Planning for Canada’s Agriculture and Food Future 

Canadians love to plan. We plan for retirement, for our kid’s education and, of course, for the weather—but I’m not always sure how that works out. It is just in our nature that we feel better prepared for what may come our way when we have a plan. 

Recently with all the turmoil around tariffs and trade, I began to wonder: does Canada have a plan? It is impossible to predict and prepare for all scenarios, but when Canada is so dependent on exports and international customers, it is important that we don’t take those relationships and trading partners for granted. 

Take, for example, our agriculture and food sector—something that is part of our national identity. We have long taken pride in our ability to be a global supplier of safe, healthy food. We are a leader in research and innovation, and our farmers utilize some of the latest technologies and innovations. With these practices, along with our millions of acres of farmland and rain-fed agriculture, we sustainably produce some of the most important crops for our global food and feed supply. As our world continues to face major food security challenges, we know there will be a greater dependency on Canada’s agriculture and food industry. 

We should be proud of this. But we also cannot take it for granted. It is important that we have a plan to ensure the growth and competitiveness of Canada’s agriculture and food sector for decades to come.

Agriculture: Growing the Economy

Throughout my career, I have worked around the world, learning the landscape of the food and agriculture sector. I have worked alongside Canada’s major trade customers but also had the opportunity to better know our competitors. And while many countries see the opportunity to supply the world with safe, high-quality food, a few are also seeing the agriculture sector as one of their key economic drivers. They have a plan.

When Europe launched their Farm to Fork Strategy, many didn’t realize that, as part of the EU Green Deal, this was, first and foremost, an economic plan for Europe. The intention was to lead the world in developing more sustainable food systems and bring new economic activity, innovation and trade to Europe. Whether it’s the right approach, only time will tell, but at least it was a very comprehensive plan for Europe.

In the United States, we see a different approach. With an incredibly advanced agriculture sector that has embraced innovation, the United States has focused on productivity growth to feed a growing domestic and international market demand. The focus on adopting new technology and improving production practices more sustainably has enabled their farming systems to maximize yield and production. A different approach—but also a plan.

Which brings us to the big question. What is Canada’s plan for our food and agricultural sector? How do we leverage our vast farming resources to generate more economic activity, more investment, more innovation and more infrastructure, further benefiting Canada and our economy? 

Canada’s agriculture and food sector has repeatedly proven that it is world-class and demands a premium for our differentiated products. Look no further than our heart-healthy canola oil, durum wheat that is the demand of Italy’s pasta makers or our food-grade soybeans that transform into the highest quality tofu in Japan. So how can we use these successes to build a national strategy for our food and agricultural sector?

The Potential of Value-Added Agriculture

I believe a large part of Canada’s plan for food and agriculture must include advancing our value-added agriculture sector—creating new high-value ingredients and food products by adding value to our commodities here in Canada.

When Protein Industries Canada was created through the Global Innovation Clusters Program, it was with the understanding that there had to be a coordinated approach to increase private sector investment into innovation and value-added agriculture. By bringing together the entire ecosystem, including industry, farmers, academia and government, we were able to build and implement a plan that netted benefits for Canada. By working collaboratively, over $600 million has been invested to advance the sector, creating hundreds of new products and processes and building capacity within the ecosystem. 

The Global Innovation Cluster program demonstrated that a plan is important. When we have a focused plan, we can mobilize partners across the value chain and get results quickly. 

We believe that a part of any plan for Canada’s agriculture and food sector must address the scale-up of Canadian companies to be globally competitive. Scaling Canadian companies and commercializing IP in Canada brings new food products to Canadians and our customers around the world, while also generating new economic activity for Canada.

To achieve these critical outcomes and advance Canada’s domestic processing industry, we need to create an environment that offers new markets for farmers and supports our businesses. We believe that there are several components that are vital for success: 

• Modernizing Canada’s regulatory system: The federal government and regulators must recognize that regulations have an impact on businesses’ ability to compete and our overall competitiveness as a country. We need to improve speed to market and align our regulatory standards with those of major trading partners

• Improving access to capital: As a country, we need to make Canada a more attractive place to invest. All levels of government can help by de-risking investment through appropriate incentives, such as refundable tax credits. This helps improve Canada’s competitiveness in areas such as construction costs

• Building additional scale-up infrastructure: The federal and provincial governments need to consider investments into infrastructure, such as a toll processing facility, to support the scale-up of Canadian companies

• Further diversify markets: Now, more than ever, we need to diversify our trading partners. Being a supplier of products and ingredients offers new opportunities for Canada, specifically in the Indo-Pacific region and Europe. Working with farmers, industry and government, we can create new opportunities for market access and generate greater demand. 

There is no question that agriculture and food are going to be key to the future of our world. As the global population increases, it needs more calories and more protein, from all sources. And with more volatile weather patterns, there is going to be even more pressure on the northern regions, such as Canada, to grow and produce more food. 

Canada has an exceptional opportunity. But to take advantage of this opportunity, we need a plan. We need to put the policies in place and make the critical investments that will allow Canada to become a leader in value-added agriculture.

Recent events have highlighted our vulnerability. Now is the time to make a plan.