Message from the Chair of the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council

This time of year, Canadian farmers are looking forward to warmer weather and increased production. For some of us, that includes looking at our human resource capacity and potential employee needs. As a coach, I have always found the value of each player on the team; working together we achieve the most success. This is also true for farmers: from the owner to the operator to each and every on-farm employee, working together makes our operations more successful and profitable.

I'm proud of the team that I lead at the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council. Together, we bring a broad range of expertise and leadership to the table to address the human resource challenges in the agriculture sector. In this winter's edition of Field Notes, you'll read about some of more recent achievements in this area.

The ice-breaking news is the results of the Labour Market Information Research on Recruitment and Retention study. The Council held a national stakeholders' session to discuss these results and map out the future activities of this project on February 2, 2009. This newsletter will feature key findings of the study and the outcomes of the stakeholder session. We're also profiling the results of the Inventory Database and Gap Analysis of Learning Programs project, as well as a brief progress report on our other projects and what we plan to complete over the next few months.

Lastly, we'll ask you to 'hold on to your remote controls', as the Council will soon release a video profiling two agriculture commodities - horticulture and aquaculture - and the skills and education that are needed of workers in these industries.

This newsletter is devoted to communicating with you about our activities and progress to date. I continue to welcome your feedback on Field Notes at info@cahrc-ccrha.ca.

Terry Murray, Eastern View Farms Ltd.
Wild Rose Agricultural Producers, Alberta

Feature Activities

LMI National Stakeholder Session

Whether you are an educator, student, policy-maker or job-seeker, labour market information (LMI) is a hot topic. Labour Market Information provides details about jobs, skills, and the availability of workers.

Previous research has indicated that today's farmers are having difficulty recruiting and retaining workers. In order to dig deeper into this issue, CAHRC's labour market information project set out to determine the size of Canada's primary agriculture workforce, by geographic region and by commodity grouping. We were also interested to know more about the number of workers that the sector might need in the future.

To determine this information, the project went to the source; we surveyed 552 employers in agriculture with more than $100,000 in receipts; and conducted 50 interviews with stakeholders in the agricultural industry,; associations and governments. We also reviewed all labour market information available for this sector.

The information collected for the LMI project was presented during a national stakeholders session on February 2, 2009 to participants from industry, agricultural associations and government. Some of the key findings include:

Canada's agricultural sector employs a large number of workers: The estimated total agricultural workforce in 2008 is 244,500 workers on farms with $100,000+ in receipts.
Canadian producers are facing labour shortages: The LMI study indicates the current vacancy rate in the agriculture sector is 9% (weighted on the basis of regional employment).
Primary producers indicated that they will need considerably more workers over the next five years: The sector will require approximately 50,925 workers for non-seasonal positions by 2013.
Labour needs varied by region, commodity type and major occupational group: Employers in berries, vegetables, and tree fruit and vine production have the highest vacancy rate of any sector (28%), and are expecting they would need to increase their employee numbers by 52% over the next five years.
The primary agriculture sector has not sufficiently developed its 'human resource capacity': Only 25% of employers reported that they had a human resource plan; and one-third of employers are not undertaking any specific activities to recruit or retain workers.

Following the presentation, participants brainstormed in working groups on the kinds of tools and resources that may help farmers with their recruitment and retention efforts. Examples of recruitment include social networking, education partnerships, and improving the image of agriculture. In terms of retention, the examples of tools includes, improved access to information on HR in agriculture (fact sheets, case studies and best practices), as well as developing an HR toolkit for employers.

There was consensus among the groups that these kinds of tools would be valued by commodity groups. As noted by one participant:

"What I will take back is the understanding that there is an emerging need in our industry, an evolution that has to take place in HR and this is something that is shared across the country. It's an important message to take back to our member organizations."

The stakeholder session was a solid step forward for the project. The next step will involve finding the best way to proceed to make the labour market information available and accessible to all employers in the industry.

The preliminary findings can be found on our website, but the full report will be released by CAHRC in the summer of 2009, including proposed actions to address the HR challenges identified in the study. We encourage you to visit the CAHRC website at www.cahrc-ccrha.ca for updates on this project.

Inventory Database for Gap Analysis of Learning Programs

Getting trained in agriculture just got a whole lot easier! CAHRC has developed the first bilingual national database of learning opportunities available in the agricultural sector.

The Inventory Database of Learning Programs contains more than 1,000 programs and courses, provided by more than 200 separate institutions and training providers. Anyone in search of agriculture training and education opportunities in Canada will be able to search online by geographic region, commodity group, subject, and by keyword. It will be an essential tool for students and those considering a career in agriculture to find and compare the available training courses and programs they need to succeed in these careers.

The database includes:

information on training providers, such as contact information, number of programs offered by any one institution , as well as a link to more web details.
descriptions of each course or program along with up to 11 different logistical factors, i.e., days/hours of instruction, cost of the course.

The online-searchable database is currently being reviewed and tested. CAHRC is planning a national launch of the database in June, 2009. We will feature the launch in the summer edition of Field Notes. Please visit our website for more details.

Project Progress

Occupational Standards and Learning Tools for the Ornamental Sector
Project Dates: September 2007 – October 2009

Develop occupational standards and learning tools to help employers provide on-the-job training to workers in the ornamental sector, to provide consistency in on-site training, and to enhance workers' skills and movement across Canada.

Recent Progress
In addition to publishing the National Occupational Standard (NOS) and Essential Skills profile for Landscape Horticulturists, CAHRC has embarked on Phase II of its project. This phase involves the development, testing, reproduction and distribution of on-the-job training tools based on tasks and subtasks outlined in the revised NOS.

Four, two-day 'Mentor Training Workshops' have been planned from January to March 2009, to teach employers how to use these tools for more effective training of new and existing workers. The workshops are also designed to gather feedback from trainees, mentors and employers on a more structured on-the-job training system.

NEXT STEPS:
Once finalized, the training tools will be reproduced and made available to the landscaping industry.

Communications and Outreach Project
Project Dates: August 2008 – February 2011

Positioning CAHRC as the organization of reference to address opportunities and communicate solutions to human resource issues identified by Canadian primary agriculture.

This project entails the development and implementation of a five-year communications and outreach strategy that will build on the Council's awareness-raising efforts to date. The project will also facilitate networking and partnership opportunities through the co?ordination of one national and four regional human resource forums to engage industry stakeholders, educators and government officials in agricultural HR issues.

Recent Progress
The "Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats" analysis and draft communications strategy was developed last December. CAHRC's Communication Committee met on February 20, 2009 to review the draft strategy and recommend next steps for its implementation.

NEXT STEPS:
The Committee will oversee the finalization of the strategy and its implementation work plan which will be presented to the Council's annual meeting of members in June, 2009.

New Markets and Future Skills in Agriculture
Project Dates: September 2008 – June 2010

Examining new and emerging agriculture markets, their related technologies, and the skills and knowledge required of the workforce in these markets.

New and exciting career opportunities in agriculture are taking shape in emerging markets such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, and the organic and buy local movements. This project will research these new opportunities and others, and provide an in-depth analysis of their strategic importance to Canada's economy. As part of this project, CAHRC will identify the occupations or competencies required to enter these markets, and will help the Council to determine the training needs or gaps in current skills development and learning programs in up to three new markets.

Recent Progress
The project workplan has been completed and a consultant hired to undertake the first phase of the project by the end of March, 2009. The advisory group has identified potential industry leaders for the key informant interviews, which will be conducted this spring. A literature review of possible new markets and market opportunities is underway.

NEXT STEPS:
The advisory group will meet in March to discuss the next phase of the project and the industry interviews.

Identifying On-farm Occupations
Project Dates: September 2008 – August 2010

Identify and define the occupations and classifications of work in the on-farm sector. This project is a foundational piece that will set the stage for identifying key occupations for further occupational analysis and standards development, as well as essential skills profiles.

Recent Progress
The first phase of the work to be undertaken in this project consists of a literature review of on-farm occupations, taking into account the results of the Labour Market project and using official occupational systems of classification and any other relevant information and/or systems in place to identify and define occupational groups specific to the on-farm sector. A gap analysis will then be done, comparing the information gathered with the current Government occupational classification system, across key commodity groups. This work is expected to be completed by August 2009.

NEXT STEPS:
The next phase will involve regional stakeholder consultations to validate the results and obtain feedback on the classification of on-farm work, and key recommendations for future occupational standard development.

Corporate Video

We are proud to announce a new multi-media tool showcasing exciting career opportunities available in agriculture across Canada.

In a soon-to-be-released video, viewers will gain insight as to how new technologies over the past decade have brought about dramatic changes in the hiring needs and skill demands of workers in the greenhouse and aquaculture industries, and how educators have adapted by developing training that ensures graduates have the skill sets they need to succeed. Viewers will hear testimonials from employees whose training has led to their success in the workplace. Bevo Farms in British Columbia, Cooke Aquaculture in Newfoundland and Labrador, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and Memorial University's Ocean Science Centre and Marine Institute are all featured.

The video will also show the role of the Council in connecting industry to educational institutions and people to new career opportunities.

Stayed tuned!