News briefs

It’s a dirty job

Calgary — Demand for environmental workers will continue to grow as Canada cleans up contaminated sites such as landfills. The report Who Will Do the Cleanup? by ECO Canada estimates more than 14,300 jobs will need to be filled between 2006 and 2009. Nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of the jobs will be on non-federal sites. Professionals in demand include engineers, hydro-geologists, technologists/technicians and other related scientists with environmental health and safety expertise.

New image for food-processing industry

Ottawa — The federal government is giving the food-processing industry $640,000 to stave off a projected labour shortage. The National Seafood and Food Processing Sector Council will use the money to promote the food-processing industry as a viable career option for students and jobseekers. The sector currently employs more than 222,000 people and is Canada’s third largest manufacturing industry.

Older farmers at higher risk of work-related death

Kingston, Ont. — Farm workers over 60 represent more than one-third of agricultural fatalities but only 13 per cent of the workforce, according to a study by the Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program (CAISP). The study found older farmers were 2.5 times more likely to die from contact with animals than workers aged 15 to 59 and were 2.8 times more likely to die from a fall from moving machines.

Temporary foreign workers outnumber immigrants

Edmonton — Alberta is the first province to bring in more people under the temporary foreign worker program than through the mainstream immigration system. Figures from the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration showed that as of Dec. 1, 2006, there were 22,392 temporary foreign workers in Alberta, compared to 20,717 immigrants. The number of temporary foreign workers in the province has more than doubled since 2003, when there were 11,067 foreign workers.