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Ministers agree to $500 million for sustainable ag over five years

Last week, federal, provincial and territorial ministers of agriculture reached an agreement in principle for the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership at their annual meeting in Saskatoon. The new five-year agreement will inject $500 million in new funds to the industry, representing a 25 per cent increase in the cost-shared portion of the partnership.

Ministers agreed to improve business risk management programs, including raising the AgriStability compensation rate to 80 per cent from 70 per cent. Under the cost-shared envelope, they agreed in principle to the $250 million Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program to support ecological goods and services provided by the agriculture sector.

The new agreement includes stronger targets such as a three to five MT reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, increasing sector competitiveness, revenue and exports, and increased participation of Indigenous Peoples, women and youth. There will also be a focus on measuring the results of framework investments.

Ministers also advanced talks around African Swine Fever prevention and preparedness, including lessons learned from the recent Avian Influenza outbreak response. They discussed labour and ongoing work towards a federal National Agricultural Labour Strategy and regulatory priorities.

Ministers also discussed the importance of ensuring that efforts to reduce emissions from fertilizer or other agricultural sources do not impede Canada’s ability to contribute to domestic and global food security, now or into the future. They also addressed the importance of the health of bee populations, domestic and native, to Canada’s economy and the environment. They agreed to work together to make science-based decisions about the safe import of honeybees.