Made in Canada by foreign workers: N.B. employers say immigration cuts will hurt production
Locals don’t apply for these jobs, say two leaders in N.B. food industry
Two of the most recognizable brands in the Maritimes say newly announced cuts to immigration programs will have a devastating impact on the workers who show up every day, and on time to produce the Canadian-made doughnuts, cookies, bagels and pita breads so popular across the region.
"Over the last 10 years, we've grown to 275 employees," said Blair Hyslop, co-CEO of Mrs. Dunster's. "About 52 per cent of those employees were not born in Canada."
Bakers are among a dozen occupations that do not qualify under New Brunswick's Atlantic Immigration Program, which provides a pathway toward permanent residence and helps New Brunswick employers hire for jobs they cannot fill with Canadian citizens.
Jean-Claude D'Amours, acting minister of post-secondary education, training and labour, said the province had to make difficult choices after New Brunswick's allocation of permanent residence applications was cut in half from 5,500 last year to 2,750 in 2025.
He said the province decided to focus its allocation on priority sectors — health, education and construction trades.
Hyslop said not a lot of local people apply for the jobs at Mrs. Dunster's, where the workforce now represents 13 nationalities and 26 languages.
"I don't know where we would be today without those employees."
CBC News asked Hyslop if it would be possible to speak to some of the workers in his commercial kitchens. He tried but didn't find any who were willing. They were too emotional, he said.
"They're crying," he said. "They're upset and they're trying to explain to their families who invested all this money to get them here that they may not be able to stay. So it's not good."
Hyslop said he has workers who came to this country prepared to work hard and gain enough hours to apply for permanent residence and become Canadian citizens.
"Now all of that is uncertain," he said. "So for us, that's 56 employees in the next three years, 15 this year, who don't think that their work permits will be renewed. So they won't be able to earn the hours they need to become permanent residents. So they're devastated."
Locals don't want to work here
Mike Timani, president of Fancy Pokket Bakery, said he rarely gets New Brunswick applicants when he posts his jobs. He said 82 per cent of his 75 employees are immigrants or newcomers.
"Our doors are open for all individuals who would like to work," Timani said. Local people, however, are generally not interested in the jobs available at Fancy Pokket.
"We cannot grow our business based on that," he said.
Timani said he has even tried to employ former inmates looking to start over in life.
"They go inside the plant and sometimes within two hours, they leave," he said.
Timani, whose family fled the civil war in Lebanon when he was a child, received the Order of Moncton, partly in recognition for his work promoting multiculturalism and his support for Syrian refugees who arrived after 2015.
Opportunities New Brunswick called him "a shining example of immigrant entrepreneurial success,"
Timani says his immigrant workers are very committed and key to the company's success.
Much like the workers at Mrs. Dunster's, he said his employees send money home to their families and they have dreams of bringing loved ones to join them.
"I don't know what we'd do without them," he said.
The Atlantic Immigration Program is now beginning to accept new applications from designated New Brunswick employers to endorse a position offered to a foreign national.
At this time, the province will not be considering designation and endorsement applications for occupations that fall under the following classifications:
- Accounting technicians and bookkeepers
- Administrative assistants
- Shippers and receivers
- Restaurant and food service managers
- Food service supervisors
- Cooks
- Bakers
- Bartenders
- Other customer representatives
- Process control and machine operators — food and beverage processing
- Fish and seafood plant workers
Region's growth curve flattening
A few months ago, the federal government dramatically revised its immigration targets over the next three years, describing it as a "pause" to help the country catch up with housing supply and social services and to better set up immigrants for success.
Some analysts are now asking if the cuts go too far, especially since the growth in Atlantic Canada already showed signs of slowing.
"The wave of newcomers that injected so much money, talent and energy into Atlantic Canada crested in 2023," concluded a report from the Public Policy Forum.
"Most of the growth in Atlantic Canada has been due to more people creating more demand for goods and services," said Carole Lee Reinhardt, with the organization.
"So of course, any public policy choice that means less people is certainly going to impact momentum."
Economists with TD Bank have also pointed out that Atlantic Canada's population growth is easing.
"Provincial governments' lofty population projections, especially in 2025, are at risk of overshooting," said a TD report.
"This has the potential to put a damper on both household spending and overall economic growth, while also weighing on labour supply."
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