Keystone Agricultural Producers is welcoming changes being made to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
This week the federal government rescinded the "four-in, four-out" rule that was put into effect in 2011.
Under the rule, foreign workers could only work four years in Canada before having to leave the country for four years. KAP says farmers invest heavily in training these workers, only to lose them.
“This has created not only a major labour shortage in the agriculture industry, but it has also resulted in a huge skills gap,” said KAP President Dan Mazier.
Mazier says temporary foreign workers contribute a great deal to Manitoba's agriculture sector, especially in the bee industry.
"A lot of these jobs are viewed as low-skills, or they have no training, that isn't the case in that particular instance," he explained. "These people know where the farm is, they know how things work in Canada...they were skilled workers and trained workers."
Source : Portageonline