Canada Agri-Food Pilot To Accept 2,750 Applications In New Year

Last year of Canada Agri-Food Pilot Program will start accepting new applications on January 1, 2023. This will be the last year for this 3-year pilot introduced in 2021.

Canada immigration department has not provided any commentary whether they will extend the pilot or not. Currently, the pilot program is scheduled to run only until May 2023.

The Agri-Food Pilot Program offers experienced, non-seasonal employees in particular sectors and occupations, a road to permanent residency.

Only 2,750 applications will be approved for permanent residency under this pilot program. Applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Eligible Occupations

For meat product manufacturing, eligible jobs are

NOC 63201 – Butchers – retail and wholesale
NOC 65202 – Meat cutters and fishmongers – retail and wholesale
NOC 94141 – Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers
NOC 82030 – Agricultural service contractors and farm supervisors
NOC 84120 – Specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators
NOC 85100 – Livestock labourers
NOC 95106 – Labourers in food and beverage processing

For greenhouse, nursery and floriculture production, including mushroom production, eligible jobs are

NOC 82030 – Agricultural service contractors and farm supervisors
NOC 84120 – Specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators
NOC 85100 – Livestock labourers
NOC 85101 – Harvesting labourers

For animal production, excluding aquaculture, eligible jobs are

NOC 82030 – Agricultural service contractors and farm supervisors
NOC 84120 – Specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators
NOC 85100 – Livestock labourers
NOC 85101 – Harvesting labourers

Canada Agri-Food Pilot Program – All You Need to Know!

Annual Limits On Number of Applications For Each Occupation

Eligible occupation	Number of applications accepted per year
Agricultural service contractor or farm supervisor (NOC 82030)Specialized livestock worker or farm machinery operator (NOC 84120)	50
Industrial butcher, meat cutter, poultry preparer or related worker (NOC 94141)Butchers – retail and wholesale (NOC 63201)Meat cutters and fishmongers – retail and wholesale (NOC 65202)	1470
Food and beverage processing labourer (NOC 95106)	730
Livestock labourer (NOC 85100)	200
Harvesting labourer (NOC 85101)	300

Eligibility For Canada Agri-Food Pilot Program

At least 1 year (1,560 hours) of non-seasonal, full-time work experience in the last 3 years. This experience must be in 1 or more of the above listed eligible occupations.

Furthermore, this experience must have been gained on the work permit obtained with LMIA of at least 12 months.

Additionally, you need a job offer in one of the eligible occupations from a Canadian employer.

This job offer must be full-time (30 hours/week), non-seasonal, and should be:

in one of the approved industries and must be in an eligible occupation under Agri-Food Pilot with no set end date.
outside Quebec

Good thing about this pilot program is that eligible applicants only need CLB level 4 in English/French.

CLB level 4 is the lowest level in a language test such as IELTS/CELPIP/TEF/TCF. For IELTS, it is overall 4 bands (Reading: 3.5, Writing: 4, Listening: 4.5, Speaking: 4).

For education level, only high school is required. If your study was outside Canada, then educational credential assessment (ECA) report from a designated organization or professional body must show that you completed a foreign credential at the secondary school level or above.

Applicants must also prove that they have enough money to settle in Canada, if they are currently not on a work permit in Canada.

If applicants have a valid work permit, then no proof of settlement funds is required.