Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for this opportunity to discuss actions being taken at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in the context of the results of the comprehensive expenditure review.
I am joined by Andrew Goldstein, our associate assistant deputy minister of science and technology, and Alain Lagacé, our assistant deputy minister of our corporate management branch.
The comprehensive expenditure review was undertaken to restore government spending to sustainable levels by identifying spending efficiencies and focusing on core mandates. As members will be aware, the outcomes of the review process were outlined in budget 2025.
With regard to AAFC specifically, the department was required to reduce our operational spending, programming and science footprint in order to find $154.7 million in savings by 2028-29. To achieve these savings, we are making reductions across the entire department to reflect the objectives of the review, including finding efficiencies and directing available resources to areas with the greatest impact on core objectives.
In messages to departmental staff on January 22 and 23 of this year, I communicated the impacts of these decisions to our workforce and departmental activities. In the two weeks since, our focus has been on communicating directly with our own employees and our partners who will be affected by these decisions.
Although these reductions are, as I noted, taking place across the entire department, we recognize and understand that the decision to wind down some of our research facilities and research farms has been a matter of specific interest and concern.
I'd like to put these closures in a broader context.
The department has an operating budget of roughly $800 million. Our annual expenditures associated with science and research facilities account for about $300 million of that total. Out of that $300 million, $90 million is spent on corporate support, such as maintenance and utilities. This is not money that goes to science and research but rather to utilities, maintenance and other costs associated with maintaining 20 research development centres and 25 satellite centres. Not surprisingly, with the passage of time, these upkeep expenses go up and are accompanied by ongoing capital rust-out.
Faced with this reality, it was determined that it would be a much more efficient use of funds to consolidate science efforts into fewer facilities and prioritize the science efforts that are most core to the department's mandate, rather than diverting more and more resources to operational costs and upkeep over time. As a consequence, we are closing three of our 20 research and development centres—those in Quebec City, Guelph and Lacombe. We will also close four of our satellite farms—those in Scott, Indian Head, Portage la Prairie and Nappan. We are making every effort to support our affected employees through what is admittedly a challenging period.
I want to emphasize that AAFC will remain the largest agricultural science enterprise in the country, and will continue to advance strategic and high-impact science with a focus on crops and horticulture, animal production, food processing, biodiversity and environmental sustainability.
I will point out that these staffing reductions will result in a limited reduction of the actual number of research scientists working at AAFC. We estimate that the number of research scientists who will not remain in their current location or be offered an equivalent position elsewhere will be about 27. That is a little over 7% of our entire team of scientists.
I will also note that at least half of the reductions in the department, overall, are operational efficiencies, not program or science reductions.
We will continue to invest in science and strengthen collaborations with industry, governments, academia and other key stakeholders in Canada and around the world. We will continue to help producers protect their crops and boost their yields through the minor use pesticide program.
We will continue to support food processing and food safety.
We will continue to be Canada's largest agricultural research organization. With 17 research centres and with research farmland across the country, every province will continue to have at least one AAFC research centre, maintaining a strong national footprint while addressing both regional and national priorities.
As well, AAFC's commitment to science excellence and sector partnership has not changed. We will continue to work with provinces, territories, universities, colleges, producers and private sector innovators. We can pool our talents and resources to drive cutting-edge research, science and innovation, to avoid duplication with academia and the private sector, and to gear resources towards science as opposed to operational costs.
The decisions taken, difficult as they have been, do not diminish the department's commitment to supporting a growing agriculture sector through science and innovation. Rather, they ensure that resources are directed where they can have the greatest impact in that mission. In every province across Canada, we will maintain and grow our collaborations with industry, academia and international networks.
We will continue to look for new opportunities to leverage our shared resources, here at home and around the world. At Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, we will continue to work with producers, partners and our diverse stakeholders to chart the best way forward for the sector.
Again, I want to thank the chair for this opportunity. My colleagues and I will be happy to answer your questions.
Thank you.
