Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, members.
Thank you for the invitation to be here today to share the canola industry's recommendations on how the Government of Canada can increase economic growth.
It's a pleasure to be with you here today in Winnipeg, a place rich in canola history. It was here in 1974 that Baldur Stefansson invented the first canola variety. It was an important step in the birth of canola, a crop that's become one of the most valuable sources of income for farmers and a major driver of economic growth here in Canada.
It all started with Canadian innovation. Innovation led to more growth, and the result is a globally competitive industry that supports a quarter of a million Canadian jobs and $19 billion in economic activity every year.
Today, I'd like to describe how we can support even more growth in urban and rural communities across the country, but first I'd like to explain a bit about the Canola Council of Canada and our industry.
We are a value-chain organization representing the canola industry, including the 43,000 canola growers; the seed developers; the processors, who turn canola seed into oil for humans and meal for livestock; and the exporters who process canola at its destination.
Our industry has a plan to meet the growing appetite in the world for healthy oils and protein. Keep It Coming 2025 is our vision to provide more demand for canola oil, meal and seed, and to meet that demand through sustainable production and increased yields so we can get 26 million tonnes of production by 2025.
While our industry is working hard on achieving these objectives, there are key roles for the Government of Canada to play. Today, I'd like to focus my comments on three recommendations: first, supporting adequate investment in the agricultural policy framework; second, embedding agriculture in the federal government's innovation action plan; and third, implementing free trade agreements and expanding market access.
Our first recommendation is to provide adequate funding for the agricultural policy framework. Said to begin in 2018, planning is already well under way. It's important that we keep funding research, market development, and market access in the way that's worked so well in the current framework. For example, through the AgriMarketing program, we've established canola oil promotion programs in China and Korea. It's helped us grow our annual exports to these markets by about $850 million per year, and it's enabled us to do things like bring chefs from China and the southern United States out to prairie canola fields to show them where canola comes from. Stable funding for the next agricultural policy framework will enable us to continue innovative research and to continue bringing value to Canada from international markets.
Our second recommendation is to embed canola and agriculture in the innovation action plan. Market pressures are evolving. Climate change is creating opportunities and challenges for agriculture. Innovation is necessary for us to keep turning sun, soil, water, and Canadian know-how into Canadian growth.
As the federal government engages with Canadians on its action plan, there's a clear opportunity to include agriculture. Canola was born from innovation, and our industry's innovation strategy identifies ways the federal government can help encourage that innovation in the future. For example, budget 2017 can invest in federal sciences in emerging areas like genomics and molecular plant breeding. The result will be higher yields, more resilience to challenging weather conditions, and better pest management for things like insects.
Our last recommendation is to implement trade agreements and expand market access. While canola was born here in Winnipeg, we export more than 90% of what we produce to international markets, either as seed or as oil or as meal. Exporting canola free of trade barriers brings more value and more growth here to Canada. In fact, it was two weeks ago today that we achieved stable access for our canola trade with China, a very positive announcement for canola and for Canada. Government and industry efforts achieved this stable access for a $2-billion market. It shows the importance of these efforts and the importance of continuing to fund them through things like the market access secretariat of Agriculture Canada.
However, we're not done yet. Implementing the Trans-Pacific Partnership would bring even more growth. If we achieve this agreement, it means we could expand our exports and our value-added processing here in Canada. If we don't, we will fall further behind competitors like Australia.
In closing, canola shows how innovation can meet growing international demand and create growth here in Canada. The federal government has a key role to play in supporting the next agricultural policy framework by including agriculture in the innovation action plan, implementing free trade agreements, and supporting more market access.
I thank you for the opportunity, and I look forward to your questions.