Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure the hon. member that our government is working hard to create the right conditions in rural communities for farmers and agricultural businesses to compete in Canada, and indeed, around the world.
For generations, agriculture has made significant contributions to Canada's economy, food supply, environment, and culture.
Today, agriculture and agrifood represent a $100-billion industry. Canadian food and beverages are found on store shelves around the world. Canada is the world's fifth largest exporter and breaks new records every year. The agriculture and agrifood industry employs 2.2 million Canadians, which represents one in eight jobs. We are the first to recognize how important that industry is.
In order to maintain Canada's strong position, budget 2017 included several measures to support an innovative, competitive, and sustainable agriculture and agrifood industry. As part of the government's overall strategy to attract and retain high-quality business investments in high-growth sectors such as agrifood, budget 2017 allocates $200 million over four years to support research, development, demonstration and adoption of clean technologies in Canada's natural resource sectors.
Agribusinesses will be eligible for funding under the new five-year strategic innovation fund, which has a funding envelope of $1.26 billion.
We will also continue to work with provincial and territorial governments to ensure that the agriculture and agrifood sector is strong and innovative.
This is in addition to the government's current work with provincial and territorial governments to develop the next agricultural policy framework to be launched in 2018.
The government is also undertaking a number of important initiatives to support Canada's farmers and food processors, including launching a full review of rail services across western Canada; creating a $10.1 billion trade and transportation corridors initiative that will invest in gateways and ports to help get agrifood products to market; successfully completing the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union and making ongoing efforts to expand market access for Canadian agrifood producers throughout Asia; eliminating tariffs on a broad range of agrifood processing ingredients, covering approximately $700 million in annual imports, to strengthen the competitiveness of Canadian agrifood manufacturers at home and abroad; and investing $500 million to support the expansion of broadband networks in rural Canada and $2 billion to support rural infrastructure, including roads and bridges, making it easier for Canada's agrifood producers to connect to markets in Canada and internationally.
We recognize the important contribution that rural communities make to our economy and are committed to helping the Canadian agricultural and agrifood sector achieve its goals. A strong rural Canada makes for a stronger economy overall.