Job prospects Vegetable Packer - Farm in the Montréal Region

Over the past few years (2021-2023), there was a labour surplus for Harvesting labourers in the Montréal Region. There were more workers available than job openings in this occupation.

Source Labour Market Information | Recent Trends Methodology

The employment outlook will be limited for Harvesting labourers (NOC 85101) in the census metropolitan area of Montréal for the 2024-2026 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a few new positions.
• Not many positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are several unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

From year to year, farm size continues to increase, and the concentration of activity has continued within large farms. As a result, productivity gains from investments in equipment and increased use of farm machinery have reduced labour requirements in these businesses.

Despite this, the majority of tasks remain difficult to automate and the industry must rely on these workers to perform work on crop and livestock farms. Recruitment is difficult, and despite improvements in certain working conditions, the industry must rely on temporary foreign workers to fill available jobs.

People are still interested in eating healthy when they can afford it. The development of networks for buying local and short food supply chains promotes the establishment of small, local vegetable production and livestock operations. These new trends create additional employment opportunities for this occupation.

Here are some key facts about Harvesting labourers in the census metropolitan area of Montréal:

• Approximately 390 people worked in this occupation in May 2021.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology