Thank you very much for the opportunity to present.
I represent the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association.
Canadian food security in terms of our fresh fruit and vegetables is worryingly low. According to the U.S. Trade, in 2021, over 75% of Canadian fresh vegetables in the market and 80% of the fresh fruit were supplied by imports into Canada.
However, Canada can play a tremendous role in combatting global food insecurity for certain crops. For certain vegetable crops where we have strong economies of scale and favourable growing conditions, such as greenhouse vegetables, we are significant exporters. In 2021, Canadians managed to export $2 billion in fresh vegetables to other countries and exported an additional $3 billion in frozen fruits and vegetables worldwide.
A key to both increasing our domestic food security and our ability to contribute to global food security is strong agricultural policies. That's why we're here.
For example, the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council published a study in 2021 that showed that labour shortages in Canadian farms directly corresponded to $2.9 billion in lost sales. We're not the only ones who have a problem with this issue, as you know. Other studies of Ontario safety net programs for farms show that without some of these programs, 95% of the farms would be negatively impacted, including my own, by the way. These are just two examples of the direct correlation between government policies and our ability to produce food for Canadians and for the global community.
I have a few items here about the policies that need to be addressed to help us address this problem.
Protect the temporary foreign worker program, including the seasonal void that SAWP fills compared to other, year-round programs. If we lose this, or if it gets tweaked badly, we're out of business.
Ensure that business risk management programs are strong and accessible. Don't throw up barriers to programs, rushing for new cross-compliances. The uptake would be—