Agriculture committee  Yes. With the investment from the Government of Canada of $173 million, we've been able to work with trail-blazing companies across Canada to inject almost half a billion dollars into innovation. I'm a firm believer that innovation will not only underpin the growth of the plant-based food sector but also lead to domestic and global food security.

Agriculture committee  I'm not familiar with diets in those areas, but the reality is that protein consumption on a global basis is increasing, just as population is increasing and just as more people are entering the middle class. Canada has a responsibility, as I've heard today, to be a global supplier of high-quality food, and not just plant-based proteins but all high-quality foods.

Agriculture committee  I think the variable costs will always be a consideration for wherever an organization is going to site a plant. When I talk to ingredient manufacturers on a global basis, they're considering everything from the competitiveness of the business environment to the geopolitical environment, as well as access to raw commodities, the variable costs that will be associated with utilities, and other taxes, so I'm not sure that most businesses would look at it in terms of one factor isolating itself as the decision.

Agriculture committee  I think what you've underpinned is the need for continued innovation in advanced breeding technologies, the development of varieties and farming technologies so that we can keep pushing yields up, because the more we divert cropland to industrial bioproduct use, the more challenges we create.

Agriculture committee  I think I heard it here today: Farmers need all the tools in their tool box to be successful.

Agriculture committee  I think again it's a focus on what it is that we're exporting. I would contend that our biggest opportunity to insulate ourselves against those is better integration into international supply chains with high-value products such as ingredients in food products, as opposed to raw commodities.

Agriculture committee  I think this is a critical one, and the requirement for protein is going to grow on a global basis. What we need to do is provide additional choices for consumers on a global basis, based on the crops that we produce, but also domestically. The more we can help companies innovate and increase ingredient manufacturing, the more we will push down the price so that it becomes more accessible for more Canadians, leading to better food security domestically as well.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. I think what you've described underpins the imperative that we increase food and ingredient processing in Canada, because at the end of the day, consumers want choice and accessibility, and they want to choose food products for whatever reason, whether it's environmental health, their own health or animal welfare.

Agriculture committee  Yes, I do think that would avoid non-tariff trade barriers, because what we're seeing mostly in trade barriers is at the commodity level. If we're better integrated into supply chains on a global basis with high-value ingredients in food products, it becomes more challenging for those to be subject to non-tariff trade barriers.

Agriculture committee  The only thing I would add is that local processing of crops and ingredients is really the foundation of the next stage, which is plant-based food production in Canada. Anything we can do to move further up the value chain in the conversion of our crops to plant-based foods is a critical piece.

Agriculture committee  There are a couple of things. To set the stage in terms of the numbers, we produce on average 90 million metric tons of crops in this country and we're processing 16 to 21 million metric tons, depending on what you put in the bucket, so the delta is huge. Incentives in investment and innovation are critically important, but what the sector really needs is a competitive business environment in which organizations and companies can make large investments, because we're talking about investments of upward of $600 million.

Agriculture committee  We have trade deals with a large number of global consumers. As you say, you can always do more, but the reality is that as a net exporter of food, crops and ingredients, we have to do a bit of both. The markets where we have trade deals today are probably the most lucrative for us, from an agricultural perspective, especially as we think about evolving from commodities to higher-value ingredients.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members, for having me here today. As mentioned, my name is Bill Greuel; I'm CEO at Protein Industries Canada. We are one of Canada's five global innovation clusters and are working to accelerate innovation in Canada's plant-based food and ingredients sector.

Agriculture committee  It's really critical, because it's the top of the innovation pipeline. For entrepreneurs to have methods of bringing commercial ideas to market is really critical as companies grow in scale. Dr. Charlebois touched on the concept of a food tech incubator, and I will hit on it again.

Agriculture committee  It's early days still. We're about two and a half years into our mandate, so I can't claim that we're responsible for foreign direct investment. What we're really trying to do is create an environment to attract organizations, companies and multinationals to invest. Helping to de-risk science and innovation investments, ensuring a clear path to market by regulatory modernization and working to understand markets and market access are all areas that are creating the conditions around investments.