With the ever-increasing demand on labour in Alberta due to the “hot” economy and fewer people wanting to join the primary agriculture sector, this has created challenges to staffing requirements, both at a skilled and unskilled level. The unemployment rate across Canada is at an all time low of 6.1% with Alberta being the lowest at 3.8%. Once the unemployment rate gets below 5% the demand out strips supply. The first part in recruiting foreign labour is obtaining an LMO (labour market opinions) from Service Canada. The employer sends the information about the job to Service Canada and they poll the market place to see if there is a need for the type of worker you want to hire, you are paying them fairly and equivalent to a Canadian and they meet the skill requirements. It is all assessed on the NOC (National Occupation code) matrix. Once the employer has met the requirements and has received positive confirmation this can then be sent to the applicant overseas. The applicant will then take/mail this with a job offer from the employer to the Canadian Embassy in their country to apply for a work permit. There are a few challenges with new workers from a different culture and not speaking much English and there is quite a bit of preparation that had to be done prior to arrival, such as accommodation, bedding, cooking utensils, bank account, social insurance number, health care insurance, mail, transportation, drivers license, etc. Further acclimation into the community and Canada is an on-going process. Depending on the language skill of the foreign workers you may need to setup for some ESL (English as Second Language) classes. Once they get the basic principles they seem to be able to grasp more of the daily language in the workplace. They may even start looking at staying for the long term. For the ones that would like to stay permanently, the employer can sponsor them through the Provincial Nomination Program. The employees are usually skilled livestock workers who want to start a life in Canada; some have a spouse and children at home that want to eventually come and live in Canada. The initial application does take some effort and time, but once you have an allocation it is relatively simple to identify candidates. Once this is approved the candidate must apply for nomination. Once they receive their nomination they then apply to Citizenship & Immigration Canada for Permanent Residency. Foreign workers are not a quick or “easy fix” for labour shortages, as they require a greater effort by management. Not only do they require the same on-farm management as Canadian employees but also they come with all the additional things noted above, which have additional costs associated with them. Labour challenges are not only going to continue for the foreseeable future but the cost associated with recruiting and retaining foreign workers is continuing to push up total labour cost on the farm. It is definitely a challenge to start with, but the effort put in is definitely been worthwhile. The foreign employees are worth their weight in gold. If it was not for them some companies would not be able to make it through the times of labour shortages.