of that community and part of that economic growth. She said, when they become part of that community and feel part of it, they're more willing to stay which will assist with the growth of those farms.

For more visit farmscape.ca.