Job prospects Farm Hand - Harvesting in Alberta

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "farm hand - harvesting" in Alberta or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Alberta

These outlooks were updated on December 11, 2024.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be moderate for Harvesting labourers (NOC 85101) in Alberta for the 2024-2026 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a few new positions.
• A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

• Over the years, farm sizes have grown, leading to productivity gains from investments in equipment and greater reliance on machinery, which have reduced labour requirements in these operations.
• Artificial Intelligence and autonomous technologies continue to be developed for agricultural applications. However, many tasks remain difficult to automate, and the industry must rely on these workers to perform work on crop and livestock farms.
• Increased demand for local and organic produce, non-traditional crops, and growing export markets can create additional employment opportunities for this occupation.
• The employment in the agricultural industry can be sensitive to various factors, including extreme weather.

Here are some key facts about Harvesting labourers in Alberta:

• Approximately 4,150 people work in this occupation.
• Harvesting labourers mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Agriculture (NAICS 111, 112, 1151, 1152): more than 95%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 68% compared to 80% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 32% compared to 20% for all occupations
• 34% of harvesting labourers work all year, while 66% work only part of the year, compared to 61% and 39% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 32 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• 7% of harvesting labourers are self-employed compared to an average of 15% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 51% compared to 53% for all occupations
  • Women: 49% compared to 47% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: 46% compared to 10% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 32% compared to 28% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 6% compared to 13% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 11% compared to 19% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: less than 5% compared to 21% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: less than 5% compared to 9% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Alberta by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Job prospects elsewhere in Canada

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "farm hand - harvesting" in Alberta or across Canada.

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