International Trade Committee on May 7th, 2026

[Steeve Lavoie, Liberal, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here. I'm very pleased to see them this morning.

My first question is for Mr. Niquidet.

Mr. Niquidet, it's very interesting to see how much you export.

We recently heard from the vice-president of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

I'd like to know whether you think the transportation infrastructure is adequate. Should investments be made to improve infrastructure that would be useful for exports?

Is that one of your requests?

We're talking about the forestry sector, but it can be for other sectors.

[Kurt Niquidet]

There's the reliability issue. When we had the port strikes in Vancouver, we heard from our Japanese customers that there was a lot of concern about reliability. That has been of concern.

Improving infrastructure is always welcome. One of the other main issues, though, is related to the reliability of rail and the cost of rail transport. Over time, we've seen a 40% increase in the cost of our rail transport.

It's really about the reliability, but we would certainly welcome any improvements to port infrastructure.

[Steeve Lavoie, Liberal, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Could you give us a concrete example to help us understand what you mean by “reliability”?

[Kurt Niquidet]

It's really related to the port strikes. We've had a number of them over the last few years, which really disrupted our ability to reliably supply our Japanese customers. That's paramount for them, so as a result, we lost some market share when they pivoted to European suppliers because there were concerns about reliability.

That reliability also relates not just to port infrastructure but to our ability to reliably access timber supplies as well.

[Steeve Lavoie, Liberal, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Davison, you talked about 40,000 canola farmers. That's quite a lot. So there must be a lot of small businesses producing canola.

What federal measures could help small businesses improve their exports to Japan? Is there anything the federal government could do?

[Chris Davison]

I think there are always things we can do to improve, but as I said in my opening remarks, I'm very grateful for the 50-year-plus bilateral canola trading relationship that we've established with Japan. It consists of a lot of engagement between the industry in Canada and the industry in Japan to facilitate smooth bilateral trade. When issues come up, we work directly either with the industry in Japan or with the Canadian and Japanese governments, if there are any technical issues, to address them.

As I said in my opening remarks, when we meet with our Japanese customers, we talk about a range of different issues of mutual interest, whether that be food security, the production of canola, how it's produced here, the practices our Canadian farmers use to produce the product that Japan wants, or discussions around quality and other topics. We're working to address issues on an ongoing basis to meet the needs of our Japanese customers.

[Steeve Lavoie, Liberal, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

You have many requests. I understand that there's a lot of collaboration.

Can you tell us about one specific measure that would help you further?

[Chris Davison]

I'll pick up on the answers from my colleague in the forestry sector.

There are two things that we have to do as a Canadian canola industry. We have to have a reliable supply for our customers, so that comes down to the product we're producing and the quality of that product. The other part of that is being a reliable supplier. Like my colleague in the forestry sector, we have run into issues in the past on the transportation side of the equation, so part of the discussion we have with our Japanese colleagues, among others, has to do with railways, rail rates and our capacity to get the product from farms and elevators to the port in Vancouver and loaded onto vessels in a timely fashion.

We tend to have peak periods of activity. A good example of that would be immediately post-harvest, looking at late September or October through to the February period. Typically, we run into other issues related to rail availability, with performance being one of them. Those can be affected by a number of factors, including extreme weather conditions. When that happens, our product is not moving in as timely a fashion as we would like to get it to port and get it to our customers in time.

Those are things happening in that space. I know there's some work being done by the federal government in that regard right now, but improvements in that area would be very welcome.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Next, we have Mr. Savard-Tremblay for six minutes, please.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here. I also thank them for their presentations.

Mr. Roy, I've already heard that Japan has a special relationship with our pork. I've even been told that Quebec pork, in particular, has added value there.

First of all, why is this the case with Quebec pork, in particular?

[René Roy]

It's because we developed the fresh pork market. This was developed mainly in Quebec. In Canada, we were pioneers in the development of fresh pork. This added value has created a very strong bond between our two countries.

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

I'd like to know what your next steps are. I'm going to ask you a question, and it's not a trick question.

You're going to tell me that we don't have the answer regarding the end of tariffs. However, as we know, exports to Japan have increased by more than 25%, while exports to the United States are declining for reasons we all understand, of course.

Do you have a strategy to continue your exports to Japan while resuming those to the United States when the situation improves?

Are you considering focusing more of your efforts on diversification?

Do you have a plan, or are you operating more on a short-term basis, in the sense that you're adjusting as the situation unfolds?

[René Roy]

We mustn't put all our eggs in one basket. Some will go to Asia, but the United States remains an important market. I also want to emphasize the fact that our primary market is the Canadian market. We must remember that. A significant portion of our production is still destined for domestic import. It's important that we properly serve our domestic market.

I'll turn it over to Mr. Heckbert.

[Stephen Heckbert]

Diversification is indeed fundamental for us in the Canadian pork industry in Canada. We believe there are business opportunities around the world, particularly in Southeast Asia. We also think that we shouldn't look for growth in just one market. Our long-term strategic plan is to expand all of our markets at the same time.

We see that the Japanese market has grown due to the changes that have taken place, as is the case for all countries, of course. We believe we would be able to increase our exports to this market while also increasing our exports to Mexico, for example. We find this to be an interesting market for us. For us, the plan is always to increase our capacity to export anywhere.

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

In other words, as I understand it, we don't put all our eggs in one basket. We try to go where there is a business opportunity. At some point, obviously, choices have to be made. Production capacity isn't infinite.

You're well established in Japan. You're a little less so in the United States. I understand the idea that you have to seize opportunities, but, given that you can't just keep growing forever, where are you heading?

[René Roy]

Absolutely. There are others as well. There's competition. So it's important to focus on the added value. When we succeed in creating added value, we must seize those opportunities. That sometimes involves the United States, but when we see a market shifting, we must be able to adapt.

Research is an extremely important factor in enabling us to adapt, but processing in Canada is also a key factor. We see other industries that lack the capacity to process their products or raw materials in Canada, and that's an extremely significant problem.

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

Japan is generally known for its very strict and specific regulations in highly specialized sectors. They say there really is a Japanese way of preparing meat. During our first committee meeting on this study, we heard from a representative of the Canadian Cattle Association. I specifically mentioned Wagyu beef to him, which is a Japanese specialty.

In your case, that doesn't seem to be an issue. Indeed, Japanese recipes often contain pork. Exports continue to grow. Canada has become, I think, Japan's largest pork supplier for the first time in 40 years. It doesn't seem to be causing any issues at all on that front for you.

What are your thoughts on this?

[René Roy]

We've developed a specific market. We've developed our Wagyu pork for the Japanese. We perform precise crossbreeding to serve the Japanese market, which happens to be the most demanding market in the world. When we succeed in meeting the demands of this market, we succeed in adapting to other markets.

[Stephen Heckbert]

I'd like to add something. We've also made a direct investment in the Japanese market. We've hired people and set up an office in Japan for our Canadian pork. So we're constantly on the ground promoting the quality of pork produced in Canada.

We're in constant communication with our Japanese buyers. Direct investment by the industry is one of the reasons we are currently in the market and can meet their specific demands at any time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Savard-Tremblay, you have 18 seconds remaining.

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

My question will take 18 seconds. If you can answer with a yes or no, that would be great. Otherwise, we'll save it for the next round of questions.

Beyond the expertise, is the regulatory aspect problematic? I'm thinking specifically of certification, traceability and red tape.

[René Roy]

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is an ally, as long as it's not too heavy.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Next, we have Mr. Mantle for five minutes, please

[Jacob Mantle, Conservative, York—Durham, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses for appearing and providing their valuable testimony this morning.

Mr. Niquidet, to begin with, I have a few questions for you.

Could you tell me what the largest market is for Canadian lumber?

[Kurt Niquidet]

The largest market is the United States. Just thinking at a Canada level, about 85% of our exports are destined to the U.S. For British Columbia, it's about 75%. We're the most diversified, just given our position on the west coast.

In terms of the second-largest markets, these are the Asia-Pacific markets, namely Japan and China.