Survey finds many expect ingredient and packaging shortages in near future.Ottawa—While they've worked hard to keep Canadians fed, the country's food processors are struggling with some costly challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.Carla Ventin, Senior Vice President of Government Relations for Food & Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC) told the Commons agriculture committee that a recent survey of its members highlighted five key areas of concern.They are:-More than half the companies are experiencing up to a 25 per cent reduction in productivity due to COVID-19 mitigation measures;-Three quarters have experienced moderate to significant input cost increases during the last four to six weeks such as increased hours and wages, and freight charges;--More than a quarter anticipate raw material shortages in both ingredients and packaging within two to four months;--35 per cent report shortages in personal protective equipment;--Three quarters are experiencing increased absenteeism in plants, and 40 per cent expect significant training costs as a result.Labour shortages remain a major headache for the sector, she said. “Before the pandemic hit, there were approximately 10,000 vacancies in the food and beverage manufacturing sector. This has been exacerbated by the pandemic with growing levels of absenteeism and illness.”The Canada Emergency Relief Benefit (CERB) has complicated our members' ability to fill positions, she said. “We wish to partner with the government to develop a program to incentivize unemployed Canadians to work in the food industry.”The sector would “like to see an additional financial incentive, like a wage top-up, hero's or pandemic pay, for workers in our sector, as well as retroactive removal of income tax for wage top-ups provided by the private sector,” she said. The federal government should encourage provinces to participate in such measures.“To improve our industry's productivity levels, we not only require readily available labour but need to ensure the workforce we recruit is properly trained. We require support to help offset these training costs, which can vary from $2,000 for a production line worker, which is estimated to account for 70 per cent of the 10,000 vacancies, to $5,000 for a highly skilled specialised worker, who account for 30 per cent vacancies). We suggest the creation of an Employer Training Tax Credit worth $29 million.”As the largest manufacturing sector in Canada, food processors through FCPC would like to work with the government on an economic recovery plan, she said.“The government will need to focus investments that help build a robust and competitive food and consumer product manufacturing sector, in addition to creating domestic capacity to supply the ongoing increased need for PPE and hand sanitizer.”A key part of the recovery plan should “involve a serious conversation about the significant government-imposed regulatory costs. We are specifically referring to the proposed labelling costs including Front of Package Labelling (estimated at $1.8 billion by the Food Processing Industry Roundtable) and potential service fees.“While we support regulations that improve public health and product safety, we are concerned with the host of costly regulatory proposals that do not contribute to these objectives. The cumulative regulatory impact will cause further disruptions to the supply chain, discourage investment into Canada and ultimately impact Canadian jobs.”Government needs to focus on repatriating manufacturing to make Canada more self-reliant, she said. “Canada needs to step up and build a robust manufacturing sector that provides incentives for companies to stay and create jobs for Canadians.”A recent federal announcement will assist food producers to access more PPE, adapt to health protocols and respond to emerging pressures from COVID-19, she said. “We are very concerned that the $77.5 million won't even the cover the costs already incurred by the primary meat processors, leaving nothing else for the rest of the industry that relies on these ingredients.”Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.