Workforce vacancies remain a big challenge for companies.Ottawa—While automation could solve the worker shortage that food processers currently face, companies have to be profitable enough to make the transition, says Michael Graydon, President and CEO of Food, Health and Consumer Products of Canada.The sector is struggling with 28,000 unfilled vacancies and employers offer good wages and benefits to attract workers, he told the Commons agriculture committee. “Hourly wages for food manufacturers have increased by 16 per cent compared to the previous year, with an average wage of $24 an hour. That's 60 per cent higher than the highest provincial minimum wage.”“We need to improve the profitability of the industry so that capital investment can be made back into automation, which is going to be very important for continued success. Any programs the government can provide to assist the industry with regard to that are going to be very much welcome.”The solution could lie with governments “incentivizing unemployed Canadians to take these jobs, to continue to help ensure predictable and timely access to workers outside of Canada to fill the domestic labour gap, to provide support and incentives for companies to invest in automation, and to convene a round table with food manufacturers to discuss these labour challenges and work together towards solutions.”Liberal MP Kody Blois said it appears Canada “is behind other jurisdictions in the world in using artificial intelligence or automation in its food processing, not only as a way of improving our efficiency but also of ensuring that the chronic labour gaps can be satisfied through some of these techniques.”How can government “find the way forward to improve regional capacity but also to understand that there still has to be some level of business efficacy and profitability or sustainability?” he said. “Government can't be providing that regional capacity in all cases if it doesn't still make business sense.”Graydon said government could remove some of the barriers and inhibitors to success, such as the consolidation in the retail sector. It could deal with “the significant challenges we have with regulations, then the industry will be prepared to invest. In many cases, it will also be prepared to diversify regionally across the country and follow where the labour pools are, where the agriculture is, and where the best opportunity for the cost of running your businesses resides.”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.