NL's food sector workforce challenges most dire in Canada

Advertisement 1 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Breadcrumb Trail Links HomeAtlantic CanadaBusinessLocal BusinessNewfoundland & LabradorNewfoundland And Labrador BusinessNewsCanada NL's food sector workforce challenges most dire in Canada By 2034, NL's will need to hire the equivalent of 76 per cent of its current food and beverage workers Author of the article: By Gary Kean  •  The Telegram Published Sep 24, 2026 6 minute read Canada's food and beverage manufacturing industry is expected to require 173,000 new hires between 2026 and 2034 and some sectors, such as seafood processing in Newfoundland and Labrador, where workers tend be mostly older, the challenges are stiffer. PHOTO BY ROYAL GREENLAND Article content Canada’s food and beverage manufacturers will need more than 170,000 new employees over the next eight years, and nowhere will the need be more profound than in Newfoundland and Labrador, where an aging population poses a serious challenge to the sector’s future. Article content A new report, titled Labour Market Insights: The Workforce Imperative — Canada’s Food and Beverage Manufacturing Outlook 2026–2034, released by Food Processing Skills Canada, warns the sector will require 173,000 new hires between 2026 and 2034. Article content Article content Article content The outlook is particularly dire for Newfoundland and Labrador, which will have to find 4,950 new workers by then — the equivalent of 76.2 per cent of its current workforce in the food and beverage manufacturing sector. Article content That is the biggest demographic challenge of any Canadian province, said the report. The next-highest forecasted share of the current provincial workforce that will need to be replaced is Nova Scotia’s 66.3 per cent. Article content A new report says that the food and beverage manufacturing industry will face significant challenges in the coming years due to a shortage of workers. PHOTO BY JOSEPH GIBBONS/THE TELEGRAM FILE PHOTO Article content Why is the situation so grim in Newfoundland? Article content Newfoundland and Labrador currently has 199 establishments within the sector, employing some 6,500. Article content The province has the lowest percentage of its workforce under 25, at just 9.5 per cent, and the highest percentage are over 55 — 41 per cent. Article content Newfoundland and Labrador also had only one per cent of its food and beverage manufacturing workforce made up of immigrants…