Growing a permanent workforce for the plant-based protein sector

October 9, 2024

Whether to reduce one’s carbon footprint, eat healthier or save money, the global demand for plant-based protein (PbP) products like meatless burgers and protein powders is growing rapidly. The PbP sector is projected to become a $250-billion international market by 2035. Lucky for Canada, we can meet this demand but we need the skilled workforce to do it.

The country’s expanding PbP sector grows, produces, designs and sells non-meat-based food products made with pulses (think beans and chickpeas). Canada is a world leader in producing these crops, contributing around 30% of the world's peas and canola. We’re also the leading global producer of lentils, another protein that packs a punch, did you know? Protein Industries Canada has estimated the sector could generate up to $25 billion for the economy and support more than 17,000 jobs.

Current and future workforce challenges

We’ve examined the skills and labour needs in this booming sector across agriculture and food manufacturing and have found significant — but not insurmountable — challenges to it achieving its full potential. There are major and persistent labour shortages due to an aging and retiring workforce, new and existing workers who need the skills to adapt to new technology, and a lack of new workers.

To solve these challenges, PbP companies and the communities they’re located in must take steps to attract, train and retain workers so that they can grow their workforces and take advantage of this PbP opportunity.

Labour and skills shortages in agriculture

While the number of vacant agricultural jobs has decreased since 2021, there are still labour issues, with one of the largest being its aging workforce and few new workers. Retirement is projected to decrease the agricultural workforce by 37% between 2018 and 2029.

Additionally, an estimated 28,200 jobs remained vacant during the 2022 planting season, which led to a projected $3.5 billion in lost sales. The industry has also seen a decrease in young workers applying for positions. Statistics Canada found that in the last ten years, the number of workers in agriculture between the ages of 15 and 24 dropped by more than 30%.

One reason for this seems to be a lack of awareness among young people of the range and types of agricultural jobs available. A recent study from the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council found that one in three agricultural employers did not receive a single Canadian application during the 2022 planting season.

Food manufacturing and agriculture have traditionally made significant use of hiring temporary foreign workers (TFW) to fill lower-wage and seasonal positions. One in three agricultural businesses employed TFWs in 2023. This isn’t necessarily a sustainable way to grow a long-term workforce. Solutions to increasing the workforce should focus on building awareness of potential careers in the sector to recruit young Canadians who may not know of these opportunities, and providing existing temporary and international workers opportunities to immigrate permanently.

Workforce needs in food manufacturing

Food manufacturing is projected to have more than 65,000 vacant jobs by 2025 due to retirement. To fill these roles, the sector will need workers who can adapt to automation and digitization in the PbP production process. Businesses in this sector also need workers with advanced technical skills in food safety, biology, food science, and marketing and development as they make new products to meet changing customer demands.

These skills changes are taking place at a time when food manufacturing is estimated to need to recruit more than 66,800 new employees between 2023 and 2030 just to keep up with the number of retirees. This is all within a national workforce that already loses out on an estimated $8.5 million a day in lost revenue due to vacant positions.

Attracting workers to these opportunities will include providing direct non-financial support like onsite childcare, flexible work arrangements, increased benefits and raising compensation. Wages in food manufacturing are often lower on average than in other types of manufacturing with equivalent skill sets.

Sector-wide solutions to workforce challenges

Both the food manufacturing and agricultural industries are essential to Canada to benefit from the PbP opportunities, but they must address these persistent labour and skills shortages.

What is clear is that the PbP sector’s current approach to recruiting and attracting workers needs to change. Here are a few recommendations from our research that actors across the skills ecosystem (schools, employers, government and the private sector) can adopt to improve public awareness of the PbP opportunity, help businesses recruit, attract and retain workers, and help workers develop new skills.

Prepare the workforce through education and industry collaboration
Educational institutions can work with industry groups to give students work-integrated learning and on-the-job training programs. These will increase students’ awareness of the range of jobs in the PbP sector and help them develop the skills they need to be ready for the workforce. Industry groups can also collaborate with local non-profits to advertise job openings to non-traditional farm communities and underrepresented and equity-deserving groups.

Create paths to permanent residency for temporary workers
Federal policymakers are in the process of examining the Temporary Foreign Worker Program after a slew of changes. They should consider ways to transition temporary workers into permanent immigration streams, move to sectoral or regional work permits, or incorporate a stronger rights-based framework that centers the individual in the process. Businesses across the PbP sector should re-examine their use of TFWs to see if they can make critically needed employees permanent through systems like the Provincial Nominee Programs.
Support workers with better benefits and community resources
Communities and employers can do more to provide a holistic working environment that attracts and supports workers. Access to local affordable housing, reliable public transit, childcare, healthcare and elder care are all essential supports that help keep workers in the communities where PbP jobs are located. Employers can provide more flexible workplaces, better access to benefits and competitive wages to equivalently skilled positions in other manufacturing sectors.

Build a skilled workforce for the plant-based protein sector
Businesses in these sectors need workers they can train, promote and invest in to fill positions with greater technical skill requirements. We encourage stakeholders across the PbP sector to consider these recommendations and work together to grow the workforce needed so that Canada can seize the emerging PbP opportunity.

Additional resources

For more information about the plant-based protein opportunity in Canada, you can read our reports here.
To learn more about how the labour force needs of different industries across the country will change with the green economy transition, you can read Ready for Green Jobs here.
In case you want to hear more about what impacts the Temporary Foreign Workers Program has on the green economy transition and what changes could look like; you can watch the Missing Middle Podcast episodes on TFWs (July 10th and August 15th) and stay tuned for Smart Prosperity Institute’s upcoming blog post about the skilled worker stream in zero-emission vehicles manufacturing.