International Trade Committee on March 24th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Next, we have Madame Lapointe, please.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I'd like to welcome the witnesses and thank them for joining us.

Mr. Ruel, what you're saying is interesting. Are we not able to supply our own hatching eggs in Canada? Do we not have that capacity?

[Yves Ruel]

We could certainly provide enough of them. However, since the various negotiated WTO agreements give access to our market or the Canada—U.S.—Mexico Agreement gives the U.S. access to 21 of our market for hatching eggs, the industry has structured itself so that, year after year, 21% of all the supply comes from the United States.

Farmers won't start a herd of breeding hens in case there's a shortage in the U.S. for a few months. Obviously, starting a herd means spreading production over years.

Before, there was a small—

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Okay. I thought we were self-sufficient in this area.

[Yves Ruel]

The free trade agreements give a 21% access for hatching eggs, so the industry has structured itself in such a way to generally welcome a 21% import. However, if there's a problem with the supply chain, we're in trouble.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

I understand. Thank you very much.

I have a couple of questions for Mr. Bourque.

You talked about fertilizer. You said the geopolitical situation in the Middle East is making things difficult. You also talked about pork.

In terms of supply, are the rails also part of the challenge?

What about capacity? You said earlier that we were able to export, but can we continue to increase Canada's potash export capacity to Mercosur countries and other countries?

[Michael Bourque]

I think the answer to your three questions is yes.

Let's start with rails. Potash is definitely heavy, so it is transported by rail or by boat, not by truck.

Also, potash is a growing industry in Saskatchewan. We have three mines in operation and there'll be four next year, and there are expansion plans for all of them. We can supply Mercosur countries as well as other markets.

Potash is a very important product for Canada.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Given everything that's going on and that there are places where it's more difficult to transport potash or send it, exporting costs must have increased.

[Michael Bourque]

The price of potash hasn't gone up that much, but other fertilizers have.

It's important to know that Canada is an importer when it comes to other fertilizers. There are phosphate and nitrogen products, but they're not interchangeable. They're distinct products. We need all three for different reasons. Prices, especially for nitrogen products, have gone up a lot. It's just an example of what happens in a globalized world. We expect to be able to import those products, because farms need all fertilizers.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

After listening to the various witnesses, I understand that meat producers have concerns, just like poultry producers.

However, you see a very good opportunity to export potash to southern countries.

[Michael Bourque]

Exactly. It's an important market, and it's becoming more important every year.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

I have a question for Ms. Citeau.

Welcome to the committee. This isn't your first time here. We met you the other day when you came to talk about the beef industry, the pork industry and exportation. You said we're able to sell beef at a better price in the Indo-Pacific region, since parts of the animal were sold there that weren't sold elsewhere.

Are there similar opportunities in the Mercosur countries? Could we get a better price on carcasses because we would be selling parts there that we don't sell here, in Canada, or that we don't export to other countries?

[Claire Citeau]

I'd start by saying that having access to markets around the world through free trade agreements makes it generally and globally possible to get a better price. Why? It's because you can sell more products. That's a basic principle.

Regarding the second part of your question, we feel it's mainly Asian markets that are fond of these products and parts of cattle that are not traditionally used in North American cuisine. They love these products, and we manage to sell them at attractive prices, whether in China, Indonesia or elsewhere.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I'm sorry, Madame Lapointe. Your time is up.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

I would've liked to ask you if we could increase capacity, but I'll let others ask the question.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I'm sure that, as the conversation continues, you'll have an opportunity to discuss this further.

Mr. Savard-Tremblay, go ahead, please.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

That would have been a good question, but I'm going to go in another direction. I'm sorry.

I'd like to thank the witnesses for joining us and for their presentations.

My first question is for the chicken farmers. We heard from your counterparts in Quebec two weeks ago.

We understand your concerns. You said much the same things they did; you echoed their testimony. We understand the concerns regarding the importation of meat from Brazil from both an environmental and an economic standpoint. I think it's obvious there's competition. The word “unfair” might be strong, but we can at least say it's uneven.

In any case, let's take a step back and take a more comprehensive view. What are the trade priorities of chicken farmers?

[Yves Ruel]

As we said in our presentation, we think it's important we keep the current level of access and don't increase it. We already import around 10.8% of Canadian consumption, so it's already a lot. We don't want to reduce the tariffs.

One of the main issues is the importation of hens falsely labelled as spent hens. That's why we don't consider Mercosur as a trade priority. Canada's priority is to address the importation of hens falsely labelled as spent hens. This issue is hurting Canadian production. It's estimated that in 2025, 50 million to 55 million kilograms of chicken were fraudulently imported to Canada through misrepresentation. This circumvents Canadian import rules and hinders the development and economic growth of Canadian production.

Therefore, the priority should be for the government to do everything possible to limit these misrepresented imports.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

Regarding spent hens, the government should take action to ensure the growth of the chicken sector.

Are there other similar actions to take?

[Yves Ruel]

Obviously, it's in all initiatives. We understand the government's current diversification strategy. Consequently, in all initiatives, whether with Mercosur, Thailand or Southeast Asia, we should always respect the principles of supply management, and not agree to provide additional access or accept tariff reductions.

We are well aware of our role in feeding Canadians, so we're making sure we continue to do that. We develop on-farm programs to meet consumer needs. We feel it's important to be able to continue to develop Canadian chicken production and industry.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

You talked about supply management. As you know, a law was passed last year to stop any future breaches. I was very involved in that debate. Actually, this committee studied the previous two versions of the bill during the two previous Parliaments. We were able to fast-track the last version of the bill, so we didn't have to study it again in committee, but we'd already done it twice before. Thank you for your support on this bill, which has now become law.

That said, there's still a question we need to ask. You can focus your answer on Mercosur, but you can also answer in a more comprehensive way. There's always a back door somewhere when you can't go through the front door.

Do you have any concerns about that, whether for the Mercosur region or other regions?

[Yves Ruel]

First of all, thank you for the bill. I also want to thank parliamentarians who unanimously supported it. Canada sent a very clear message that food security and the development of Canadian agriculture are priorities.

That said, things can happen, such as the hen importation issue I talked about earlier. They're actually hens, but labelled as spent hens. I understand this example is beyond the scope of the discussions here, but spent hens are not subject to the same import controls as chickens.

Those are the kinds of things that are happening. It's important for the government to be very alert to make sure this doesn't hinder the growth of Canadian agriculture and the Canadian economy.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

Like you, your colleagues said two weeks ago that this is very uneven competition. The climate there is not the same as ours, so already, the constraints for drying grain, in particular, are not the same. Heating henhouses doesn't cost the same either. Moreover, the workforce is not subject to the same standards in terms of wages and working conditions. Production there is so much larger. As you said, there's no way to compete with that.

There's also an environmental component to consider. Your colleagues said they'd heard things about that. We know farms there are closely linked to deforestation.

Do you also have information on that?

[Yves Ruel]

Like any citizen, I hear concerning reports about that. I'm not an expert on the Brazilian environment or deforestation, but—

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

What about your competitors, more specifically, in the chicken industry in Brazil?