Read CFA’s submission for the 2021 Federal Budget
Several consultations were undertaken during the lead up to the 2021 Federal Budget to gather recommendations on how federal dollars should be spent. CFA submitted a Pre-Budget submission to help inform the budget process.
Read the submission here.
Advocacy Campaign
CFA released the recommendations below in order to help unify the message being sent to the government from farmers across the country. The recommendations were prepared based on input from CFA members. Members were urged to bring up these recommendations during any opportunities they had to engage with their MPs.
Key Recommendations
CFA outlined the following key recommendations in the Pre-Budget Submission:
Recommendation 1: Kick-starting Canada’s economic recovery:
- Enhance risk management support: That the government restore the AgriStability payment trigger to 85% and eliminate the cap to reference margins.
- Secure critical food infrastructure: That the government invest in the development of more Canadian food processing facilities.
- Buy Canadian Campaign launch: That the government reallocate underutilized AgriMarketing program dollars to implement a Buy Canadian campaign for Canadian retail channels, and engage exporters to identify and address key export opportunities. Deliver full and fair support to Canada’s supply management farmers to mitigate recent trade agreement losses.
Recommendation 2: Leveraging agriculture’s environmental contributions:
- Establish additional environmental revenue streams: That the government creates programs that allow producers to generate credits for agricultural activities under both the Federal Greenhouse Gas Offset System and Clean Fuel Standard.
- Support regulatory efficiency and competitiveness: That the government supports farmers’ access to innovative technologies and increases base funding to support the PMRA in updating their re-evaluation process. Funding should also be provided to PMRA for a national pilot project that monitors pesticide occurrences in water and generates data for decision making.
Recommendation 3 – Building greater resilience in Canada’s food system ($3 million investment to development and retention of workforce and invest in technology):
- Invest in an agri-food workforce and automation strategy: That the government invests in priority areas to reduce job vacancies through career promotion, improve skills training opportunities for workers, support human resource management training/certification, and support commercialization of labour-saving technologies.