File photo of an Ontario cherry orchard. (UpdogDesigns/iStock/Getty Images)

Pilot plan to cut red tape for reliable TFW employers

Farm employers can apply starting next month

Canada’s temporary foreign worker (TFW) program is set to give farms a head start in an express lane expected to cut the annual paperwork for that program’s most “trusted employers.” Federal Employment and Workforce Development Minister Randy Boissonault last week launched a three-year pilot meant to “help to address labour shortages and reduce the administrative […] Read more

Federal, provincial and territorial ministers of agriculture at their annual conference in Fredericton, New Brunswick in July 2023.
 Photo: AAFC

Federal and provincial ag ministers meet in Fredericton

Environmental issues remain a hot topic for provincial agriculture ministers. That and sustainable agriculture dominated discussions during the recent federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) agriculture ministers meeting in Fredericton, N.B. The annual conference was held from July 19-21. The focus on sustainable agriculture tracks, as this is the first time the ministers have met since […] Read more


Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA’s logo on a tower in Jundiai, northwest of Sao Paulo in southeastern Brazil, on June 1, 2017. (File photo: Reuters/Paulo Whitaker)

JBS opens cleaning unit after outside firm fined for hiring kids

Company says has cut ties to cleaning contractor

Chicago | Reuters — JBS USA, one of the biggest U.S. meatpackers, is creating an internal company to clean some of its processing plants after a private sanitation firm it employed was accused of hiring children for dangerous work. The launch shows the complexities involved in replacing Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI), a firm that […] Read more

A nameplate outside the Canadian Grain Commission building in downtown Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

CGC, other fed workers to strike Tuesday night if no wage deal reached

Tax season, passport renewals may also be affected

Ottawa | Reuters — Some 155,000 public workers in Canada will go on strike at midnight on Wednesday if they are unable to reach a wage deal with the federal government, the leader of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) union said on Monday. PSAC president Chris Aylward said he was “setting a clock […] Read more


(JJ Gouin/iStock/Getty Images)

International farmers may ease Canadian human capital crunch

A global retirement crunch is coming and Canada is ill prepared, report says

As other nations reduce their agricultural footprints in an effort to boost sustainability, their loss could be Canada’s human capital gain, a new report suggests. “The immigration of scientists, data engineers, and entrepreneurs has been recognized as critical to Canada’s growth. A similar approach needs to be adopted to attract farmers,” the authors wrote. The […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Railways push back on feds’ proposed interswitching revival

Railways also oppose ban on replacement workers

With Easter less than two weeks away, an Easter egg in the federal government’s 2023 budget calls for a new pilot program to again provide Prairie grain shippers with extended interswitching. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s budget, released Tuesday, laid out a list of investments to “further strengthen Canada’s transportation systems and supply chain infrastructure.” A […] Read more


External view of the U.S. Department of Labor headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 30, 2020. (File photo: Reuters/Andrew Kelly)

U.S. to crack down on child labour amid massive uptick

Food processing plants among alleged offenders

Washington | Reuters — The Biden administration in the U.S. announced measures to crack down on child labour on Monday amid a steep rise in violations and investigative reports by Reuters and other news outlets on illegal employment of migrant minors in dangerous industries. U.S. officials said the Labor Department had seen a nearly 70 […] Read more

File photo overlooking the marina and sea wall at Half Moon Bay, about 30 km south of San Francisco. (JasonDoiy/E+/Getty Images)

Suspect in California farm worker shootings appears in court

Early evidence suggests workplace grievance, authorities say

Redwood City, Calif. | Reuters — A California farm worker accused of shooting seven people to death near San Francisco, some of them his co-workers, made his first court appearance on Wednesday after he was charged with murder in the state’s second deadly gun rampage in recent days. Chunli Zhao, 66, the lone suspect in […] Read more


File photo of a BNSF grain train crossing the Gassman Coulee trestle near Minot, North Dakota. (Photo courtesy BNSF Railway)

Biden administration makes case for quick Senate vote to avoid rail shutdown

Bill imposing deal on workers clears House

Washington | Reuters — The Biden administration on Thursday urged the U.S. Senate to quickly pass a bill to block a railroad strike, warning that serious economic disruptions could be felt within days. The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to approve a bill to impose a tentative contract deal reached in September on […] Read more

Signage outside an IBEW office in Winnipeg. (File photo by Dave Bedard)

Arbitration leads to deal for CN signals staff

IBEW held 17-day strike in summer

Canadian National Railway (CN) has labour peace with its signals and communications workers through to the end of 2024 coming out of binding arbitration. The 750-odd workers, represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) System Council 11, had agreed to take their dispute with CN to arbitration in early July, ending a 17-day strike. […] Read more