Wait for the sign: an auspicious portent last year over a planting camp near Burns Lake. 2025, so far, is going well, according to field reports. Photo LL. WFCA.CA
If things continue to go smoothly, these refrigerated warehouses will be mostly empty by the summer solstice. Summer hot-lift planting usually begins again around July.
This year’s provincial planting volume is down about 60-million from the 2020 +300-million estimated to be the sector’s full capacity.
That reduction in work for the overall seasonal labour force of approximately 7000 has been hardest on new recruits with only half of the usual thousand or so rookies hired, according to anecdotal reports.
New First Aid regulations seem to be working with both contractors and WorkSafeBC figuring out what they mean in practice. Alberta’s planting at ~100-million has not been affected like the BC program allowing some BC planters to continue to cross the Cordillera for the summer planting east of here.
No contractors are shorthanded with some reporting more returnees due to stunted prospects in other parts of the work economy. Drought remains a concern due to the lower snowpack levels with accounts of the last of the snow on blocks, in some places, seeming to sublimate.
Anticipated wetter weather fronts this month may offer some relief. But continental long-range forecasts say things will heat up across the country to above normal later this spring and summer. As we go to press, crews are waiting out wildfire activity in Manitoba related to a recent heat wave.
The Cache traffics in resource materials, job postings, and lately expert advice on First Aid, employment standards, and career and occupational paths.
Following the launch last March of an online Job board at The Cache, the industry website has continued to grow with a new “Ask an Expert” section to answer questions posed by workers. The Job Board provides a method of posting work opportunities outside the channels of conventional social media.
The Cache is not intended to replace existing social media on Meta (Facebook) or Reddit, but instead it is designed to work in parallel and provide a forum for employers and employees that choose to avoid other media. Moving forward, The Cache will also provide a hub for online training opportunities, career development mapping, and other resources for people seeking to learn about silviculture work or advance their careers in the field.
Posting jobs on The Cache is free, and job ads and links to The Cache are shared across other social media platforms to broaden the audience. With the primary recruitment pool for silviculture comprising young people between the ages of 18 and 25,
The Cache fills an important space in the industry social media strategy. The Cache will also provide an important means of centralizing and increasing access to training as the industry adapts its workforce and skill sets to deal with changing industry needs, new hazards associated with climate change, and shifts in economic conditions and workforce composition.
Article reprinted from WFCA Round-Up May 2025
