Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members, for having me here today.
As mentioned, my name is Bill Greuel; I'm CEO at Protein Industries Canada. We are one of Canada's five global innovation clusters and are working to accelerate innovation in Canada's plant-based food and ingredients sector. We're doing this by building off Canada's strong foundation that makes our agriculture and food sector one of the best in the world: farmland, an abundance and diverse variety of rain-fed crops, and people who are committed to bringing healthy food to the tables of Canadians and around the world.
Over the past four years, Protein Industries Canada, along with the sector, has invested almost half a billion dollars to advance plant-based ingredient processing and food manufacturing right here in Canada. This investment represents a Canadian-made solution to a global food challenge. As a global agriculture powerhouse, Canada has the means, resources and skill to turn crops into food and transform the way the world eats. With this innovation, we believe we are advancing solutions to some of humanity's greatest challenges, including climate change, human health and food security.
As you are all aware, we are facing global food production and distribution challenges at a scale that of many us have never experienced before. The lingering effect of fragile supply chains impacted by COVID-19, combined with climate change and global conflict, have led to food inflation and, in some cases, food shortages. Unfortunately, this is not a one-time event; we should expect food shortages to persist as climate change continues to impact our ability to not only grow food but transport it. This, layered with a growing global population, means that the number of food-insecure people will only increase.
There is no doubt that Canada has an important role to play in helping mitigate this crisis. To do so, I believe there are three main areas where Canada must focus its efforts to increase exports and help lessen global food insecurity.
First, we need to increase domestic ingredient processing capacity. With our strengths in the production of commodities, Canada can do more to support global and domestic food security by processing those crops here at home. Plant-based ingredients and food are a source of sustainable economic growth. Increasing processing allows Canada to seize more value here at home, creating jobs and capturing the economic value associated with food and ingredient processing, which is an estimated additional $25 billion per year and 17,000 jobs by 2035. It will also strengthen our own domestic food supply chain, minimizing our reliance on food import from other countries in a highly competitive global marketplace. It tempers the effects of non-tariff trade barriers that can disrupt the movement of commodities. Put simply, ingredients and food are less likely to become a part of a trade disagreement, meaning that they can continue to be exported to get into the hands of those who need them. Finally, processing and exporting ingredients will require more diversified transportation to lessen the agriculture sector's reliance on rail.
My second recommendation is the need for a regulatory climate that supports and rewards innovation. While Canada's regulatory system is key to our ability to deliver safe food, we can also use it to drive innovation. We need a regulatory system that is timely and predictable and more closely aligned with our key trading partners, such as the United States. This will allow for better flow of ingredients across the border and, ultimately, to other countries.
My final recommendation is that we need to do more to build Canada's international reputation as a supplier of reliable, nutritious, sustainable ingredients and food products. Historically, we have been focused on commodities, and we have a strong reputation as a supplier of bulk grain. However, we are in the middle of a food revolution, and Canada is at the forefront. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become the preferred global supplier of plant-based foods and ingredients. To take full advantage of this opportunity, we need to tell our sustainability story and create the systems to define and defend our global brand.
I want to thank you for your time today and I look forward to any questions that the committee may have.