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May 07, 2026TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKERS IN AGRICULTURE, 2024 
In 2024, Nova Scotia reported that 59.8% of workers in agricultural industries were seasonal workers-the largest share among provinces. Nationally, seasonal workers represented 48.6% of workers in agriculture.
Nova Scotia also reported the lowest share of full-time agricultural workers (28.3%), while Manitoba reported the highest share of full year full time workers (along with the lowest share of seasonal workers).
Nova Scotia had 5,865 agricultural workers in 2024. The number of agricultural workers had been declining since 2016, particularly among seasonal workers.
In 2024, 32.8% of workers in agriculture were temporary foreign workers. Nova Scotia, Québec, Ontario and British Columbia have markedly higher shares of temporary foreign workers in agriculture compared to other provinces. The lowest share of temporary foreign workers was in Saskatchewan.
Nationally, 27.2% of agricultural workers were temporary foreign workers in 2024. The largest number of those workers were in high value (revenue of $2 million or more) greenhouse, nursery and floriculture production, vegetable and melon farming, and fruit and tree nut farming. Oilseeds/grains and animal production (along with other crops) used comparatively few temporary foreign workers.
In 2024, the highest number of temporary foreign workers in Nova Scotia agriculture were in fruit and tree nut farming, followed by seafood product preparation and packaging.
Nationally, there were more foreign workers in greenhouse, nursery and floriculture, as well as vegetables/melons and fruit/tree nut farming. Among food processing industries, there were more temporary foreign workers in Canada's meat product manufacturing and bakeries.
In Nova Scotia, over 90% of temporary foreign workers in agriculture were citizens of Jamaica or Mexico. Citizens from Guatemala, the Philippines and Vietnam made up almost all of the rest of Nova Scotia's temporary foreign workers in agriculture.
Nationally, the largest number of foreign workers in agriculture had Mexican citizenship, followed by those from Guatemala and Jamaica.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 32-10-0216-01 Employees in the agriculture sector, and agricultural operations with at least one employee, by province; Table 32-10-0218-01 Temporary foreign workers in the agriculture and agri-food sectors, by industry; Table 32-10-0220-01 Temporary foreign workers in the agriculture sector, by category of farm revenue; Table 32-10-0221-01 Countries of citizenship for temporary foreign workers in the agricultural sector
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