- Production supervisors
- Line leads
- Machine and packaging operators
Talent acquisition for Canadian food manufacturers
The team thatscales yourfood plant.
We find the people, win them over, build your hiring program and position you to keep them. Talent acquisition for food manufacturers that want to scale and lead their industry, not a staffing firm that fills a req.
Find | Win | Build | Position | Scale | Food manufacturers across Canada and the US
Navigate the employment landscape
A giant industry hiring from a shrinking pool
Food and beverage manufacturing is the largest manufacturing employer in Canada. It also has to replace close to a third of its people within a decade, from a population growing at under one percent a year. That is the math behind every open shift on your floor.
The industry318,400
people work in Canada's food and beverage plants: the country's largest manufacturing employer, with $173.4 billion in sales in 2024 and more than 8,000 plants.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2024The pool173,000
new hires the sector needs between 2026 and 2034. Nearly 100,000 of them only replace people who are leaving. Operators are the biggest gap.
Food Processing Skills Canada, September 20262.4%yearly employment growth the sector needs to meet demand
<1%Canada's population growth, the pool those hires come from
$190/daylost net revenue for every position a plant leaves open
Sources: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, overview of the food and beverage processing industry · AAFC transition book 2024 (plant count) · Food Processing Skills Canada, Labour Market Insights 2026-2034 · Food Processing Skills Canada, cost of an unfilled position
Every plant is fishing in the same pond, and the pond is shrinking. Posting a job and waiting is not a plan. The plants that stay staffed treat talent acquisition as a strategy, not a scramble: where the people are, what moves them, and what makes them stay. That is what we help you navigate.
Find. Win. Build. Position. Scale.
01
Find the people
An active search that reaches the candidates who aren't applying to postings or sitting on LinkedIn, across Canada and the US.
02
Win them over
We know what food-plant candidates want and what the competition is offering, so we close the ones you want.
03
Build the program
Your talent acquisition strategy as a whole: the roles, the process, the pipeline. A hiring program, not a one-off search.
04
Position you to keep them
Your offer, shift and story, set against the market, so the people you hire are still on the floor when you scale.
05
Scale the plant
The end goal: a team that lets the business scale and lead its industry, with your time back for the initiatives that get it there.
Ready for a conversation that actually moves the dial?
Book a callCase study
20+ hires in 18 months, and an HR team that got its time back
A food manufacturer in the GTAOne facility in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario.
Over the past 18 months Traverse has hired more than 20 people for one food manufacturing facility in the Greater Toronto Area: line staff, skilled trades, and office roles like finance and HR.
Line staffSkilled tradesFinance and HR
The result
- 1Qualified conversations onlyTalent acquisition and HR spent their time talking to vetted, qualified candidates, not sorting resumes.
- 2Offers, not sourcingTheir focus moved to dialing in offers for top talent instead of finding it.
- 3Talent that staysA clear picture of what keeps good people on the floor, so the business can keep scaling.
20+people hired
18months as their recruiting partner
3kinds of roles: line, trades, office
The people a food plant runs on
We recruit for the roles that stop a line when they sit open, and for the office roles that keep the plant running.
- Millwrights and industrial mechanics (433A, Red Seal)
- Industrial electricians
- Maintenance planners
- QA technicians
- Food safety coordinators (HACCP, SQF, BRCGS)
- QA managers
- Sanitation leads and supervisors
- Sanitation technicians
- Shipping and receiving leads
- Forklift-certified warehouse staff
- Inventory coordinators
- Process engineers
- Continuous-improvement engineers
- Plant engineers
- Plant managers
- Operations managers
- Directors of operations
- Finance and accounting
- HR
How it works
A short call
Tell us the role, the shift and what good looks like on your floor.
2-3 vetted profiles
We run an active search and send two or three people who fit. Not a stack of resumes.
You interview, you hire
Flexible fee structures, rates within industry standards, and a guarantee on every candidate we place.
Before you book
The questions hiring managers ask a staffing firm first, answered straight.
What does it cost?
Flexible fee structures, based on how much of the work you want us to take on, with rates that sit within industry standards. The first thing we focus on is bringing your time to hire down and getting your time back for the work that matters: the initiatives that scale the company.
What if the hire doesn't work out?
Every candidate we place comes with a guarantee, and we stand by it. We have the track record in the industry to back it; ask us about it on the call.
How fast will we see people?
The search starts right after the call, and bringing your time to hire down is the first job. You get two or three vetted profiles that fit the role, the shift and the certifications, not a stack of resumes. On the call we'll tell you what the market looks like for your role in your area.
How do you screen for a food plant?
We recruit for food manufacturing: HACCP, SQF and BRCGS for quality roles, 433A and Red Seal for millwrights and electricians, forklift certification for the warehouse, and shift fit for every role. We also reach the candidates who are not applying to postings or sitting on LinkedIn, and every profile is pre-screened to your specifications before you see it.
Permanent, contract or temp?
All three. Permanent and direct hire, contract and temp to cover a shutdown, a new line or a seasonal peak, and retained search for plant and operations leadership.
Where do you place?
Traverse is in Toronto and hires for food manufacturers across Canada and in the US.
Hire the way your plant needs
Permanent / direct hire
Supervisors, trades and quality roles you want for the long run.
Contract & temp
Cover a shutdown, a new line or a seasonal peak.
Retained search
Plant and operations leadership, searched end to end.
Short a millwright on second shift?
Ready for a conversation that actually moves the dial? Pick a time. Brett will call you to talk through the role, the shift and what good looks like on your floor.
One GTA food manufacturer hired 20+ people through Traverse in 18 months.
Brett LawrieSenior Recruiter, Traverse Staffing · LinkedIn
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Open it in a new tab insteadPrefer to talk?416-274-3978recruitment@traversestaffing.com