Thank you, Mr. Tweed.
Mr. Chair and members of Parliament, my name is Roger Larson. I'm the president of the Canadian Fertilizer Institute. I'd like to provide a very brief introduction, and Robert Godfrey will be covering our major points.
CFI is a not-for-profit industry association. We represent the manufacturers, wholesalers, importers, and retail distributors of nitrogen, phosphate, potash, and sulphur fertilizers. With facilities located across Canada, our growing industry contributes $12 billion annually to Canada’s economy and employs 12,000 Canadians, mainly in rural Canada, I would add.
We are very pleased to be here today to speak to this committee about how the fertilizer supply chain supports the agriculture industry.
The fertilizer supply chain is global and markets are driven globally by farmers around the world. Canadian farmers have access to abundant, high-quality fertilizers made in Canada or imported through many of our 46 member companies. Supplying Canadian farmers is a large part of our industry’s goal.
Global customers also demand access to our products. Our supply chain is often focused on world markets as we look to growing our industry by investing in the Canadian economy and creating new value-added skilled jobs, mainly in rural Canada.
Today, I would like to highlight three points.
First, the fertilizer industry is committed to voluntary industry programs for safety, security, and environmental protection.
Second, fertilizer supply chain logistics—trucks, trains, ports, and ships—are critical to getting farmers the fertilizer essential to meeting global food demand and to feeding nine billion people.
Third, the Canadian fertilizer industry is investing heavily to ensure that fertilizer supply will meet future global demand. Our member companies are investing $15 billion in potash; over $3 billion in nitrogen, which has been announced; and over $600 million in our terminals at ports
I would like to note that we thank Minister Gerry Ritz for the department contributing $700,000 to support our efforts to help farmers use 4R nutrient stewardship to reduce on-farm greenhouse gases.
I would like to highlight that on Monday of this week, the Canadian fertilizer industry signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Prince Edward Island—two major farm groups and a major watershed group—on 4R nutrient stewardship to improve farm fertilizer use. This MOU is a cornerstone of CFI's commitment to agriculture innovation.
With that, I'd like to turn it over to Robert to explain what 4R nutrient stewardship is.