One-third of agriculture jobs and one-fifth of food and beverage jobs are at risk of being replaced by automation over the next decade, according to a new study released by the Conference Board of Canada.
When combining the number of employees in Canada working in the agriculture and food and beverage manufacturing sectors, a total of 563,000 Canadians worked in those industries in 2023, according to the report. Of these, 103,665 jobs in the agriculture sector and 56,130 jobs in the food and beverage manufacturing sector are at risk of automation in the next decade.
Jobs most vulnerable to automation include repetitive labour roles, such as livestock labourers, harvesting labourers, and labourers in food and beverage processing.
“In the agriculture industry, precision agriculture, advanced machinery, and sensor technology tools have the highest potential to automate repetitive tasks, improve efficiency, enable data-driven decision-making, and optimize resource management,” reads the report.
For the food and beverage manufacturing industry, robotics, automation, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics have the greatest potential to increase efficiency and consistency, enable data-driven decision-making, and improve performance overall, according to the research.
While the agri-food sector employed 563,000 people in 2023, or 2.8% of Canada’s total employment, it generated $72.1 billion, contributing 3.3% to Canada’s GDP. Agriculture contributed 1.7% to the GDP, while the food and beverage manufacturing industry contributed 1.6%.
The adoption of technology will lead to an increased demand for workers with high levels of education and skills, such as cognitive skills, technological literacy, and specialized knowledge, according to the report.
Emerging roles like data scientists and software engineers are expected to grow significantly.
Despite having tens of thousands of seasonal foreign workers, job vacancies in the agriculture industry have been 11% above the country’s average over the past four years. The industry also has workers who are older than other industries and will face higher retirement rates. About 30% of the workforce is expected to retire between 2023 and 2030.
The Canadian Agriculture Human Resources Council estimated that 28,200 jobs were unfulfilled during the peak agriculture season in 2022. By 2030, they expect this figure to rise to 101,100 during peak season.
Despite potentially losing 33% and 20% of jobs in the agriculture and food and beverage manufacturing industry by 2033, respectively, the study argued that embracing automatic and technological advancement could increase productivity and competitiveness.
To facilitate the transition, the Conference Board of Canada offered four recommendations.
The recommendations include investing in education and professional development programs and promoting the role of farming and food production to attract tech-focused individuals.
The board also calls on the government and industry to support small and medium-sized farmers with in-house and manufacturing training for their staff.
Lastly, the board calls on policy-makers and industry to create initiatives that promote mentorship so that the knowledge accrued by farmers over generations is not lost.