Read CFA’s submission for the 2022 Federal Budget
Several consultations were undertaken during the lead up to the 2022 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.
As the heart of Canadian agri-food industry generating over $140 billion in GDP and 1 in 8 Canadian jobs, Canadian producers are a strategic pillar of Canada’s economic recovery, long-term growth, and the fight against climate change. The resilience and sustainability of Canadian agriculture is grounded in innovation, continuous improvement, and the need to produce more food with fewer resources.
Canadian agriculture has outpaced all other Canadian industries in productivity growth over the past half-century. The last 15 years alone have seen the value of Canadian agricultural production more than double, while GHG emissions have remained stable due to the introduction of various practices, new technologies and innovations.
Maintaining this productivity growth and enhancing agriculture’s contributions as climate solutions-providers requires a policy environment that supports investments in best management practices (BMPs) and innovation in the short-term, while making policy and investments that spur innovation and ensure its utility in rural regions across the country into the future. The following recommendations lay out a path to this policy environment:
Key Recommendations
- That the government increase financial support through the next Agriculture Policy Framework:
- Create a national direct payment program to compensate producers for environmentally beneficial practices.
- Develop a strategy to address geopolitical barriers to trade and competitors’ trade supports.
- Enhance risk management responsiveness to supply chain and climate-related disruptions.
- That the government leverage agriculture’s full breadth of potential environmental benefits:
- Establish carbon pricing exemptions for necessary climate change mitigation activities.
- Implement an accessible, broad suite of agricultural offset protocols.
- Create additional ecological goods and services programming.
- That the government invest in critical infrastructure needs:
- Strategically invest in two interconnected national initiatives, One Health Canada and Growing Canada, to modernize and upgrade labs, classrooms and research equipment that will be vital in training the future highly-skilled agri-food workforce.
- Lower the threshold for eligible projects in federal connectivity funding and allow bundling of multiple projects to ensure small service providers can access funding.
- Re-establish the CRTC’s High-Cost Service Area fund.
- Establish basic minimum standards for service and rates.
- Maintain and grow the National Trade Corridor Fund (NTCF).
- Commit to a railway costing review to recalibrate the Maximum Revenue Entitlement (MRE).