CFA Pleased to see Interest-Free Portion of Advanced Payments Program Increased to Help Producer Cash-Flow

March 26th, Ottawa – The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) welcomed today’s announcement by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) that the interest-free portion of the Advanced Payments Program (APP) would be increased to $250,000. The APP provides loans that have an interest-free portion to help farmers deal with cash-flow and increased production costs.

In 2022, the government increased the interest-free portion of APP loans to $250,000 to aid with pandemic recovery, and subsequently increased the threshold to $350,000 in 2023 to aid with escalating costs of crucial farm inputs such as fertilizer and fuel. Prior to this announcement, the APP was scheduled to return the interest-free portion to $100,000 in 2024.

CFA has been advocating strongly to retain the increased interest-free portion of the APP loans to reflect the significant inflationary pressures producers have experienced since the interest-free portion was first set at $100,000.

“Increasing the interest-free portion to $250,000 is welcome news to producers across Canada as these loans assist with cash-flow issues without any financial penalty. Farming is extremely time-sensitive and farmers must often make purchases for the next growing season before they have been paid for the last,” said CFA President, Keith Currie.

“Given the costs facing farmers are only expected to increase, we hope this change can set a new permanent baseline for interest-free advances and that the APP will continue to make adjustments that keep pace with rising farm expenses in the coming years.” Currie added.

CFA 2024 Annual General Meeting Recap

OTTAWA, Feb 29th, 2024 — This week’s annual meeting of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) brought together farm and food leaders from across Canada under the theme Seizing Opportunities: Canada Growing Role on the World Stage.

“Canadian agriculture is consistently being impacted by events that are outside of our borders and global in nature. When problems and opportunities transcend borders, our actions must be developed with a global context in mind. Canadian agriculture has an incredibly important leadership role in global food security and the fight against climate change, and our AGM looks at how we can leverage that role for the benefit of Canada and the world,” said CFA President Keith Currie.

At the meeting, the CFA membership passed 53 resolutions that will outline much of its advocacy efforts in the coming year. This year’s resolutions cover a range of issues, including: conservation, climate change, labour, rural infrastructure, crop protection, international trade, risk management and much more.

The CFA had a range of high-profile speakers at the AGM, including:

  • Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
  • Robert Bonnie, Under Secretary of Farm Production and Conservation, USDA
  • John Barlow, Agriculture Critic for the Conservative Party of Canada
  • Alistair MacGregor, Agriculture Critic for the NDP
  • Yves Perron, Agriculture Critic for the Bloc Québécois
  • John Weigelt, National Technology Officer, Microsoft
  • Steve Verheul, Principal, GT and Company

At the onset of the AGM, there were four interactive workshops for delegates which explored key agricultural topics that included: Trade & Non-Tariff Barriers, Farm Financial Health, Data & Agriculture and Cybersecurity & AG. Each workshop was led and informed by key subject matter experts, focused on finding tangible and innovative solutions to the challenges of today.

The CFA AGM featured two panels. The first, entitled Supply Chain Dynamics in Canadian Agriculture, sponsored by Food, Health and Consumer Products of Canada, examined the complicated links of the global supply chain and how they are positively and negatively impacting Canadian agriculture. The keynote speaker was Deputy Minister of Transport, Mr. Arun Thangaraj.

The second panel of the AGM entitled Live with RealAg Radio hosted & moderated by Shaun Haney: Geopolitical Impacts on Canadian Agriculture, was sponsored by MNP. This panel examined how various geopolitical events in different regions are impacting the Canadian agriculture sector now, along with predictions of how they would evolve in the future.

During the AGM, CFA was proud to publicly endorse Agriculture in the Classroom Canada (AITC-C) as the leader in agriculture education in Canada. AITC-C is the national advocate for agricultural education, educating students and teachers about agriculture and the opportunities in the sector.

Recordings of the panels, political speakers as well as accompanying documentation, including passed resolutions, will be posted on the CFA website, www.cfa-fca.ca, in the coming days.

Food Freedom Day is February 9, 2024

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) has calculated that by Friday, February 9th, 2024, a Canadian household of average income will have earned enough to pay for their entire year’s grocery bill.

Each year, CFA examines the proportion of income that Canadians spend on food to explore year-over-year expenditure changes and raise consumers’ understanding of Canada’s food system, from Farm-Gate-to-Plate.

Canadians spent 11.1% of their disposable income on food in 2023, which is slightly higher than the 11% of disposable income spent on food in 2022. As this change is very slight, Food Freedom Day lands on the same day as the previous year, February 9th

With food prices having seen multiple years of significant inflation, it’s important to provide further context on the Food Freedom Day metric, as the average Canadian disposable income is not representative of every Canadian’s experience or the effects that rising food prices have on them. While Canada’s food system continues to provide access to affordable food by global standards, inflation and other global events have negatively impacted food affordability and security greatly over the past few years.

Due to this, CFA continues to analyze Food Freedom Day with an eye to the differential impacts food prices have on Canadian households based on household income levels to show the percentage of disposable income that they spent on food last year. The graph below presents this information.

Source: Distributions of household economic accounts, income, consumption and saving, by characteristic, quarterly

As can be seen in the graph above, there is a large difference between how much disposable income households in the lowest income quintile (28%) and the highest income quintile (5%) spent on food and beverages throughout the year. Adding onto this, rising prices are affecting the lowest quintile disproportionately, with the lowest income quintile’s disposable income spending on food and non-alcoholic beverages rising quickly (23.1% in 2022 to 28% in 2023) while the disposable income spending as a percentage has lowered for the highest quintile (5.2% in 2022 to 5% in 2023).

As can be seen, lower-income Canadian households are facing a heavier burden when it comes to rising food costs, while increases in disposable income for the highest quintile may be outpacing food inflation.

CFA would like to note that while Canadians have seen food prices increase steadily throughout 2023 on the grocery shelves, farmers receive a small percentage of the price that consumers pay for food, and rising retail prices are not normally reflective of what is paid at the farm-gate. As an example, a recent report from the Agricultural Producer of Saskatchewan showed that if the sole driving factor behind the escalating prices of bread were the increasing costs associated with wheat, the inflation rate for 2022 would have registered at 2%. However, the actual observed inflation for 2022 amounted to a considerably higher 18%.

Farmers have seen their costs of production increase tremendously over the past several years, with many of their largest expenses, such as fertilizer and diesel, rising nearly 100% in that period.

With food costs continuing to rise, we know that many Canadians are struggling with food security and affordability. The Food Freedom Day metric shows that while Canada’s food system is a world leader in providing access to affordable food, there is a large difference in impact for Canadians of different income levels, with the lowest facing a huge, increasing burden when it comes to food costs,” said Keith Currie CFA President.

Food inflation is a complex issue, and studies have shown that it comes from far more than fluctuating commodity prices. At CFA, we are working with industry and government on a variety of initiatives to try to both understand and combat food inflation, in order to reverse this alarming trend.”

Distinguished CFA Past-President Mary Robinson Appointed to the Senate of Canada

OTTAWA, January 22, 2024 – The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) proudly congratulates Past-President Mary Robinson on her esteemed appointment to the Senate of Canada.

Mary Robinson made history as the first female President of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, steering the organization from 2019 to 2023. Her tenure witnessed exemplary leadership in navigating the challenges posed by COVID-19 and its far-reaching consequences on Canada’s agriculture sector. A dynamic national figure in Canadian agriculture, Mary has spearheaded numerous transformative initiatives, demonstrating her unwavering commitment to Canadian agriculture.

Hailing from Prince Edward Island, Mary Robinson is a managing partner of a 6th generation family farm operation, Eric C. Robinson Inc. and its sister company Island Lime and serves on the boards of associated companies PEI Agromart and Mid-Isle Farms. Prior to her role at CFA, she served as the first female Chair at the Canadian Agriculture Human Resource Council, held the presidency of the PEI Federation of Agriculture from 2015 to 2017, and joined the Board of Directors of the World Farmers’ Organization (WFO) in 2020. In recognition of her global impact, Mary was elected Vice-President of the World Farmers Organization in May 2023. Currently, she holds positions on the UPEI Board of Governors and the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity Board of Directors.

As a proud representative of the Robinson family’s agricultural legacy in Augustine Cove, Prince Edward Island, Mary Robinson’s appointment to the Senate reflects her deep-rooted commitment to advancing Canadian interests.

Keith Currie, CFA President, expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “Mary has consistently been a stalwart leader and advocate for Canadian agriculture. We are thrilled to see someone of her caliber, with extensive knowledge, expertise, and a profound understanding of agriculture, join the Senate.”

The CFA extends its best wishes to Mary Robinson in her new role and looks forward to collaborating with her to support farmers nationwide in achieving Canada’s ambitious goals for the agriculture sector. Recognizing Mary’s dedication and integrity, the CFA is exceptionally proud and honored to have had her serve as its previous President.


For media inquiries, please contact:

Laurie Karson, Director of Communications and Stakeholder Relations
Laurie@canadian-farmers.ca

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture Calls on Senators to Vote Against Amendments to Bill C-234

October 26, 2023 (Ottawa, ON) – The Canadian Federation of Agriculture, who represent 190,000 farm families across Canada, is urging Senators to vote against amendments to Bill C-234, An Act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, proposed by the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. This amendment removes “heating and cooling of barns and greenhouses” from activities that would be exempted from the carbon tax.

“Farmers are stewards of the land committed to the long-term health of Canada’s environment, but also to providing affordable food and agriculture products to Canadians and the world.  This proposed amendment shows there is a real disconnect on how the carbon tax is impacting farmers and our ability to invest in on-farm sustainability and productivity,” said CFA President Keith Currie.

The carbon tax is meant to push society towards energy sources that produce fewer emissions. However, when cooling and heating their barns and greenhouses, farmers have no commercially viable energy alternatives to propane and natural gas. Due to the lack of alternatives, the carbon tax creates a financial burden without any reduction of emissions.

This financial burden impacts producers’ abilities to invest in productivity and improvements in environmental performance, reducing their capital and cash-flow to make investments that would benefit their operations, support food security, and provide climate solutions across Canada.

“Temperature control is only going to become more important and energy-intensive as the climate continues to change. This is essential for both animal and plant health. It’s crucial that farmers aren’t further burdened on the activities they take to mitigate the effects of climate change, a financial burden that ironically forces them to focus on meeting their short-term financial needs rather than long-term sustainability initiatives,” added Currie.

CFA urges Senators to vote against the amendments to Bill C-234 to show their support of Canadian agriculture and farmers.

Bill C-359 Will Improve Farmers’ Competitiveness While Enhancing Food Security

October 20, Ottawa – CFA supports Bill C-359 proposed by MP Kody Blois, An Act to amend the Feeds Act, the Seeds Act and the Pest Control Products Act (provisional registration and approval) and calls for the urgent implementation of the measures contained within this Bill to support Canadian agriculture’s competitiveness.

The ability of farmers to have timely access to crop inputs such as feed, seed and products for use in pest management, while maintaining Canada’s rigorous regulatory requirements, is extremely important. If producers are to remain competitive in the global market, we must ensure they have access to the products they need, when they need them.

This Bill echoes many of CFA’s longstanding recommendations regarding the approval process for new seed, feed or pest control products. In essence, the Bill would create an expedited, provisional path for regulatory approval for feed, seed or pest control products which have already been approved by “trusted jurisdictions”, which meet Canadian regulatory and safety requirements.

“This Bill will reduce the delays associated with often-duplicated efforts by regulators in different jurisdictions and allow for quicker, provisional approval of these types of products, while still allowing for fulsome regulatory reviews to ensure there is no compromise to public health or safety,” said Keith Currie, CFA President.

By leveraging the approvals of other jurisdictions, Canadian regulators can speed up their own regulatory processes without sacrificing transparency or impeding science-based approval decisions. This will improve the competitiveness of Canadian farmers by increasing the products available to them.

Alongside this proposed legislation, we also call on the Government of Canada to publish the modernized Feed Regulations by the end of 2023. We look forward to the completion of this important 13-year project. With the completion of the Feed Regulations, we can then continue to enhance Canada’s approach to expediting foreign approval recognition for feed registrations by way of this proposed legislation.

CFA’s recently released Farm Financial Health Report outlines the tremendous challenges farmers are facing relating to the increased costs of production, and how the sector needs to take hold of every opportunity to improve its competitiveness. It includes a suite of recommendations on how to move our sector forward sustainably, one of which is regulatory modernization. MP Blois’ Bill is an urgently needed, no-cost measure that will help reduce regulatory burden without sacrificing transparency or food safety.

“The world is moving quickly, and it’s imperative that farmers can move at the same pace. New feed, seed and pest control products can help our sector harness its potential in the fight against climate change, promote food security and give us the tools we need to combat new pests that emerge as the climate changes,” added Keith Currie.

North American European Union Agriculture Conference Brings International Farm Leaders Together to Tackle Global Issues in Agriculture

September 19, 2023, OTTAWA – The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), in partnership with COPA-COGECA, the American Farm Bureau and the Consejo Nacional Agropecuario, hosted the North American/European Union Agriculture Conference (NA/EU) in Charlottetown, PEI from September 12-14.

The NA/EU is a bi-annual event that brings together farm leaders from the European Union and North America to discuss the pressing issues affecting agriculture and to collaborate and share ideas to work towards solutions.

The NA/EU was attended by approximately 280 representatives from EU Member States, as well as from Canada, Mexico and the United States of America.

The conference provided a platform for constructive debate, featuring panels on the most pressing issues facing agriculture:

  • Global challenges
  • Agriculture and global trade
  • Sustainability and innovation
  • Responding to market and consumer trends
  • Food security and resilience in agricultural systems

“This conference is an opportunity to share a wide range of perspectives on the key issues and solutions to some of the issues that affect agriculture across the globe, and share lessons learned on how we can best solve the challenges we face as an industry,” said Keith Currie, CFA President.

During the conference, presentations and remarks were given by a series of prominent international and Canadian leaders in agriculture and food, including:

  • Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
  • Bloyce Thompson, Minister of Agriculture for Prince Edward Island
  • Zippy Duvall, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation
  • Marco Galindo, Director of Economic Studies, Consejo Nacional Agropecuario
  • Ramon Armengol, President of Cogeca
  • Christiane Lambert, President of Copa

“Farmers on both sides of the Atlantic are facing similar pressures from climate change, high input costs, labour shortages and changing market and consumer trends. The North American European Union Agricultural Conference provided a forum to share information and work together on solutions to some of the issues facing the sector. This is the kind of collaboration that will help us achieve our common goal of feeding the world sustainably, while building strong, productive and resilient food systems. Thank you to the Canadian Federation of Agriculture for hosting this important event in Prince Edward Island,” said the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

On the evening of September 11th, a Leadership Summit and dinner was held, bringing VIPs and farm leaders together to learn about some of the innovative farm practices of PEI.

During the conference, a wide range of bilateral meetings were held between the leaders of various regions across North America and the EU for in-depth discussion on topics such as animal emergency preparedness, plant breeding innovation as well as consumer trends.

The event featured a welcome reception and an evening gala with entertainment and local cuisine from PEI. It also featured an agriculture tour featuring a selection of the diverse farming and food operations across PEI.

CFA Pleased at Launch of the Temporary Foreign Worker Recognized Employer Program, Reducing Administrative Burden for Trusted Employers in Agriculture

OTTAWA, ON – August 10th, 2023 – CFA welcomes today’s announcement of the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Recognized Employer Program, a three-year pilot that will first be made available to agricultural workers this September before its wider rollout in January 2024. This program, which CFA has advocated for over many years, looks to reduce the administrative burden required to obtain TFW’s for agricultural operations facing clear, chronic labour shortages and a proven track-record of abiding by all rules set forth for the treatment of agricultural employees.

“Canadian agriculture has had chronic labour issues for decades, which have only been exacerbated as labour and skills shortages have become more widespread throughout the Canadian economy. Many farmers across Canada have been unable to recruit Canadian workers for years. As a result, they are reliant on Temporary Foreign Workers to address these chronic shortages for in-demand occupations, many of them working with the same people for years, if not decades, on end. While we look forward to getting further details on the program, this program looks like it will reduce the administrative burden on those farmers who can demonstrate a history of compliance and years of reliability as employers,” said Keith Currie, CFA President.

“We applaud the federal government for launching this long-awaited program and are looking forward to working with them to ensure that this has the intended effect of streamlining administrative processes for those farmers and giving a public-facing designation on the Canada Job Bank that will add in their ongoing recruitment of Canadians by demonstrating their track-record as reliable employers and their commitment to safe working conditions.”

The Canadian Agri-food Sustainability Initiative Celebrates the Progress Achieved through its First Iteration

June 8th, 2023, Ottawa – The Canadian Agri-Food Sustainability Initiative (CASI) is celebrating the achievement of an important milestone in its work: the release of the final report for the first iteration of the project. The report highlights the key findings to date, as well as next steps to move the initiative from the testing to further development phase.

CASI is a federally funded project led by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). CASI seeks to facilitate continuous improvement in sustainability across the Canadian agricultural industry, ensuring confidence and trust in the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of Canadian agricultural products.

The CFA is a farmer-funded, national umbrella organization comprising of provincial general farm organizations and national and interprovincial commodity groups, representing 190,000 farm families across Canada. Wilton Consulting Group supported CASI’s development by providing strategic research, engagement, and communication expertise. Anthesis Provision led the development and testing of the first iteration of the CASI platform.

Between 2020 and 2023, the CASI team engaged agri-food sector stakeholders across Canada through more than 100 interviews, five workshops and regular Governance Committee and subcommittee meetings. The team also completed two pilot projects to develop and test the CASI platform.

The CASI project showed the value of a platform to document evidence of sustainable production practices. Opportunities exist to build on the momentum of this work through testing approaches to benchmarking between national and international sustainability standards and to verify practices to facilitate market access.

The CASI team are collaborating on the next steps for this important national initiative for the agricultural industry.

“The strong collaborations between agricultural organizations and other value chain stakeholders helped to ensure the success of the first iteration of CASI. We appreciate the dedication of the CASI Governance Committee, and all the contributions of industry representatives through the engagement activities over the past three years. We will build on the lessons learned to date to ensure CASI will support Canadian producers in streamlining the documentation of their sustainable production practices for the marketplace. In the process, producers can also identify ways to advance their sustainability journey.”

Dr. Bronwynne Wilton, Principal & Lead Consultant, Wilton Consulting Group

“The release of the final CASI report is the culmination of a tremendous amount of work and collaboration dedicated to making the Canadian Agri-Food sector a shining example of sustainability. The CASI platform has the potential to reduce duplication of efforts and alleviate some of the administrative burden for producers in their sustainability efforts, with potential for increasing market access by demonstrating uptake of sustainable agricultural practices.”

Keith Currie, President, CFA and Co-Chair, CASI Governance Committee

View and download the full report in both official languages, here.

Financial support was provided through the AgriAssurance Program under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. 

About the Canadian Federation of Agriculture

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) was formed in 1935 as a unified voice to speak on behalf of Canadian farmers. CFA’s work continues today as a farmer-funded, national umbrella organization comprising of provincial general farm organizations and national and interprovincial commodity groups, representing producers of all commodities, who operate farms of all sizes. Through its members, CFA represents approximately 190,000 Canadian farm families from coast to coast to coast. CFA promotes the interests of Canadian agriculture producers to ensure the continued development of a trusted, sustainable, and vibrant agriculture sector in Canada.

About Wilton Consulting Group

Wilton Consulting Group (WCG) is based in Fergus, ON. The firm focuses on facilitating sustainability and innovation in agri-food and rural systems through a change management approach. WCG offers a specialized agri-food sector research consulting service with deep connections across the Canadian industry. WCG’s research strengths draw upon a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods and approaches. WCG has supported such national clients as Farm Management Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute.

What we Heard Report – Agricultural Labour Strategy

May 19th, Ottawa, ON – The Canadian Federation of Agriculture and its partners The Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council (CAHRC) and Food and Beverage Canada (FBC) are pleased to see Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) What We Heard Report, which details feedback received by the Department during consultations on the development of a National Agricultural Labour Strategy. Work on this strategy is a key item in the Mandate Letter of the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC), and Food and Beverage Canada (FBC-ABC) have been championing development of an industry-led National Workforce Strategic Framework for Agriculture and Food & Beverage Manufacturing since 2021, with funding from the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Centre. To date there have been more than 100 industry participants involved in this work through advisory committees, working groups and broader engagement. The National Workforce Strategic Plan seeks to complement the efforts of the Government of Canada, including the development of a National Agricultural Labour Strategy.

As part of AAFC’s consultation process, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC), and Food and Beverage Canada (FBC-ABC) provided an interim report on the development of an industry-led National Workforce Strategic Framework for Agriculture and Food & Beverage Manufacturing. This interim report included the signatures of 34 industry organizations as well. The input from this is well-reflected in the What We Heard Report, demonstrating the collaboration between the two initiatives.

We appreciate the commitment to collaborative and sustained engagement from AAFC and the Minister that will ensure both strategies remain aligned on wanting to take complementary and collaborative action on short, medium and long-term solutions to address labour shortages and systemic workforce challenges.

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About the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council

The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council works with industry leaders, governments and educational stakeholders to research, develop and communicate solutions to the challenges in employment and skills development in primary agriculture.

About the Canadian Federation of Agriculture

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) was formed in 1935 as a unified voice to speak on behalf of Canadian farmers. CFA’s work continues today as a farmer-funded, national umbrella organization comprising of provincial general farm organizations and national and interprovincial commodity groups, representing producers of all commodities, who operate farms of all sizes. Through its members, CFA represents approximately 190,000 Canadian farm families from coast to coast to coast. CFA promotes the interests of Canadian agriculture producers to ensure the continued development of a trusted, sustainable, and vibrant agriculture sector in Canada.

About Food and Beverage Canada

Food and Beverage Canada (FBC-ABC) is the national industry association representing Canada’s domestic food and beverage manufacturers. Its members include Canada’s provincial and regional food and beverage manufacturing associations as well as leading Canadian food and beverage companies. FBC-ABC advances a competitive business environment that enables growth and sustainability through knowledge sharing, consultation, business-led solutions and proactive advocacy. Across Canada there are almost 8,000 food and beverage manufacturing establishments employing almost 300,000 workers.