INVESTING IN RURAL SUCCESS
Canada’s rural communities are home to millions of Canadians. From the small businesses that create good jobs to the farmers, fishermen, and ranchers that feed Canada and the world, the strength of our economy depends on their hard work and success. We will help our family farms stay strong in challenging times, invest to make sure that our rural communities are home to more good jobs, help connect rural communities with high-speed internet, and continue to make rural success a priority with a dedicated Minister of Rural Economic Development.
More Stability For Farmers And Their Families
We will expand support for farmers facing major environmental and business risks.
Across Canada, hard-working farmers and their families help to grow the food that keeps people healthy and keeps our economy strong and growing. At the same time, because of the dramatic cuts Stephen Harper made to Canada’s business risk management programs, many are in a weaker position today – unable to manage the serious losses in income that can happen when commodity prices fall unexpectedly, when climate-related floods or droughts strike, or when a major market downturn occurs.
To ensure that farmers have access to the help they need when they need it, we will move forward with a collaborative review of Canada’s business risk management programs, with a special focus on Agri-Stability, and are prepared to increase federal support to farmers to help them manage risks beyond their control. We will also continue to work with farmers on tax measures to facilitate the intergenerational transfer of farms, making it easier for farmers to transfer or sell family farms to family members or others.
Agri-Food Businesses
We will streamline services and boost investments to help Canada’s food producers and processors succeed and grow.
Canada’s food sector is an important source of hundreds of thousands of jobs, with the potential to create many more good, middle class jobs in the years to come. To give food producers and processors better and more timely support, and to meet our goal of making Canada the world’s second-largest exporter of agricultural products by 2025, we will merge existing financial and advisory services currently scattered between several agencies into Farm Credit Canada, whose mandate will be expanded and enhanced.
The new entity, Farm and Food Development Canada, will serve as a single point of service to help all parts of Canada’s food economy develop, grow, and export to new markets.
To help more food businesses access the capital and support they need to succeed and grow, we will also move forward with increasing Farm and Food Development Canada’s capital lending capability by up to $5 billion per year, on top of the existing support delivered by Farm Credit Canada.
Supply Management
We will make sure that farmers in supply managed sectors get the help they need to succeed.
Canada’s free trade agreements with countries around the world help create and sustain good, middle class jobs. At the same time, recent trade deals – including the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) – present challenges for farmers in supply managed sectors.
To date we have concluded arrangements with dairy producers and processors with respect to CETA, and have recently announced supports for dairy farmers relating to CPTPP. We will move forward to finish this work for all supply managed sectors, including processors, so they receive full and fair support. As CUSMA is ratified, we will take the same approach. Going forward, we will continue to defend supply management – and will work with all supply managed sectors to develop a vision for the future.
Cleaner Fuels
We will help our natural resources producers succeed and grow.
With our abundant natural resources, Canada is also home to many of the key ingredients for cleaner fuels, such as canola, waste from agricultural crops, and wood.
To help producers get the technology and infrastructure they need to scale up and create more good jobs, we will move forward with a new technology and commercial support fund, administered through Western Economic Diversification. This fund will help connect farmers, researchers, agribusinesses, and energy companies, and help give producers an advantage in the clean economy.