Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for the opportunity to appear today.
My name is Greg Northey and I am here on behalf of Pulse Canada, representing over 26,000 growers and more than 100 processors and exporters of peas, lentils, beans and chickpeas.
Canada accounts for close to one-third of the global pulse trade, and upwards of 85% of what we produce is exported. The pulse sector is resilient, and we are committed to our role as a trusted supplier of high-quality food for the world, but to continue to compete globally and ensure Canada is the preferred supplier to the world's top markets, we need government to champion a domestic regulatory policy that removes unnecessary barriers to our competitiveness.
For many years, Pulse Canada has engaged deeply in Canada's regulatory reform efforts, participating in consultations, responding to Canada Gazette proposals and submitting detailed recommendations. Across all of that work, our purpose has remained the same: to build a regulatory environment that continues to protect health and safety while also enabling innovation, investment and trade.
Successive governments have recognized the need for reform. Efforts such as the smart regulation agenda of the early 2000s, the red tape reduction action plan in 2012, the Red Tape Reduction Act of 2015, and the current 2025 red tape review all acknowledge that outdated rules create unnecessary costs, slow innovation and limit competitiveness. Yet, despite decades of reviews and commitments, many of the barriers we identified 10 and 20 years ago still exist today.
That reality matters, because Canada's future as a global agri-food leader depends not only on what we grow, but on how quickly and effectively we can bring new products to market, adapt to evolving consumer demands and respond to new technologies and trade opportunities. Achieving that requires a regulatory system that is agile, aligned with our trading partners and focused on enabling growth, not one constrained by excessive risk aversion and institutional inertia.
Three examples illustrate why the shift is urgently needed.
First, regarding protein content claims, we have been calling for reform of Canada's outdated protein labelling framework for many years. Canada and the United States remain the only countries that require a protein quality test before a food can make a protein content claim. As a result, staple pulse products like beans, lentils and peas—foods that Canada's own food guide calls protein-rich—cannot say so on their labels.
We have recommended adopting internationally accepted approaches and ultimately moving toward the simpler, quantity-based approach used in the EU and Australia. However, despite repeated submissions and years of discussion, Health Canada's September 2025 red tape reduction update does not mention protein claims. The overall language in it is positive—“alignment”, “flexibility”—but there is no action, no timeline, no measurable outcome. This is emblematic of a broader pattern—ambition without accountability and regulatory caution that continues to hold innovation back.
Second, with respect to CFIA's adoption of electronic phytosanitary certificates, for more than a decade exporters, including Pulse Canada, have urged CFIA to adopt full electronic phytosanitary certification, or ePhyto, to streamline trade documentation. CFIA began exploring this in 2018 or even earlier. In recent months, we've seen a potential ePhyto project being developed for this fall to Mexico, but after more than a decade, this is still a partial step.
Third, with regard to the PMRA, the recent red tape review of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency underscores the same pattern we see elsewhere. Long-standing issues are acknowledged, but meaningful progress remains distant. Joint reviews with international partners, for example, are an important tool, but PMRA has been discussing expanded joint review processes since at least 2008. While plans to broaden these reviews to more partners in risk areas are included in the latest update, the timeline has now stretched to 2027 and beyond, far too slow when Canadian farmers are competing today against producers in jurisdictions that already have access to these tools.
These examples reflect a system that remains reactive rather than proactive, adjusting course only when pressured, rather than anticipating industry needs and enabling innovation before problems arise. They also reflect a broader challenge across Canada's regulatory landscape, one of excessive risk aversion that too often prioritizes avoiding mistakes over seizing opportunities to deliver real economic and competitive gains.
Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector is ready to lead in innovation and sustainability and in supplying the world with high-quality plant-based food, but that will only happen if government embraces a new mindset, one that sees competitiveness and innovation as core regulatory outcomes and one that measures success by results, not reports.
Pulse Canada and our members are ready to partner with government to achieve that shift, but the time has come to move from ambition to action and finally build a regulatory system that is fit for the future.
Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
