the years, and at the present
time. One of the toughest at
present is the demographic
of the hiring base in the Que-
bec City region where Agri
Marche is headquartered.
Competition for employees is
fierce.
“Quebec City is running
under 5 per cent unemploy-
ment right now. So we are in
an area where there’s a lot of
employment, there’s a lot of
opportunities for people here
in Quebec City,” said Patrice.
He also acknowledges that
the traditional “blue-collar
job” stereotype of working in
agriculture persists to some
degree among the younger
generation in the region.
“The challenge is the man-
power for our farms, it’s very
difficult to recruit qualified
labour. It’s been a major chal-
lenge. We also need good IT
staff, it’s tough to find the IT
staff as well,” explained Pa-
trice.
He identifies another ongo-
ing obstacle for the company
as being the value of the Ca-
nadian
dollar—particularly
when it reaches parity with
the U.S dollar.
“That has affected us a lot
given the hog prices are tied
to the Canadian dollar.
JULY 2014
H
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