ALBERTA/SASKATCHEWAN
Labour shortage big problem for smaller meat processors

By Alex McCuaig
Published: October 28, 2021

Current labour shortages have prompted one smaller meat processor owner to say the only pre-requisite to work at his facility is a pulse. | File photo

Labour shortages are proving difficult to overcome for small- and mid-sized meat processors on the Prairies.

For Pine View Farms co-owners Melanie and Kevin Boldt, that shortage has become desperate.

“There is only one pre-requisite,” said Kevin of getting a job at the Osler, Sask., specialty meat processor. “If you have a pulse.”

Next door in Alberta, a meat processing facility in Claresholm is being underutilized after millions of dollars were invested to rescue the building following a foreclosure.

Now for sale by new owners, there has been lots of interest, but realtor Robert Le Bosquain said the facility is missing one major component.

“They need a project manager,” he said. “It’s someone who can handle the whole processing system and knowing exactly what needs to be done and where and how.”

Le Bosquain said the facility is capable of processing up to 100 head of cattle a day, but it’ll take an experienced manager to be able to attract and retain labour.

The current owner, a Calgary-based grocer, is even willing to be a major customer of the new operator. At an asking price of $6.9 million, dozens of potential buyers have shown interest in the plant from as far away as China to supply its domestic market.

Perry Deering of Deerview Meats in Irvine, Alta., blames the labour shortage on a general apathy for work among a younger generation and government supports, which he said stunt the need for a job.

“They just don’t want to work. They don’t have to work,” said Deering of trying to hire younger employees he can train. “There is no work ethic. There is no commitment. This is our future.”

Out of 50 people who might apply for a job at his meat processing and retail business, maybe one might work out.

Deering said he is proud of his former employees who have gone on to get jobs as meat inspectors at the provincial and federal level, as well as a couple who learned enough from working at Deerview to start their own businesses.

There are opportunities for people at a smaller processor like Deerview, which is prepared to help younger workers train for a future in the business but, “the clog in the wheel that’s broken is that we can’t find help to make this thing functional,” said Deering.

Melanie Boldt said COVID-19 has caused additional problems after they lost restaurant business during pandemic restrictions. That activitity was replaced by a huge influx of consumer orders, but Pine View couldn’t find enough people to hire, she said.

Now the appearance of the COVID-19 delta variant has set things back again, said Boldt.

“We have to work hard to protect our employees to make sure they don’t become sick and miss weeks of work, which again creates more challenges for a plant that needs to keep producing meat because the animals keep growing.”

She said the pandemic has sparked a conversation among consumers, many of whom “really started to think about where their food came from. I think that’s an important conversation that needs to keep going: what do we want our food system to look like.”

For now, however, the impacts of the labour shortage look to continue with Deering saying his operation is so backed up with orders stretching into next year that Deerview Meats has made the difficult decision to not process any game this year as hunting season begins.