New federal program for youth employment in agriculture short on details

Thursday, April 21, 2016

by SUSAN MANN

There’s no doubt a new federal government jobs program aimed at attracting youth to agricultural jobs that benefit the environment will help the farming industry, says Southwestern Ontario vegetable farmer Mark Wales.

“It will certainly benefit farming,” says Wales, who’s also the chair of the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council. “I need to see the details (of the program) to figure out exactly how.”

The council is a non-profit organization focused on addressing Canadian agricultural businesses’ human resources issues.

Federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna announced Monday the $1.9 million in federal funding to the one-year Agricultural Youth Green Jobs Initiative.

The funding announcement comes after the government made a commitment in its 2016 budget released in March to provide support for post-secondary graduates to get jobs, including positions that help the agricultural sector implement environmentally beneficial activities, says the government’s April 18 news release.

The money will fund internships both on the farm and within agriculture and agri-food organizations. But the agricultural green jobs initiative is not a summer employment program, the release says. BF