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Who is processing your food? 2011 Food & Beverage Labour Market Information Study
Published: January 9, 2025

Who Is Processing Your Food

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Acknowledgement

The Food Processing HR Council wished to express sincere appreciation to the firms and individuals who contributed directly or indirectly to this publication and in particular to the members of the Advisory Committee who were instrumental in the planning, development and validation of the final document. They are:

Kelly BruceCanada Bread Company Limited (NS)
Sherri Deveau Ganong Bros., Limited (NB)
Dave Gilbert Weston Bakeries Limited and Ready Bake Foods Inc. (AB)
Paula Kieley Ocean Choice International (NL)
Dave Lippert DARE Foods Limited (ON)
Eman Rafaeh Nestlé Waters Canada (ON
Chris Schwartz Grand River Foods (ON)
Debbie South-MitchellVanderpol Food Group of Companies (BC)
Jerry PeltierCongress of Aboriginal Peoples (ON)
Lise Perron Comité sectorial de main d’oeuvre en transformation alimentaire (QC)
Warren Gould Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (ON)
Shelley Binch Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (QC)

Special acknowledgment is extended to the personnel of Zins Beauchene and Associates who undertook the research component of the project and to the personnel of the George Morris Centre who was commissioned to write the final report and review the original source material to refine and recommend next steps in the human resource forecast planning for the sector

Executive Summary

The Food Processing HR Council (FPHRC) undertook a Labour Market Information Research Project of the Canadian Food and Beverage processing sector in order to assist firms forecast and plan for their business and HR needs. This report highlights the latest industry trends, detailed supply and demand analysis of workers, demographics, wage rates, age breakdown, recruiting practices, impact of newcomers to Canada, college/university enrolments and more. In addition to the main report, FPHRC extrapolated sub-sector specific statistics for the following commodity groups; Animal Food , Grain and Oilseed Milling, Sugar and Confectionary Product Manufacturing, Fruit and Vegetable Preserving and Specialty Food Manufacturing, Dairy Product Manufacturing, Meat Product Manufacturing, Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging, Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing and Beverage Manufacturing.

The food and beverage processing industry is the largest manufacturing sector in Canada. Approximately 6,500 establishments in this sector employ approximately 250,000 workers. Food processing in Canada is concentrated in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia due to the population and location of large urban centers in these provinces. Annual exports of food and beverage products were over $20 billion in 2010.

The uncertain global economy and the high Canadian dollar, as well as increased input prices have put pressure on the food processing industry, resulting in declining performance and productivity. These factors have led to changes in business planning, forcing greater emphasis on marketing, branding and communications to help Canadian firms maintain and improve market share. Consumer preferences are also having a large impact on processing and the products that food and beverage manufactures are using. Improved technology is helping firms increase productivity and meet the needs of consumers, which is leading to a trend of fewer employees and fewer establishments within the industry.

Concentration in both the retail and food distribution sectors are having an impact on industry profitability, as small firms are finding it more difficult to place their products on grocery store shelves and distributors are able to charge more for their services. Legislation regarding environment, food safety and labelling pose additional challenges for the food and beverage processing industry and have a significant impact on human resource management in the sector. Globalization of the industry leaves domestic processors competing for market share with imported products which have lower production costs due to less regulatory control and lower wages in other countries.

Overall there has been a decline in the number of employees in the food and beverage processing sector; however, it is declining at a slower rate than in all manufacturing sectors. Unionization rates in food and beverage manufacturing are slightly higher than in the general population and are particularly high in the meat processing and beverage manufacturing industries.

Hourly wages for workers in the food and beverage manufacturing sector are significantly lower than in other manufacturing industries as well as the industrial aggregate. Hourly wages for Ontario and Alberta are the highest, given the competition that exists for workers in these provinces while Saskatchewan currently has the lowest wage for hourly workers. Compensation for salaried workers is more comparable to the manufacturing and industrial averages.

Health & Safety have numerous impacts on staffing, making it a primary consideration in HR planning.

Employers in the food and beverage manufacturing industry face many of the same barriers to recruitment as those in other manufacturing industries. Most firms rely on traditional recruitment methods such as referrals to fill vacancies, although some organizations are broadening the scope of their recruitment strategies. Barriers to recruitment such as competition from other manufacturing sectors and other industries, as well as the perception of the industry by the public, are significant and must be overcome in order for organizations to fulfill staffing needs and remain productive. Retention is also a significant problem in the industry. Barriers to retention focus on the fact that many current employees tend to see employment in the industry as a short-term job, rather than a long-term career. Additionally immigration laws require that temporary foreign workers return to their home countries at the end of their work term. Employers are using many of the available HR tools, as well as a variety of incentives to plan labour force needs and attract and retain employees in the industry.

FPHRC conducted an industry survey with over 400 respondents, and the respondents noted that their expectation is to increase or keep the current hiring levels for all categories. The estimated number of new hires over the next 3 years is 21,437.

As new employees enter the industry, skills development, knowledge transfer and professional development will become central to all human resource activities. Training should be focused on areas such as language training for immigrants and temporary foreign workers, food safety training and training for the use of new technology

There are a number of post-secondary training programs available in agri-food processing across the country. Additionally, food technology centres often offer courses or assist in the creation of customized training programs in food processing. As new delivery methods become available, the accessibility to training from these types of locations will increase. Most companies also offer a number of professional development opportunities to their employees. The most important training topics identified for the future were food safety, quality control and machinery operation & maintenance.

Barriers to training include employee motivation and the cost to train employees who only intend to be with the organization short term. Other barriers include the availability of programs, either due to transportation costs, lack of instructors, lack of programs available in the area or lack of programs available for specific skills that were required.

In the councils short two year lifespan, 34% of survey respondents were aware of the FPHRC; therefore, the council has to continue marketing itself and the value it provides to the industry, including the development and use of national occupational standards and national certification and accreditation systems.

As economic conditions remain uncertain, but are likely to improve, the food and beverage manufacturing industry will continue to see competition for employees and will have to adopt new strategies for recruitment and retention. They will also need to focus on training efforts to ensure that the workforce has the necessary skills to stay competitive.

The Story Behind The Name…

No doubt, food is delicious… but, where does it come from?

Often, when we think of food, we usually envision its place of origin; for example: milk, cheese and beef come from cattle. Rarely do we think of all the processes that our food undergoes between the place of origin (the farm) and the final destination (our household).

In fact, pretty much all food and drink that we consume on a daily basis involves some type of processing before it reaches us! Yes, even organic foods are processed in some fashion. Processing occurs with numerous products, including: fresh produce, dairy products, meats, seafood, breads, pastas, beverages, and simple ingredients such as flour and sugar.

The reality is that the majority of products sold in a grocery store today have been through some type of “food processing phase” before it appears on the store shelf, freezer or refrigerator!

Who is Processing Your Food? is designed to trigger curiosity and to shed light on the processing phases of our food, and the people who help transform the raw materials into a consumable product!

Learn more about a generally overlooked industry and WHO is required to make these processes safe and successful!

Introduction

The Food Processing HR Council (FPHRC) undertook a Labour Market Information Research Project of the Canadian food and Beverage processing sector in order to assist firms forecast and plan for their business and HR needs. This report highlights the latest industry trends, detailed supply and demand analysis of workers, demographics, wage rates, age breakdown, recruiting practices, impact of newcomers to Canada, college/university enrolments and more

Methodology

In order to analyze the food processing industry labour market, the FPHRC commissioned consultants to:

  • review background material, reports and statistics on the food processing labour market;
  • conduct in-depth stakeholder interviews with 26 industry participants to collect preliminary information regarding general trends in the industry;
  • conduct a national telephone survey with 411 employers;
  • facilitate seven focus groups across the country with employers from various subsectors and firm sizes.

A final report was submitted to the Food Processing HR Council. The George Morris Centre used this report as well as additional information to provide further analysis and recommendations based on their experience and knowledge of management, productivity and public policy in the agri-food sector.

Food processing establishments are concentrated in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. Processors established in these provinces have access to a large potential labour pool, as well as proximity to consumers of final products – both domestic and in the US.

Food Processing Subsectors
• Animal Food Manufacturing
• Grain and Oilseed Milling
• Sugar and Confectionary Product Manufacturing
• Fruit and Vegetable Preserving and Specialty Food Manufacturing
• Dairy Product Manufacturing
• Meat Product Manufacturing
• Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging
• Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing
• Other Food Manufacturing
• Beverage Manufacturing
Food and Beverage Manufacturing Establishments in Canada

Source: Industry Canada, from Statistics Canada, Canadian Business Patterns Database, December 2009

Trade Balance

While demand for processed food is growing in Canada, the US and traditional European markets, there is much greater potential for growth in other less-developed countries as a result of increasing populations and increased per capita incomes.

Net trade in Canada’s processed food and beverage industry has declined substantially over the last decade. Canadian imports have increased much faster than exports and as a result, net trade has declined from a balance of about $5 billion to approximately negative $1 billion.

The United States remains Canada’s top export market representing 66% of total export sales in 2010, followed by China and Japan. The total value of exports to the US has remained relatively stable over the course of the last decade. It is sales into other markets such as China, South Korea and Russia that account for the growth in Canadian food and beverage exports.

Major competitors for domestic markets in the industry include imports from the United States, Italy, France, China and Brazil.

While NAFTA allows for tariff-free trade between Canada and the United States, industry sources suggest that borders remain ‘thick’ with non-tariff barriers.

Canada’s Trade in Processed Food and Beverage Products

Source: Industry Canada, Trade Data Online.

Trends in the Food and Beverage Processing Industry

Declining Performance and Competitiveness

Growth in the Canadian food and beverage processing industry is dependent on the industry’s competitiveness relative to both other sectors in the economy and to the food processing industries in other countries, since the industry must compete with these others industries for capital and labour.

The productivity gap in Canada has been well documented as a competitive challenge to the economy in many industries, and food processing is no exception (Hodgson and Triplett, 2007; Conference Board of Canada, 2010). The figure below shows that since the early 1990s capacity utilization in the United States has grown significantly to reach over 100% in the last few years, whereas Canada’s capacity utilization has remained flat and has not improved much beyond 80%. The inability to utilize productive assets to their full potential is surely a drain on food processing productivity in Canada.

Factors impacting competitiveness and productivity include rising input costs, the strengthening Canadian dollar, low levels of R&D and investment and lack of access to capital.

Capacity Utilization Rates in Food Processing, Canada and the United States
Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM database, Table V4331089; US Federal Reserve, data download program.

Changing Consumer Preferences

Consumers are becoming more health, environment and safety conscious and purchasing decisions are reflecting this increased awareness and interest. Consumers are demanding more information on the products they consume, particularly in food and beverage products, and processors are required to adjust their processes, input and marketing to reflect these demands. Some specific attributes considered are:

  • Fat levels – both transfat and total fat
  • Low sodium
  • Safety and traceability
  • Environmental packaging
  • Special diet requirements (e.g.: gluten free)
  • Vegetarian
  • On-farm production practices (e.g.: organic, free-from antibiotics)

Other demographic shifts such as the increasing ethnic population in Canada and expanding consumer demand for specialty foods are also changing the food and beverage processing industry. Growth in this area is expected as new companies will enter this market or existing companies will shift or expand operations to take advantage of this opportunity. Retailers are already offering more variety of products such as Kosher or Halal foods as well as increased specialty food offerings to meet the needs of their customers

With a growing proportion of two-income families in Canada, there is increasing demand for convenience foods and quick, ready-to-cook meals. Additionally, smaller families and individuals are looking for smaller portions and package sizes.

Focus on Value Proposition

Increased competition for both domestic and foreign markets is resulting in declining margins for many processors. In order to maintain or increase market share and remain competitive in the industry, processors are finding it necessary to adopt new marketing methods, adopt new business practices and undertake more in-depth strategic planning. Advertising, branding and communications are becoming more critical to success in the industry. Private brands within the industry are growing, although strong national or international brands still dominate. 

Technology and Innovation

Technology and innovation have proven to improve productivity and aid companies in maintaining a competitive edge in the marketplace. As global competition intensifies, investment in new technologies and innovations will become more crucial to improve productivity, add value and reduce costs.

New technology and innovations include:

  • Labour-savings through automation
  • Sustainability and waste elimination
  • Energy and resource efficiencies
  • Packaging improvements
  • Supply chain logistics improvements
  • Flexible manufacturing

Most new technologies in food processing are developed outside of Canada but adopted by Canadian processors.

Flexible manufacturing: Compared to large-scale, one-line US plants, Canadian plants for the most part are smaller and typically produce a number of product lines.

With the underlying trend of differentiation in food products, flexible manufacturing allows plants to produce a number of niche products, servicing consumer demand more effectively. This could be part of Canada’s competitive advantage

Consolidated But Changing Retail Environment

The food retail environment in Canada is highly concentrated. In 2010, Canada’s top four national grocers (Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro and Safeway) accounted for 88% of market share. With this concentration, the major food buyers have market power and any change in demand by one or two of the major customers could cause a significant shift in processor’s demand.

At the same time, non-traditional food distributors such as Wal-Mart, Zellers, Costco, pharmacies, dollar stores, specialty distributors and alternative outlets such as public markets are increasing their share of the market, providing new markets and opportunities for food and beverage manufacturers.

Regulatory Complexity

In today’s global food market, the regulatory environment is becoming more complex and food processors need to be proficient in understanding regulatory requirements and how to navigate compliance.

  • Food safety and traceability: CFIA regulates the industry and nearly all firms participate in HACCP1 or QMP2 to provide quality control. Food safety requirements are expected to become more stringent in coming years, putting additional pressure on the industry to meet requirements. CFIA has recently confirmed its intention to name companies who violate food safety regulations in order to improve accountability and transparency.
  • Packaging and labelling requirements.
  • Health claims and new ingredients: a lengthy and inconsistent process in Canada has hampered processors’ ability to innovate and bring new products to market in a timely fashion.
  • Environmental and waste disposal

Globalization of Food Processing

There is a growing trend towards the creation of strong global brands. This is being accelerated by mergers and acquisitions of processing facilities by multinational companies. This, combined with a strong Canadian dollar and low cost of production in countries such as China, Brazil, Thailand and India, has created greater competition for the domestic market in Canada. The European Confederation of Food and Drink Industries (CIAA) has noted that emerging economies are seeing growth in value-added product industries, resulting in a decreased market share for European companies globally. Similar results can be expected in North America, as manufacturers continue to face more competition.

What Do These Trends Mean for the Food Processing Labour Market?

In sum, the trends show that Canadian food processors are engaged in a complex and competitive business environment. But with complexity comes opportunity. In order to take advantage of the opportunities, the food processing industry must employ a dedicated and skilled workforce.

The bottom line is that a more professional and well-trained workforce will be required to meet the demands of the future.

As the industry makes technological advances, more advanced skills are required. For example, it seems there will be a need for more skilled machine operators than line operators; engineers, food scientists and nutritionists, etc. will also be affected. Savvy marketers will be required to stay ahead of changing consumer demands, utilizing packaging and production processes to sell products.

Overall, these changes will have an impact on the current workforce and on the types of skills required – causing attraction, training and retention of appropriately skilled workers an increasingly crucial challenge.

Labour Trends

Declining Employment

Over the past decade, the number of employees in the food and beverage manufacturing industry has decreased by 4%, from 262,081 to 249,560. This decline in employment has occurred as sales have grown and has partially resulted from an investment in automation which has required fewer employees but likely more skilled employees as a result.

Total Number of Employees in Food and Beverage Processing
Source: Statistics Canada, Table 281-0024

Food and beverage processing accounted for 17% of total manufacturing employment in 2010, compared to just over 13% in 2001.

Between 2001 and 2010, employment in total manufacturing in Canada declined by 26%.

In addition, employment numbers from Statistics Canada indicate that the number of Production employees has dropped while the number of Administrative employees has risen. Although the salary of production employees has steadily increased it has not increased as fast as the Administrative employees.

High Union Participation Rates

According to the 2009 Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, 36% of workers employed in the industry were unionized. Unionization is particularly prevalent in the meat product manufacturing and beverage manufacturing subsectors with 56.5% and 42.3% unionization respectively. This compares to 33.7% of workers unionized in all industries in Canada (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada).

Lower Than Average Hourly Wages

Hourly wages

In 2008, average hourly wages in the food and beverage manufacturing sector were $18.14 per hour for employees who are paid by the hour. This has increased slightly from $17.44 in 2004. Hourly wages are significantly less than the average for all manufacturing sectors ($21.98) and the industrial aggregate ($20.16). Alberta and Ontario have the highest wages consistently, likely due to competition between employers for workers. In Ontario this is likely between food processors and other manufacturers such as the automobile industry, while Alberta’s oil industry is a draw for labour in that province. In 2008 Saskatchewan had the lowest wages at $15.96 per hour; however this is likely to change in the near future as the unemployment rate in Saskatchewan is currently the lowest in Canada, meaning food and beverage processors are going to have to pay more to attract workers.

Salaried workers

For salaried workers in the industry, the average hourly wage was $30.27 per hour. Salaried employee wages are on par with other manufacturing sectors and slightly higher than all industrial employment. Ontario, Alberta and Quebec are the highest paying provinces for salaried employees, while the Atlantic provinces and British Columbia have the lowest salaried wages.

Occupation Demographics

Currently, labourers make up over 40% of the total industry workforce (this includes food, beverage, tobacco and fish processing labourers), followed by process control and machine operators accounting for 28%. As the occupations get more skilled and specific, the proportion of employees falls.

A higher proportion of males are employed as supervisors (72%), process control and machine operators and industrial butchers (67% for NOC 9461) and meat cutters (71%). Females dominate the labourer positions (54%), positions such as machine operators in fish processing plants (63% for NOC 9463) and testers and graders (58%).

Food and Beverage Processing Industry Workforce Composition by NOCs
Source: Statistics Canada, 2006 Census of Population.

Workforce Highlights

  • This is a male dominated industry: Females represent only 39.9% of workers in the food and beverage processing industry, compared to 47.4% in all industries.
  • 74.5% of the workforce is between the ages of 25-54, higher than all industries at 69.5%
  • 69.1% of employees list English as their mother tongue, 27.7% French, 0.9% English and French and 2.3% or 5,750 people neither English nor French.
    • B.C. had the largest workforce population with neither French nor English as their mother tongue (7.5%), following by Ontario 3.1% and Alberta 3.0%
  • Immigrants make up 26.7% or 66,750 people of the food and beverage manufacturing workforce, compared to 21.1% in all industries.
    • British Columbia (47.3%) has the highest proportion of immigrant workers, followed by Ontario (40.6%) and Alberta (38.7%)
  • Aboriginal peoples make up 1.0% of the workforce, which is comparable to Aboriginal employment in all industries.
    • Aboriginal people made up 3.8% of the Canadian population in 2006
    • Saskatchewan has the highest proportion of Aboriginal food and beverage processing employees at 5.3%
  • Seasonal foreign workers are employed by approximately 10% of the organizations surveyed.
    • Latin American and other Caribbean countries and Mexico are the most common countries of origin for these workers
    • The Fruit & Vegetable and Specialty food subsector employs the highest proportion of seasonal foreign workers in the industry, with nearly 20% of organizations in this subsector hiring 50-74% of their workforce as temporary foreign workers.
  • 3,500 employees industry-wide retire per year (1.5% of the total workforce) and it is estimated that 13% (32,500) will retire in the next few years. As in other industries, there is a shift from older workers who are reaching retirement age to a younger, less experienced workforce. As employees reach retirement age, firms will have more difficulty balancing a workforce that is both younger and less experienced than the current workforce. Firms must also ensure that institutional memory is passed on. These younger workers also have different expectations than older employees with respect to job expectations and work/life balance.

Labour Trends

As technology improves and production practices become more automated, there will be a growing need for skilled, technologically proficient employees, while it is expected that the need for unskilled labour will decrease. Opportunities for those trained to operate new advanced technology will be available. Maintenance positions will also become critical, as equipment failures have major impacts on production lines and productivity.

In order to meet high food safety and quality standards, we can expect an increased demand in food science technicians, quality assurance technicians and HACCP and QMP specialists.

Key Hr Issues and Trends

Employers surveyed (n=411) were asked to rate the importance of potential HR issues to their firm. Health and safety was identified as the most important issue by the highest number of respondents (51%). However labour costs were considered either very important or somewhat important by 77.6% of respondents.

Is Each of These a Potential Human Resource Challenge That Could Affect Your Organization?

Health and Safety

Improving health and safety in the workplace is an important goal in the industry. Accidents and unsafe working conditions have a negative impact on other human resource issues in the industry, including: labour costs, absenteeism and sick leave, recruitment and retention, productivity and employee morale.

Retention and Recruitment

The food and beverage manufacturing industry faces many of the same constraints to retention and recruitment as other industries.

Barriers to Recruitment

Employers surveyed suggested that the food and beverage manufacturing sector face the following difficulties in recruiting employees.

  • Competition both within the food and beverage processing sector as well as from other manufacturing industries put significant pressure on firms in the industry in creating and maintaining a well-trained steady workforce.
  • Lower wages relative to other manufacturing industry is a significant barrier to recruitment.
  • Public perception of the industry is that there is no long-term career potential.
  • Working conditions: shift work, labour intensive, cold, damp, and wet environments.
  • Lack of knowledge among potential employees, including high school students and other youth about the industry and the variety of positions available.
  • Difficult to find employees with necessary skills as there are no specific secondary or postsecondary training programs for most labour positions.
  • Cost of undertaking proper recruitment activities is expensive and timely and presents a challenge for some firms.

Despite these challenges, only 44% of firms surveyed indicated that they use incentive programs to attract and retain staff. Adoption and expansion of these programs will help firms to attract new employees to the industry and keep experienced staff.

Current Recruitment Methods

Respondents were asked to indicate what tools they use to recruit new employees. Values indicate the percentage of survey respondents who indicated that these methods were currently used in their organization. Firms use a number of sources to find new employees.

  • Employee referrals – 50.4%
  • Internet – 43.4%
  • Ads in media – 40.7%
  • Résumé bank – 37.3%
  • Local or provincial employment centre – 34.1%
  • Private placement agencies/ Head hunters – 24.6%
  • Personal contacts of managers – 23.3%
  • Schools, Colleges, Universities – 22.4%
  • Co-op internship, Apprenticeship – 14.1%
  • Internal transfers – 12.8%
  • Jobs in food website – 12.6%
  • Job fair – 9.1%
  • Trade publications – 4.9%

Hiring Difficulty

Of the employers surveyed, 63% mentioned that hiring new employees is an HR challenge and 59% mentioned that there is a lack of candidates with the proper training, leading to difficulties in hiring for specific occupations.

Employers face the biggest challenge in finding appropriate candidates for the following occupations:

  • Skilled workers & operators: 32%
  • Precision workers: 27%
  • Labourers: 25%
  • Supervisors: 20%
  • Technicians/technologists (e.g. quality control): 18%

Processors expect these same occupations to continue to be difficult to fill over the next five years.

Barriers to Retention

  • Harsh working conditions
  • Young employees have different expectations from employers than older employees

Temporary Seasonal Employees

Temporary seasonal employees help organizations to maintain or increase production on a short term basis – especially in fruit and vegetable processing that has extreme peak production periods.

  • Processors sometimes find it difficult to motivate employees who will only be employed for a short period of time.
  • Training and orientation are crucial but time consuming when retraining must occur each year – this can affect productivity.
Current Use of HR Tools

Food and beverage manufacturers employ a number of human resource tools in order to improve organizational efficiency. Values indicate the percentage of survey respondents who indicated that these methods were currently used in their organization.

  • Job and task descriptions – 88.4%
  • Training and development programs – 85%
  • New employee orientation – 79%
  • Recruiting and selection process – 73.1%
  • Formal performance evaluation and goal setting – 70.6%
  • Non-monetary incentives/ benefits package – 64.7%
  • Provide information about salary scale/structure – 63.5%
  • Work enrichment programs – 48.8%
  • Career planning (written developmental plans) – 34.6%
  • Graduated retirement – 31.3%

Temporary Foreign Workers

When processors cannot source sufficient domestic labour, temporary foreign workers are an alternative source.

A Move to Less Traditional Incentives

Benefits and incentives play an important role in attracting and retaining a productive workforce. While many firms use traditional incentives such as bonuses, sufficient salaries, overtime pay, etc., some firms are also turning to less traditional incentives such as profit sharing in the company, work sharing, telecommuting and awards.

As firms become more aware of the range of incentives offered by other companies, they will be able to incorporate these programs into their own organizations to improve recruitment and retention efforts. As pressure to remain profitable under unstable economic conditions increases, firms will be required to consider more of these options as alternatives to salary increases in order to maintain employee satisfaction.

Short-Term Hiring Expectations

Based on short-term hiring intentions, the industry has estimated it will hire 21,437 employees in the next three years3. These projected hires will account for both retirement replacement (assuming approximately the same numbers as the past three years of 10,000 retirees) and industry growth. This represents a hiring rate of 8.6% over the three years (4.6% of which is related to industry growth).

Regional Hiring Expectations

The following table shows the estimated hires by region. Relative to their food processing industries, Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces will be hiring in greater proportion, while Ontario and the west will be hiring less.

Occupational Hiring Expectations

In the next three years, 40% of the projected hirings in the industry will be for general labourers, followed by skilled workers (13.2%) and professionals with post-secondary education (10.2%).

Projected Hirings by Occupation

Labourers and skilled workers were identified as some of the most difficult occupations to hire in the food processing industry. Therefore, processors must start developing recruitment and retention plans in order to successfully obtain and retain these hires.

Skills Development, Knowledge Transfer and Professional Development

Overall, organizations have maintained or increased (85.4%) their training budgets for 2010 over 2009. This shows a commitment to encourage industry employee professional and skills development. Employers also indicated that they intend to increase or maintain the number of employees who are trained, as well as the number of training hours per employee over the next three years.

Required Skills

LANGUAGE TRAINING FOR NEW IMMIGRANTS AND TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKERS: One of the issues identified by employers was the need for language training for workers whose first language is not French or English, particularly for workers with temporary work permits employed in seasonal positions. The concern is that language barriers may result in health and safety concerns for these employees.

Additionally, employers would also benefit from language training in the languages of their employees’ mother tongue.

FOOD SAFETY TRAINING: As consumer preferences and legal requirements shift toward greater food safety standards, it becomes increasingly evident that companies need employees who understand and adhere to these regulations. Establishments will need to adopt and expand on food safety plans and to communicate the goals and requirements of these plans to their staff. Most of these food safety training programs will need to be designed and implemented on-site to provide the best application of policies and procedures.

TRAINING FOR NEW TECHNOLOGY: For the introduction of new technology to increase productivity, it is imperative that employees be appropriately trained on the use of such technology. Additionally, low level training on troubleshooting and maintenance should be conducted so that small problems can be fixed with minimal disruption to the manufacturing process. As firms adopt more technology and processing lines become more automated, processors will need to hire or train employees with greater technological knowledge. Equipment manufacturers often do not provide adequate training for use, maintenance and repair of new machinery.

Required Skills

Several colleges and other post-secondary institutions offer educational programs in food processing. There were over 5,000 students enrolled in such programs in 2008, with 1,000 graduates. Some 2,000 of these students were enrolled in food processing apprenticeship programs in 2008. The number of enrolments in food and food processing-related programs continues to increase.

At the high school level, no programs specifically related to food processing are available, leaving a training gap which requires considerable on the job training. For a full list of Canadian educational institutions offering agri-food programs, see Appendix 1.

The Guelph Food Technology Centre offers training in a number of food safety, quality and technical areas. GFTC trains over 3,000 professionals annually. The Food Processing HR Council, the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre Inc., the Canadian Institute of Fisheries Technology in Nova Scotia and the Canadian International Grains Institute offer assistance in building courses in food safety and quality assurance4, as well as workshops and online training.

Most stakeholders surveyed indicated that the current number of spaces in post-secondary programs available does not adequately meet the needs of the industry, particularly in the case of skilled workers (e.g. butchers, meat cutters, bakers, blenders). Additionally, as new technologies are introduced to the workplace, skills learned in these programs become quickly outdated. While training programs are growing, this growth is not meeting the industry demands.

Delivery methods for training programs are expected to change as new technologies such as Skype improve communication. For large multi-site firms, this will allow training of employees in several locations at the same time.

Employers have noted that many employees do not have adequate backgrounds to take full advantage of further training.

Professional Development Activities

Food and beverage processors are using a variety of methods to provide training, skills development and professional development to their employees. Given the importance of health and safety in the workplace, it is not surprising that most workplaces undertake this activity as part of employee development.

Tools and Activities Used to Meet Employee Development Goals

Barriers To Training

The following potential barriers to training have been identified:

  • Employees may not have the necessary background (particularly education) to take further training
  • Not cost efficient to train employees who do not intend on staying with the company
  • Language barriers for immigrants and seasonal foreign workers
  • Training hinders plant production activities and productivity
  • Younger workers may not be interested in taking training that is offered, unless required
  • Training for skills applicable to position are not available
  • Cost of training
  • Scheduling/attending course during work hours
  • Accessibility of training for non-urban locations
  • Specialized training needed
  • Transportation costs
  • Availability of instructors 

Who is Processing Food Where? And Who’s Investing?

Dairy Products (NAICS 3115)

The dairy market in Canada is largely a mature market – consumption per capita is declining and more substitutes for dairy products are being developed.

Number of establishments: 454 in 2009, accounting for 7% of all food and beverage processing establishments

  • The majority of dairy processing in Canada occurs in Ontario and Quebec.

Employment: 22,200 employees

  • 89% of establishments have fewer than 100 employees

Big players in Canadian dairy processing

  • Saputo: 26 plants; also in US, Argentina, Germany, UK
  • Parmalat: 18 plants in Canada; multinational
  • Agropur: 26 plants, also in US, Argentina
  • GayLea: 5 plants, Ontario-based

Recent investments in dairy processing in Canada

  • Danone Canada: $50 million spent to expand in QC to produce DanActive probiotic drink line.
  • Agropur: In 2010, spent $4 million in Victoria, BC, on a new air filtration treatment system and multi-million dollars in QC on a new cheese line.

Grain and Oilseed Processing (NAICS 3112)

“Canada offers access to an abundant supply of different grain and oilseed commodities” (DFAIT, 2009), which has made grain and oilseed manufacturing one of the most significant food processing subsectors. Canada is a world leader in exporting grain and oilseed-based products. This category includes both milling (primary processed) and further processed such as breakfast cereals.

Number of establishments: 164 in 2009, accounting for 3% of all food and beverage processing establishments

  • The majority of processing takes place in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta

Employment: 7,200 employees across Canada

  • 90% of establishments employ less than 100 employees

Recent investments in grain and oilseed processing

  •  JRI: $100 mil. canola crushing plant in SK in 2010, 70 jobs
  • Kellogg Canada: $100 million investment in Belleville to build a new plant in 2007, with approximately 100 employees. This was the first new Kellogg’s plant to be built in North America in over 20 years.
    • In 2011 Kellogg announced plans to invest in a new cereal line at this plant creating 40 more jobs.

Leading primary processing companies

  • Viterra – the largest grain handler in Canada and among the world’s largest industrial oat processors – Can-Oat Milling Products Inc.

Leading cereal manufacturers in Canada – the following four companies account for approximately 90% of cereal manufacturing in Canada:

  • General Mills Canada Corp.
    • Retail manufacturing facilities in MB and ON, and foodservice manufacturing facilities in ON, QC and AB.
  • Kellogg Canada
  • Post Foods Canada Corporation
  • Quaker Oats – owned by Pepsico

Sugar and Confectionary Manufacturing (NAICS 3113)

  • Foreign ownership in the sector is high as all of the major manufacturers have a plant in Canada
    • “Canada is the only place in the world where the five major multi-national confectionery manufacturers are located”*.
    • Hershey, Mars Inc., Nestle, Ferrero, Cadbury, Kraft
  • Sugar-free confectionery is the fastest growing segment.

Number of establishments: 260 in 2009, accounting for 4% of all food and beverage processing establishments

  • 82% of processing takes place in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia

Employment = 9,200 employees across Canada

  • 89% of establishments have less than 100 employees

Sugar refining

  • Rogers sugar beet processing plant in Taber, AB – the only plant to produce sugar from sugar beets. In the late 1990s Rogers completed a $40 million expansion.

Confectionery processors

  • Italian confectioner Ferrero opened a manufacturing plant in Brantford in October 2006. In 2004 construction began on the plant: Ferrero invested $250 million and the Government of Canada invested $5.5 million and $1.7 million for employee recruitment. The plant employs 700 persons and services both the US and Canadian markets.

Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing (NAICS 3118)

Number of establishments: 1,747; 27% of all food and beverage processors in Canada in 2009

  • The majority of these establishments are found in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia

Employment = 37,625 employees

  • 94% of establishments have less than 100 employees

Leading companies

  • Canada Bread (Maple Leaf Foods) – leading manufacturer and marketer of value-added flour based products
    • Fresh Bakery – 22 bakeries and 5,100 employees across Canada
      • An investment of $100 million to build Canada’s largest bakery facility in Hamilton, Ontario
    • Frozen Bakery – growing market for frozen partially-baked products – 5 bakeries in Canada
  • Weston Foods (George Weston Ltd.) consists of Weston Bakeries, Ready Bake Foods and ACE Bakery – 35 operations and 4,000 employees across Canada
  • Saputo Inc. is not only the largest dairy processor but also the largest snack cake manufacturer

Meat Manufacturing (NAICS 3116)

Number of establishments: 868 in 2009, accounting for 14% of all food and beverage processing establishments.

  • The majority of processing takes place in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.

Employment = 68,000 employees

  • Over 80% of meat processors have less than 100 employees

Poultry processing

  • Ontario and Quebec dominate chicken and turkey production
  • There are over 50 federally inspected chicken and turkey plants
    • 30 are in Ontario and Quebec
  • The largest companies in Canada are Maple Leaf, Olymel, Maple Lodge, Lilydale and Exceldor

Beef packing

  • There are two large beef packers in Canada:
    • Cargill Foods: 2 plants – High River, AB and Guelph, ON
    • XL Foods: 2 plants – Brooks and Calgary, Alberta
    • Both packers have recently invested up to $50 million in value added processing

Pork packing

  • There are two large pork packers in Canada:
    • Maple Leaf Foods: 2 plants – Brandon, MB and Lethbridge, AB
    • Olymel: 4 plants – Red Deer, AB and Princeville, Valley Jonction and St-Esprit, QC
  • Canadian slaughter takes place relatively evenly between east and west.
  • The major investment has taken place in the west with the expansion of the Brandon plant to a double shift in 2008.

Fruit and Vegetable Preserving and Specialty food Manufacturing (NAICS 3114)

Number of establishments: 371 (2009); 6% of all food and beverage processing establishments in Canada.

Employment = 19,900 employees across Canada

  • 83% of establishments have less than 100 employees
  • Employment has been declining steadily in the last 20 years in fruit and vegetable preserving;
  • Employment in Canadian frozen food manufacturing has nearly doubled since 1990

Frozen food manufacturing predominately takes place in Ontario and Quebec; however Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Alberta and Manitoba are very important due to frozen potato manufacturing in those provinces

Growth in the frozen food industry over the last 20 years has occurred as a result of the popularity of convenience-type foods and the development of innovative new food products.

Leading companies

  • Heinz Canada – has four plants across Canada: Heinz’ Leamington, Ontario plant is the second largest Heinz plant in the world and one of the most complex producing more than 480 products. This plant produces all of the Heinz ketchup sold in Canada
  • McCain Foods Ltd.
    • McCain is the world’s largest producer of frozen potato products and oven-ready frozen products.
    • In 2008 McCain invested $65 million into a new state-of-the-art potato processing plant built in Florenceville, NB, to replace its first ever plant.
  • George Weston Ltd.
  • Bonduelle North America
    • Canada’s leading processors of canned and frozen vegetables – also processes frozen fruit, canned soups, sauces, baked beans and more
    • Private label and branded products
    • Seven plants in Canada: 3 in Ontario, 4 in Quebec

New investment

  • In July 2011 Dr. Oetker announced plans to build its first North American pizza plant in London, ON
    • Creating 430 direct and indirect jobs

Animal Food Manufacturing

Number of establishments: 474 (2009); 7% of all food and beverage processing establishments

Employment: 9,401 employees, approximately 2/3 of these are employed in Ontario and Quebec.

  • 96% of establishments have fewer than 100 employees

Leading companies

Purina Pet Care (owned by Nestlé Canada),

  • Employs 520 nationally
  • Processing facilities in Mississauga, ON; Innisfail, AB Ridley Inc. employs approximately 900 in Canada and the US
    • Feed Operations under Feed-Rite. Canadian headquarters, Winnipeg, MB
    • Plants located in: Alberta (2); Saskatchewan (2); Manitoba (5);Ontario (1)

Shur-Gain and Landmark Feeds (Nutreco) approximately 900 employees in 11 mills in Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic Canada and New York

Unifeed (Viterra Inc.) – Mill Facilities in BC (1), AB (5), MB (2) Mars Canada Inc., Bolton, ON. Brands include: Pedigree, Royal Canin, Whiskas, Cesar, Natural Defense

Beverage Manufacturing

Number of establishments: 728 (2009); 11% of all food and beverage establishments in Canada

  • Over 90% of beverage processors employ fewer than 100 employees

Employment: 28,535 employees

  • The majority of processing takes place in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec

Leading companies

Molson Canada (Molson Coors Brewing Co.) 3,100 employees. Breweries in Granville Island, BC; Vancover, BC; Creemore, ON; Toronto, ON; Montreal, QC; Moncton, NB; St. Johns, NL. PepsiCo. Canada (PepsiCo Inc.) – approximately 5,000 employees in beverage processing in Canada.

Cott Corporation – 215 employees in Canada. Bottling in Scoudouc, NB; Point-Claire, Quebec; Mississauga, ON; Calgary, AB; Surrey, BC

Andrew Peller Limited – Wineries in Ontario, Nova Scotia and British Columbia. $263 million in sales in 2010

A.Lassonde Inc. – Based in Rougemont, QC. Plants in Quebec (1), Ontario (2), Nova Scotia (1), Alberta (1)

There has been significant growth in the winery industry in the past couple years, both in traditional grape and fruit wines. Additionally, a number of new craft breweries have entered the industry.

Seafood Packaging and Processing (NAICS 3117)

The Canadian seafood processing industry is a significant global player, with over 70% of total revenues being exported to over 80 countries worldwide, mainly to the United States, followed by China and Japan.

Number of establishments: 681 (2009), accounting for 11% of all food and beverage establishments in Canada.

  • Over 80% of these establishments have less than 100 employees

Employment = 27,600 employees across Canada

  • The majority of processing takes place in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and British Columbia.

Leading processors

  • High Liner Foods – one of North America’s largest marketers of prepared seafoods
  • Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation – buys, processes and markets all freshwater fish caught for commercial sale in MB, SK, AB, NWT and northern ON
  • Canfisco – based in Vancouver, BC, it is the largest packer of canned salmon in Canada (under the Gold Seal label) and produces many other fresh and frozen products.

Looking to the Future

  • Economic conditions and unemployment rates will greatly affect the availability of workers in the industry in the short term. As economic conditions improve, the industry should expect that wage increases will be necessary to attract and retain employees. As competition for workers increases, food and beverage manufacturers should look to expand traditional sourcing methods, such as referrals, to alternative recruitment methods to ensure maximum exposure.
  • Improving public perception of the careers available in the industry, the skills required and working conditions will likely increase young people’s interest in the food and beverage sector. The industry has worked to improve working conditions for employees, particularly entry level labour positions; this work must continue in order to attract and retain workers.
  • Adopting new technology will be necessary to meet regulatory and consumer expectations; this will require a workforce with more technological knowledge.
  • As the workforce ages, companies will be forced to replace workers who retire, either through adoption of labour-saving technology or with younger, less experienced workers.
  • Employers are impressed with the motivation of foreign seasonal workers and immigrants who are working in the industry. The industry should work to develop programs to recruit more of these employees and provide services to make applying for temporary work visas for these employees easier.
  • Temporary foreign workers and new immigrants would benefit from language training both at the workplace and in the community.
  • Short courses, allowing current workers to catch up on policies and procedures as improvements are made, would be beneficial.
  • The industry should take greater interest in educational programs offered in agri-food processing, to ensure that graduates are receiving the skills necessary to meet industry needs. Additionally, continued on-the-job training will be required to tailor general education to the specific needs of the firm.
  • Workplace health and safety and labour costs are expected to remain the most important HR issues facing the industry, particularly as health and safety has significant impacts on other issues such as employee satisfaction, sick leave and staff turnover. Labour costs will remain an issue despite increasing automation, as workers will be needed to maintain machinery and perform quality control.
  • Adoption of new innovative incentives will become more important as the industry looks to retain its employee base and recruit new employees while maintaining overall payroll costs.

Conclusion

The uncertain global economy and the high Canadian dollar, as well as increased input prices have put pressure on the food processing industry, resulting in declining performance and productivity. These factors have led to changes in business planning, forcing greater emphasis on marketing, branding and communications to help Canadian firms maintain and improve market share. Consumer preferences are also having a large impact on the processing and products that food and beverage manufactures are using. Improved technology is helping companies to increase productivity and meet the needs of consumers, which is leading to a trend of fewer employees and fewer establishments within the industry

Concentration in both the retail and food distribution sectors are having an impact on industry profitability, as small firms are finding it more difficult to place their products on grocery store shelves and distributors are able to charge more for their services. Legislation regarding environment, food safety and labelling pose additional challenges for the food and beverage processing industry and have a significant impact on human resource management in the sector. Globalization of the industry leaves domestic processors competing for market share with imported products which have lower production costs due to less regulatory control and lower wages in other countries.

Overall there has been a decline in the number of employees in the food and beverage processing sector; however, it is declining at a slower rate than in all manufacturing sectors. Unionization rates in food and beverage manufacturing are slightly higher than in the general population and are particularly high in the meat processing and beverage manufacturing industries.

Hourly wages for workers in the food and beverage manufacturing sector are significantly lower than other manufacturing industries as well as the industrial aggregate. Hourly wages for Ontario and Alberta are the highest, given the competition that exists for workers in these provinces, while Saskatchewan currently has the lowest wage for hourly workers. Compensation for salaried workers is more comparable to the manufacturing and industrial averages.

Health & safety, recruitment & retention and skills & knowledge transfer are the three key HR issues that the industry face.

Health & safety have numerous impacts on staffing making it a primary consideration in HR planning.

Employers in the food and beverage manufacturing industry face many of the same barriers to recruitment as those in other manufacturing industries. Most firms rely on traditional recruitment methods such as referrals to fill vacancies, although some organizations are broadening the scope of their recruitment strategies. Barriers to recruitment such as competition from other manufacturing sectors and other industries as well as the perception of the industry by the public are significant and must be overcome in order for organizations to fulfill staffing needs and remain productive. Retention is also a significant problem in the industry. Barriers to retention focus on the fact that many current employees tend to see employment in the industry as a short term job, rather than a long-term career. Additionally immigration laws require that temporary foreign workers return to their home countries at the end of their work term. Employers are using many HR tools available, as well as a variety of incentives to plan labour force needs and attract and retain employees in the industry.

Overall, survey respondents noted that their expectation is to increase or keep the current hiring levels for all categories. The estimated number of new hires over the next 3 years is 21,437.

As new employees enter the industry skills development, knowledge transfer and professional development will become central to all human resource activities. Training should be focused on areas such as language training for immigrants and temporary foreign workers, food safety training and training for the use of new technology

There are a number of post-secondary training programs available in agri-food processing across the country. Additionally food technology centres often offer courses or assist in the creation of customized training programs in food processing. As new delivery methods become available, the accessibility to training from these types of locations will increase. Most companies also offer a number of professional development opportunities to their employees. The most important training topics identified for the future were food safety, quality control and machinery operation & maintenance.

Barriers to training include motivation of employees and the cost to train employees who only intend to be with the organization short term. Other barriers include availability of programs, either due to transportation costs, lack of instructors, lack of programs available in the area or lack of programs for specific skills that were required.

In the councils short two year lifespan, 34% of survey respondents were aware of the FPHRC; therefore, the council has to continue marketing itself and the value it provides to the industry, including the development and use of national occupational standards and national certification and accreditation systems

As economic conditions remain uncertain, but are likely to improve, the food and beverage manufacturing industry will continue to see competition for employees and will have to adopt new strategies for recruitment and retention. They will also need to focus on training efforts to ensure that the workforce has the necessary skills to stay competitive.

For More Detailed Information

Please see the Reference Document that includes the complete set of data that was produced from the stakeholder surveys, interviews and secondary research.

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