Agriculture Committee on June 16th, 2026

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thanks very much, Mr. Harrison.

I'm going to go to—

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

We're going to stop there. I'm sorry. The two and a half minutes are gone.

Mr. Lemire, you have a minute and a half.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Charlebois, could you tell us about the importance of processing products, sourcing from Canada and supporting our Canadian farms?

We lack this capacity—that is to say, the supply chain that supports our farmers. How could this improve the situation, make our agriculture more resilient, make us less dependent on international markets and enable us to eat more locally at more affordable prices?

[Sylvain Charlebois]

Thank you, Mr. Lemire. That's a very good question.

Quebec is a good example. It processes 60% of its agri-food products within its borders, which gives it greater food self-sufficiency. That's what I hope for all of Canada. The more we focus on processing, the more control we have over our food future. This makes it easier to support our farmers. It's also easier to innovate and adapt our products over the long term for a very dynamic market.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

So, based on your assessment, there would certainly be cost savings if we produced more inputs and fertilizers, particularly the ones we discussed with Mr. Harrison. In many cases, we would have the capacity to do it and, if we did it on a sufficiently large scale, we would be able to achieve cost savings. Is that correct?

[Sylvain Charlebois]

Absolutely. There are two things to remember.

First, allow processing companies to grow. That's what we are missing in Canada.

Second, when you look at a start-up, you have to consider the ecosystem surrounding the company and the resources it needs to produce what it produces. We often think of a company as a stand-alone, isolated entity, but that's not what we see in Europe. Where I am right now, we think in terms of an ecosystem to support processing.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

Thank you.

That concludes our testimony for the first half.

We'll suspend for five minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Thursday, September 18, 2025, the committee is resuming its study on food security in the face of global instability.

I'd like to welcome our witnesses joining us today: from CropLife Canada, Émilie Bergeron and Gregory Kolz; from Food and Beverage Canada, Kristina Farrell; and from the Food Processing Council of Quebec, Sylvie Cloutier and Dimitri Fraeys.

Welcome, and we'll start with CropLife Canada for five minutes.

[Gregory Kolz, Vice-President, Government Affairs, CropLife Canada]

Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for the invitation to appear before you today as part of your study on food security in the face of global instability.

My name is Greg Kolz, and I'm vice-president of government affairs at CropLife Canada. I'm joined today by my colleague, Émilie Bergeron, vice-president of crop protection.

CropLife Canada represents the developers, manufacturers and distributors of pesticides and plant breeding innovations. Our members invest billions of dollars annually in research and development to help farmers produce more food more sustainably. We welcome this study because food security is no longer simply an agricultural issue. It's an economic issue, a trade issue, a geopolitical issue and, increasingly, a national security issue. As Prime Minister Carney stated last week, to protect our sovereignty and take control of our future, we must take control of our food system.

Recent years have demonstrated how vulnerable global food systems can be. Armed conflict, supply chain disruptions, climate pressures and geopolitical uncertainty have all affected food production and affordability around the world. These challenges have reinforced an important reality. Countries that can reliably produce food are better positioned to protect their citizens, support their allies and contribute to global stability.

Canada is uniquely positioned to be a world leader in food security. We have productive farmland, innovative farmers, world-class researchers and a reputation as a trusted supplier of safe, high-quality food. The question before us is whether we are prepared to seize that opportunity.

CropLife Canada welcomed the Government of Canada's release of the national food security strategy last week and its recognition of food security as a critical national priority. The strategy rightly recognizes that seed innovation and crop protection tools are essential to agricultural productivity and safeguarding Canada's food supply. We are also encouraged by the government's recognition that a strong regulatory system must not only protect health and safety but also enable innovation, investment and productivity.

Canadian farmers need timely access to new technologies that help them increase yields, combat pests and diseases, adapt to environmental pressures and produce affordable food. Yet too often, access to innovation is delayed by regulatory backlogs and approval timelines that are simply not being met. The national food security strategy directly acknowledges this challenge and establishes ambitious targets to reduce seed and crop protection approval backlogs and improve regulatory performance. These commitments are important, but Canada must now deliver on them.

[Émilie Bergeron, Vice-President, Crop Protection, CropLife Canada]

Canada's regulatory system is respected internationally for its rigorous, science-based approach. Maintaining that scientific foundation is essential.

But excellence in science must be matched by excellence in service delivery. When approval timelines are missed and application backlogs grow, Canadian farmers are denied access to innovations already available to competitors in other countries.

The strategy also recognizes the importance of updating the mandates of both the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Pesticides Regulatory Directorate to include food security and food affordability considerations.

Bill C‑30, which is currently before Parliament, is an important step toward ensuring our regulatory framework reflects these broader public policy objectives while continuing to uphold the highest standards of health and environmental protection. We encourage Parliament to pass this legislation as quickly as possible.

Innovation allows farmers to grow more food on existing farmland, reduce crop losses, conserve resources and improve resilience in the face of environmental and economic pressures. Canada has an incredible opportunity. As countries around the world seek reliable food suppliers and resilient agricultural partners, Canada can distinguish itself as a global leader in agricultural innovation and food production.

With ambitious policies, the right regulatory framework and a continued commitment to science-based decision-making, Canada can attract investment, accelerate innovation, strengthen economic growth and enhance both food security and national security.

Science-based crop protection, plant breeding innovation and regulatory efficiencies are not merely agricultural issues. They are essential components of Canada's ability to help create a more affordable, sustainable and resilient food supply chain in Canada and internationally. The national food security strategy provides an important road map. Now we must work together to implement its commitment and realize its ambition of making Canada an agriculture and food superpower.

Thank you. We look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

Thank you very much.

Next we'll go to Food and Beverage Canada for five minutes.

[Kristina Farrell, Chief Executive Officer, Food and Beverage Canada]

My name is Kristina Farrell. I'm the chief executive officer of Food and Beverage Canada, the national association representing Canada's food and beverage manufacturers.

Food security has become an increasingly important topic as Canadians face rising costs, global instability, supply chain disruptions and shifting trade relationships. These challenges have prompted an important conversation about Canada's ability to feed itself and strengthen its economic resilience.

At Food and Beverage Canada, we believe Canada has an enormous opportunity before it. The good news is that Canada does not have a food availability problem. Canada already produces far more agricultural products than our domestic market can absorb. The opportunity is to process more of those products here at home, creating jobs, attracting investment, increasing exports and generating more value from Canadian agriculture. In other words, Canada's food security challenge is increasingly a competitiveness challenge. If we want a more resilient and self-sufficient food system, we must focus not only on agricultural production but also on processing more food here at home. Every additional tonne of Canadian agricultural product that is processed domestically creates jobs, investment, exports, tax revenue and economic activity. It also strengthens our supply chains and reduces our vulnerability to external shocks.

That is why Food and Beverage Canada has consistently advocated for a stronger focus on domestic processing capacity. We welcomed elements of the recently released national food security strategy, particularly the recognition that domestic processing is an important part of Canada's food system. Investments in food infrastructure, distribution networks and support for SMEs may provide benefits to part of the food system. However, we remain concerned that the strategy places considerably more emphasis on food production and distribution than on the competitiveness challenges facing Canada's food and beverage manufacturers. If Canada wants to produce more domestically, we must address the factors that influence where companies choose to invest.

Our members consistently identify labour shortages, regulatory burden, transportation and energy costs, and lagging productivity as barriers to growth. Food affordability starts with the cost of producing food. When manufacturers face higher costs, those costs ultimately work their way through the supply chain. Improving affordability, therefore, requires improving competitiveness.

For Food and Beverage Canada, that means focusing on four things. First, we must significantly expand domestic processing capacity through targeted investments that support modernization, automation and productivity enhancements. We have consistently called for a five-year, $2-billion domestic processing fund to help companies de-risk large-scale investments needed to produce at scale and compete against imports. Reducing food production costs at the source is the most effective lever for ensuring food affordability over the long term.

Second, we must address labour shortages by ensuring that food and beverage manufacturing has access to a stable, permanent workforce. Food security depends on people. That means, among other things, creating pathways for workers already contributing to Canada's food system to become permanent residents.

Third, governments must reduce unnecessary regulatory burden and ensure that new regulations are evaluated through a food affordability and competitiveness lens. Efforts should also be made to identify and remove outdated, misaligned and duplicative regulations that no longer add value to health, safety or consumer confidence and yet continue to inflate costs and hinder productivity.

Finally, Canada must create a more competitive investment environment. This requires speeding up permitting timelines to build or expand capacity as well as expanding approval for innovative food and ingredients that are already safely used abroad but await approval here. Other countries understand this. Around the world, governments are competing aggressively for food and beverage manufacturing investment. They recognize it not only as a food security issue but as a major economic development opportunity. Canada should be doing the same.

The Prime Minister has spoken about processing more of what Canadian farmers grow, strengthening food sovereignty and building a more resilient food system. We support that vision, but achieving that vision will require more than growing food. It will require a long-term competitiveness agenda that encourages businesses to invest, innovate and expand capacity in Canada.

Canada has all the ingredients needed to become a global agri-food leader. The opportunity before us is to process more of what we grow, create more value from Canadian agriculture and strengthen our economic resilience. If we get this right, we can strengthen food security, improve affordability, create jobs, attract investment, increase exports and build a more competitive Canadian economy.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

Thank you very much.

We'll go next to the Food Processing Council of Quebec for five minutes.

[Sylvie Cloutier, Chief Executive Officer, Food Processing Council of Quebec]

Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to participate in this important study on food security in the face of global instability.

My colleague Dimitri Fraeys and I represent the Food Processing Council of Quebec, or CTAQ, which brings together hundreds of food processing companies of all sizes and from all sectors. Our members transform agricultural raw materials into affordable, safe and readily available food for consumers here and abroad.

Food security is often associated with the ability to produce food. However, it depends just as much on our ability to process, distribute and make food accessible under all circumstances. The events of recent years—the pandemic, supply chain disruptions, inflation, climate change and geopolitical instability—have shown that food resilience depends on the entire value chain.

In this regard, food processing plays a strategic role. Our sector is Canada's largest manufacturing sector in terms of shipments and jobs, and it supplies the vast majority of the food consumed by Canadians. However, Canada is still showing a concerning lag in terms of investment in its agri-food sector, as highlighted in the motion that prompted your study.

That is why we welcomed the launch of Canada's first-ever national food security strategy on June 11. The CTAQ shares many of the stated objectives, including the commitment to process more food right here in Canada, support innovation, modernize processing capacity and reduce certain regulatory barriers that hinder business competitiveness.

In particular, we believe that the creation of the $1‑billion agri-food project finance fund, through Farm Credit Canada, is a positive step. For years, our industry has highlighted how difficult it is to finance certain food processing projects that are nonetheless essential to creating added value in Canada. That said, we must now ensure that these measures translate into real investments on the ground and that they are accessible to food processing companies of all sizes. The details of implementation will be crucial to ensuring the success of this strategy.

Canada's food security can't be strengthened through new programs alone. It also requires a business environment that fosters investment, innovation and productivity. Food processing companies continue to face significant challenges: labour shortages, rising operating costs, regulatory pressure, international competition and the need to invest heavily in automation and digitization.

That is why we believe that creating value within Canada's food production chain must remain a priority. Every time we process more of what our farmers produce right here, we create jobs, strengthen our regions, increase our food self-sufficiency and keep more wealth in Canada.

We also believe that consumers have an important role to play. The growing interest in locally produced and processed foods represents an exceptional opportunity to strengthen our food systems. However, businesses must have the tools, infrastructure and conditions necessary to meet this demand.

In light of these observations, we would like to submit three recommendations to the committee.

First, we need to facilitate the interprovincial movement of Canadian food products by continuing efforts toward regulatory harmonization and by supporting provincially regulated establishments in meeting federal standards in order to expand their access to markets across the country.

Second, we must accelerate investments in food processing capacity, particularly by ensuring that new federal programs meet the real needs of businesses and encourage private investment.

Third, we must continue efforts toward automation, robotization and the digital transformation of food businesses to improve their productivity and competitiveness.

In conclusion, I would say that Canada has everything it needs to become a global leader in food safety. Recent announcements demonstrate a commitment to taking action.

The challenge before us now is to turn this vision and determination into concrete results that will help build a more resilient, competitive and self-sufficient food system.

Thank you for your attention.

We'll be happy to answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

Thank you very much to all of our witnesses.

We're going to start with the Conservatives for five minutes and do three five-minute rounds, and then I'll assess the final minutes. Maybe we'll do the second round with three minutes, three minutes and two minutes, or something like that. We need a few moments at the end to go through the drafting instructions.

Mr. Gourde, you have five minutes.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Cloutier, you mentioned the new strategy and the fact that Farm Credit Canada would be administering a $1‑billion fund for food processing. However, Farm Credit Canada had already allocated funding to support food processing activities and already devotes a portion of its budget to that purpose.

Is this new funding, or does it simply reflect what Farm Credit Canada was already doing? Sometimes there is a tendency to reannounce existing measures. We've seen examples of that in some previous announcements.

[Sylvie Cloutier]

I'm told that this is new funding. I asked the same questions as you, Mr. Gourde, and I was told that the $1 billion was new funding. Same goes for the other programs under the strategy that have been announced, including in the fruit and vegetable sector and for grocery stores. Now we need to see what specific programs and funding the strategy will include for the food processing industry.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Will Farm Credit Canada be providing this new funding in the form of loans? It already offers loans for processing. Or did they simply increase the amount it can lend to food processing companies? If that's the case, it's like trading four quarters for a dollar.

[Sylvie Cloutier]

We'll have to wait to find out the details and specifics of the program. It should be announced in the coming weeks or months.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

In my experience—I'm 62 years old and have been working with Farm Credit Canada since I was 18—this is a lending organization; it rarely offers grants or non-repayable funds. In my humble opinion, these will likely be loans for processing at the interest rate currently offered by Farm Credit Canada. The situation doesn't seem any different to me now than it was before the announcement. What do you think?

[Sylvie Cloutier]

We're asking the government to provide more grants. It remains to be seen how all of this will play out in the programs. I can't say any more than that, since I'm not privy to that information.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Farm Credit Canada provides loans, but it requires collateral. When a loan is provided to a farmer, the collateral is the farmland, for example. However, processors often need very large loans, sometimes in the millions of dollars, but they can't always offer the necessary collateral.

Would there be any flexibility when it comes to having loans guaranteed by the Government of Canada?

[Sylvie Cloutier]

We have to wait for the final results before the details of the programs are announced. I can't tell you any more about it today. We're told that these are new funds. Obviously, we advocate for an increase in the number of grants, whether they're offered by Farm Credit Canada or through government programs. We want there to be more loans and grants, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Thank you, Ms. Cloutier.

I think Canadians are fed up with always having to wait for the government to roll out rehashed programs—no pun intended. They'd like to have some food security, but the government is leaving that up to Farm Credit Canada and hoping something will happen. Basically, it's washing its hands of the matter.

You mentioned that the associations you represent and all of your companies process Canadian food. However, I'm concerned about the availability of Canadian food over the next five, 10 or 15 years. There are fewer and fewer Canadian producers. In my riding, there are two vegetable farmers who are selling their businesses because they have no one to take over. That's been the trend. The next generation doesn't want to run this kind of business.

Where are you going to get your Canadian food?