Canada Agri-Food Pilot Requirements & Closure
The Agri-Food Pilot was a federal permanent residence pathway for experienced workers in specific agricultural and agri-food industries and occupations in Canada. It was designed for workers with qualifying Canadian experience in year-round, non-seasonal jobs, including certain positions in meat processing, greenhouse and mushroom production, and animal production. Applicants also had to meet requirements related to language ability, education, employment and settlement funds, depending on their circumstances. The Agri-Food Pilot permanently ended on May 14, 2025, and cannot be extended beyond that date. IRCC no longer accepts new applications, but applications accepted before the program ended continue to be processed.
Former Eligibility Requirements
Before the Agri-Food Pilot ended, applicants generally needed to:
- have eligible Canadian work experience
- meet the language requirement
- meet the applicable job-offer and education requirements
- have sufficient settlement funds, if required
- maintain valid temporary resident status if applying from inside Canada
- intend to settle outside Quebec
- meet federal admissibility requirements
Applicants needed at least 1 year of cumulative, full-time, non-seasonal Canadian work experience within the 3 years before applying, equal to at least 1,560 hours. Those hours had to be accumulated over a minimum period of 12 months, and working more than 30 hours per week could not shorten that period.
The work had to be in an eligible occupation within an eligible agricultural or agri-food industry.
Eligible Industries and Occupations
The Agri-Food Pilot applied only to specific occupations within eligible agri-food industries. These included certain jobs in meat product manufacturing, greenhouse and mushroom production, and livestock raising.
Eligible occupations included selected roles such as butchers, meat cutters, food-processing labourers, agricultural workers, harvesting labourers and certain farm supervisors or specialized livestock workers, depending on the qualifying industry.
Working in agriculture or food production alone did not make someone eligible. An applicant’s Canadian work experience had to fall within an occupation and industry combination accepted under the Agri-Food Pilot.
Qualifying work experience generally had to be gained under a Temporary Foreign Worker Program work permit based on an LMIA with a minimum 12-month duration, or under an open work permit for vulnerable workers. Other open-work-permit experience generally did not qualify. Self-employment, seasonal work, unauthorized work and work performed outside Canada did not count toward the requirement.
Applicants also needed at least CLB/NCLC 4 in reading, writing, listening and speaking using an approved language test.
Applicants living outside Canada had to meet both the job-offer and education requirements. Applicants living in Canada when they applied could meet either the job-offer requirement or the education requirement. To meet the education requirement, applicants needed at least a Canadian high school diploma or a foreign credential assessed as equivalent to at least a Canadian secondary school education through a valid Educational Credential Assessment (ECA).
Applicants who were already working in Canada with a valid work permit were generally exempt from the settlement-funds requirement.
Agri-Food Pilot Ended
The Agri-Food Pilot permanently ended on May 14, 2025, after reaching the maximum five-year period allowed for this type of federal economic immigration pilot.
IRCC no longer accepts new applications under the program, and the pilot cannot be extended beyond its end date.
Applications received and accepted before May 14, 2025 continue to be processed under the rules that applied when they were submitted.
The program should therefore be described as ended or permanently closed, not paused. Workers in agriculture or agri-food sectors who are looking for a current pathway to permanent residence must qualify under another available immigration program.
Applications Already Submitted
IRCC continues to process Agri-Food Pilot applications that were received and accepted before the program ended on May 14, 2025.
2026 Update for Some Existing Applicants
In 2026, IRCC introduced a one-time In-Canada Workers Initiative that may accelerate processing for some Agri-Food Pilot applicants already in the permanent residence inventory. Eligibility is limited to applicants who meet the initiative’s specific criteria, so it does not apply to every pending Agri-Food Pilot application.
Applicants with pending applications must report important changes to IRCC, including:
- changes to contact information;
- changes in family circumstances;
- changes to an authorized representative.
Applicants should also continue to:
- monitor IRCC correspondence;
- respond promptly to requests for documents or information;
- complete biometrics and medical examinations when requested;
- provide police certificates or other requested documents.
IRCC may also request additional evidence to verify work experience, employment, eligibility or admissibility before making a final decision.
Processing times vary depending on application completeness, verification requirements, background and admissibility checks, applicant response times and IRCC’s existing inventory.
Applicants with files still in process should use IRCC’s current application-status and processing-time information rather than relying on historical estimates from when the pilot was open.
