This document provides an overview of Canada's meat industry, including its size, location, employment figures, and products. It notes there are currently over 500 job vacancies in the industry. The meat sector comprises establishments that manufacture meat products like beef, poultry, pork, and others. It discusses the meat industry in Ontario specifically, noting there are 275 meat manufacturing establishments in the province. It also outlines some of the skills challenges facing the industry, such as finding skilled butchers and changes to temporary foreign worker programs.

1. Focus on
Canada’s Meat Industry!
500+ current job vacancies

2. ANIMAL FOOD
PRODUCTION
SUGAR AND
CONFECTIONARY
FRUIT AND
VEGETABLE
DAIRY
MEAT AND POULTRY
FISH AND
SEAFOOD
BEVERAGES
READY-TO-EAT
AND OTHER
Subsector Breakdown
Sector Composition
Definition of Meat Sector, NAICS Code 3116:
This sector is comprised of establishments primarily
engaged in manufacturing meat products, including beef,
poultry, pork, lamb, venison, goat and rabbit.
GRAIN AND
OILSEED
BAKERY AND
TORTILLA
There are 10 food processing sub-sectors recognized in Canada:

3. MEAT AND POULTRY
Canada’s Meat Industry
Sector Overview
• Size: 13.5% of all food & beverage processing
establishments in Canada (approx 900 facilities).
• Location: Majority in Ontario, Quebec & Alberta
• Employment: Approx 60,000 workers (24% of total
industry’s workforce)
• Annual Shipments: worth $21.4 billion (in 2008)
• Processed Meat: approx 70% of processed meats in Canada
are made out of pork (sausages, cold cuts, etc.)
• Unionization: 30% (vs. industry average of 25%)
A snapshot of the Meat Processing sector in Canada:

4. Ontario’s Meat Industry
Sector Overview
• Size: There are approximately 275 meat manufacturing
establishments in Ontario alone (32% of total sector)
• Immigrant & Aboriginal Workers: 48.4% of workers in Ontario
are Immigrants or Aboriginal (0.6%). Much higher than the
average of 33% for the meat industry as a whole.
• Gender: Ontario has one of the most evenly weighted gender
composition with 58.3% males and 41.7% females.
• Age: 14% of workers are over 55, which is the 3rd highest age
population next to PEI & BC. Another 74% of workers are
between the ages of 25-54.
Meat Manufacturing within Ontario:

5. Meat Industry Skills Challenges
• Hiring and Retaining Workers (especially companies
in rural locations)
• Finding Skilled Butchers
• Changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program
• No national benchmark of butcher skills to develop
standardized industry training or to certify qualified
workers
• Meat Cutter (Retail) is considered to be at a higher
skill level than an Industrial Butcher (Processing) –
NOC Codes
• Lack of New Canadians in non-metropolitan areas

6. Worker Shortages in the Meat Sector
As of July 2014, there was a documented shortage of 644 workers within the facilities of
8 prominent meat manufacturers. The impact of worker shortages is being felt
throughout the entire industry; upskilling the current workforce and hiring new-comers
has never been more important for the viability of the meat sector.
Establishment Total workers required Shortage Percentage
Pork, AB 1,485 120 8%
Pork, AB 344 5 1.5%
Pork, MB 1,931 22 1%
Beef, AB 2,515 116 7%
Beef, AB 2,118 307 14.5%
Pork, AB 129 15 12%
Beef & Bison, AB 80 7 9%
Pork, ON 707 52 7%
TOTALS 9,309 644 7%

7. Compensation & Wages
The average work week consists of 35.5 hours
Meat facilities offer above average pay & full benefits (medical, dental, insurance, pension, etc.)
Successful Career Pathways
Opportunity to augment and learn Canada’s official languages
Average Hourly Earnings
Employees paid on an hourly basis Employees receiving salary
$18.62 $30.68