Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation 2024

6. Canada

Main findings

Support to agriculture

Canada has a differentiated approach to support, providing Market Price Support (MPS) to “supply-managed” commodities (dairy, poultry, and eggs) and budgetary support focussed on business risk management to other commodities. Support has been stable over the last decade and averaged 8.5% of gross farm receipts in 2021-23, below the OECD average (13.7%).

The supply-management system consists of import controls (notably tariff rate quotas), production quotas and pricing mechanisms, which generally result in lifting domestic prices above international levels. Milk received particularly high single commodity transfers in 2021-23, amounting to 27% of gross-farm-receipts. Average MPS was lower in 2022 and 2023 than previous years due to higher border prices for eggs and poultry meat relative to domestic farm prices because of avian flu in the United States.

Risk-management tools constitute the main part of budgetary support to producers. These include income stabilisation, subsidised savings and crop insurance programmes. The latter primarily focus on grain commodities although also target other products such as fruits and vegetables, with recent policy developments extending support to beef producers. Overall, risk management policies have played a prominent role in recent years due to adverse weather conditions.

Canada also uses payments based on unconstrained use of variable inputs, notably fuel. Together with MPS, these potentially most-distorting support measures represented 39% of aggregated gross producer transfers in 2021-23, or 3.3% of gross farm receipts.

Support to general services (General Service Support Estimate, GSSE) amounted to 2.9% of agricultural production value in 2021-23, below the OECD average (3.4%) and down from 6.1% in 2000‑02. Expenditures on inspection and control systems, and agricultural knowledge and innovation each accounted for about 45% and 34% of GSSE respectively, in recent years. The Total Support Estimate (TSE) represented 0.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021-23.

Key recent policy changes

The Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership (Sustainable CAP) 2023-28 started to apply in April 2023. This new policy framework introduced several changes to reflect current priorities, including an enhanced focus on helping the sector implement sustainable practices and technologies, as well as supporting underrepresented groups.

The business risk management programmes also underwent changes in the new policy framework, with the aim of integrating environmental and climate risks, while maintaining their core focus on addressing market and production risks. The updated AgriInsurance programme in particular introduces an optional whole-farm catastrophic insurance and medium risk insurance, designed to protect the entire farm operation by encouraging crop diversification and assisting with disaster recovery by fully subsidising premiums for catastrophic risks and covering half for medium risks.

Launched in April 2023, the Resilient Agricultural Landscape Programme is a new cost-shared initiative with activities designed and delivered locally by provinces and territories. Farmers receive support, based on an ecological goods and services payment approach, to help them adopt beneficial management practices. These practices vary by region and are primarily aimed at conserving and enhancing the resiliency of agricultural landscapes.

The government further expanded existing programmes and introduced new ones to support the three supply-managed sectors (dairy, poultry and egg) to mitigate expected impacts of newly enforced trade agreements. Launched in September 2023, the Dairy Innovation and Investment Fund assists dairy processors by modernising and increasing processing capacity for surplus solids non-fat. The Supply Management Processing Investment Funds received additional funding to enhance efficiency in dairy, poultry, and egg processing facilities through investments in new automated equipment and technology.

Assessment and recommendations

• The Canadian agricultural sector has benefitted from abundant natural resources and has innovated and embraced technological advancements that have enhanced productivity with limited pressures on resource use, although there are regional hotspots. With climate change currently challenging Canada's agriculture to both adapt and contribute to mitigation, and export markets demanding higher environmental performance, innovation will remain crucial to sustainable productivity growth (SPG).

• Canada’s strategic planning, incentives for research, development and innovation, and support programmes to farmers have increasingly embraced a paradigm shift towards sustainable agriculture. The measurable targets and performance indicators that were established under the Sustainable CAP will be key to assess the uptake and impact of the measures. A shift towards results-based rather than practice-based support could also enhance the effectiveness of policy tools. These approaches require greater investment in data collection, evaluation and reporting to ensure that support is effectively delivering on the SPG objectives.

• While increasing the funding to mitigation measures and explicitly committing to emissions reductions in the new agricultural policy framework, agriculture remains largely exempt from Canada’s carbon pricing scheme. Including agricultural emissions in the scheme would encourage greater adoption of practices that reduce emissions and improve soil carbon storage.

• At the same time, farmers must adapt to a changing climate and the growing frequency of weather-related adverse events. In addition to research, development and innovation efforts, short-term risk management, and medium-term support for resilient practices, more attention and resources could be directed toward improving the long-term adaptive capacity of farmers and transforming production systems, alongside monitoring policy implementation progress.

• While below the OECD average, producer support remains dominated by potentially most distorting transfers to producers. The dairy, poultry and egg sectors remain protected from international competition through market price support, which distorts production and trade and inflates domestic prices. To stimulate market responsiveness and encourage innovation, supply management in these sectors should be reformed by increasing production quotas and gradually reducing price support, leading to greater efficiency and diversification into higher value products.

• Canada’s approach to risk management continues to evolve, integrating environmental and climate risks with reducing reliance on ad-hoc responses to adverse events. These are positive steps towards increased agricultural resilience. Nonetheless, the existing system could potentially prevent long-term resilience and lead to maladaptation. A holistic assessment of the policy toolkit addressing the linkages and trade-offs between risk-management and environmental outcomes would enable a focus on the most cost-effective programmes, stimulate the development of market-based tools where the opportunity-costs of public support are higher, and encourage more forms of farm-level risk management by farmers.

• Support to general services continues to receive a significant share of total budgetary support (one-third), contributing to strengthening the sector’s competitiveness and sustainability. Still, more efforts to reverse the declining trend of GSSE spending relative to the size of the sector, particularly in innovation and knowledge transfer, represent an opportunity to prepare for future challenges.

Development of support to agriculture

Figure 6.1. Canada: Development of support to agriculture

Table 6.1. Canada: Estimates of support to agriculture

Million USD

	1986-88	2000-02	2021-23	2021	2022	2023p
Total value of production (at farm gate)	14 083	20 696	66 053	61 526	67 464	69 170
of which: share of MPS commodities (%)	85.57	81.97	82.73	81.86	83.52	82.81
Total value of consumption (at farm gate)	11 833	15 014	43 698	44 917	44 221	41 956
Producer Support Estimate (PSE)	5 855	3 897	5 995	7 492	5 126	5 367
Support based on commodity output	3 214	1 629	1 961	2 728	1 466	1 690
Market price support¹	2 851	1 608	1 961	2 727	1 466	1 690
Positive market price support	2 997	1 608	1 961	2 727	1 466	1 690
Negative market price support	-146	0	0	0	0	0
Payments based on output	364	20	0	0	0	0
Payments based on input use	1 091	368	695	607	804	673
Based on variable input use	622	242	394	397	417	368
with input constraints	0	0	17	0	24	27
Based on fixed capital formation	448	108	248	202	270	270
with input constraints	0	0	37	6	46	59
Based on on-farm services	20	18	53	7	117	35
with input constraints	0	0	17	0	24	27
Payments based on current A/An/R/I, production required	1 336	1 307	2 986	3 743	2 484	2 731
Based on Receipts / Income	467	586	621	556	607	700
Based on Area planted / Animal numbers	869	721	2 365	3 186	1 877	2 032
With input constraints	0	0	24	17	16	40
Payments based on non-current A/An/R/I, production required	0	0	0	0	0	0
Payments based on non-current A/An/R/I, production not required	0	553	314	367	353	222
With variable payment rates	0	0	0	0	0	0
with commodity exceptions	0	0	0	0	0	0
With fixed payment rates	0	553	314	367	353	222
with commodity exceptions	0	0	0	0	0	0
Payments based on non-commodity criteria	8	0	0	0	0	0
Based on long-term resource retirement	8	0	0	0	0	0
Based on a specific non-commodity output	0	0	0	0	0	0
Based on other non-commodity criteria	0	0	0	0	0	0
Miscellaneous payments	206	41	39	48	19	51
Percentage PSE (%)	34.44	16.95	8.51	11.30	7.21	7.37
Producer NPC (coeff.)	1.34	1.09	1.03	1.05	1.02	1.02
Producer NAC (coeff.)	1.53	1.20	1.09	1.13	1.08	1.08
General Services Support Estimate (GSSE)	1 153	1 260	1 941	1 942	2 098	1 782
Agricultural knowledge and innovation system	483	536	672	675	693	648
Inspection and control	283	348	827	832	961	688
Development and maintenance of infrastructure	268	182	231	221	214	257
Marketing and promotion	85	179	140	152	153	114
Cost of public stockholding	0	0	0	0	0	0
Miscellaneous	34	15	71	61	77	75
Percentage GSSE (% of TSE)	16.30	24.44	24.26	20.33	28.77	24.71
Consumer Support Estimate (CSE)	-2 533	-1 719	-2 185	-3 037	-1 610	-1 908
Transfers to producers from consumers	-2 766	-1 602	-1 960	-2 727	-1 466	-1 685
Other transfers from consumers	-31	-117	-309	-430	-213	-283
Transfers to consumers from taxpayers	31	0	83	120	69	61
Excess feed cost	234	0	0	0	0	0
Percentage CSE (%)	-21.54	-11.44	-4.98	-6.78	-3.65	-4.55
Consumer NPC (coeff.)	1.31	1.13	1.05	1.08	1.04	1.05
Consumer NAC (coeff.)	1.27	1.13	1.05	1.07	1.04	1.05
Total Support Estimate (TSE)	7 039	5 157	8 019	9 554	7 294	7 210
Transfers from consumers	2 798	1 720	2 268	3 158	1 679	1 969
Transfers from taxpayers	4 273	3 555	6 060	6 827	5 827	5 525
Budget revenues	-31	-117	-309	-430	-213	-283
Percentage TSE (% of GDP)	1.61	0.69	0.38	0.48	0.34	0.34
Total Budgetary Support Estimate (TBSE)	4 188	3 549	6 058	6 827	5 827	5 520
Percentage TBSE (% of GDP)	0.96	0.47	0.29	0.34	0.27	0.26
GDP deflator (1986-88 = 100)	100	138	223	212	227	230
Exchange rate (national currency per USD)	1.32	1.53	1.30	1.25	1.30	1.35

Note: p: provisional. NPC: Nominal Protection Coefficient. NAC: Nominal Assistance Coefficient. A/An/R/I: Area planted/Animal numbers/Receipts/Income. 1. Market Price Support (MPS) is net of producer levies and excess feed cost. MPS commodities for Canada are: wheat, maize, barley, oats, soybean, rapeseed, flax, potatoes, lentils, dried beans, dried peas, milk, beef and veal, pig meat, poultry and eggs.

Source: OECD (2024), “Producer and Consumer Support Estimates”, OECD Agricultural policy monitoring (database), https://data-explorer.oecd.org/.

Policy landscape

Main policy instruments

Agriculture policy is a shared jurisdiction between federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) governments who collaborate via an agreed agricultural policy framework which reflects national priorities while providing flexibility for provinces and territories to design and deliver programmes that respond to their regional priorities. FPT governments may develop and fund their own agricultural programmes outside of this framework. Agricultural policy is characterised by the separate treatment of supply-managed commodities (dairy, poultry and eggs). These are produced mainly for domestic consumption and are protected by border measures. Other commodities (e.g. field crops, red meat, horticulture) have less market interventions and are generally export-oriented.

The national supply management system provides market price support through customs tariffs (import control) and production quotas tradable within provinces (production control), combined with domestic price-setting according to production costs and consumer price index (pricing mechanism). Supply managed commodities are governed by their own FPT agreements – the national marketing plans – and are administered by provincial agricultural marketing boards operating in co-ordination with the national agencies.

Other programmes to support Canada’s agriculture and agro-food sector are mainly provided through multilateral policy frameworks, with the most recent being the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP). This five-year agreement between FPT governments, effective from April 2023 through March 2028, finances business risk management programmes along with strategic initiatives that are either federal programmes or cost-shared activities by FPT governments.

The business risk management (BRM) programmes support producers in managing risks that threaten the viability of their farm or are beyond their capacity to control. The basic design of these programmes under the Sustainable CAP 2023-28 is similar to that of past frameworks and attempts to balance ex ante and ex post measures and limit ad hoc forms of assistance. FPT governments jointly provide approximately CAD 1.8 billion (USD 1.3 billion) per year to finance programmes under the Farm Income Protection Act:

• AgriStability, a whole-farm income stabilisation programme to support producers in years of large margin declines. Farmers receive a payment if their production margin – difference between revenue and costs – in the current year falls below their historical reference margin by more than 30%.

• AgriInvest, a savings tool to help producers manage small income declines. Each year, producers can deposit up to 100% of their Allowable Net Sales (ANS) and receive a matching government contribution on 1% of their ANS, with a maximum government contribution of CAD 10 000 (USD 7 400). Funds in these accounts may be used for any purpose.

• AgriInsurance, a federal-provincial-producer cost-shared insurance programme which subsidises 60% of the cost of insurance premiums. This insurance covers major crop and horticulture products, with the possibility for individual provinces to develop insurance coverage for livestock.

• AgriRecovery, a disaster relief framework to help producers recover from natural disasters, supplementing the assistance provided by the other BRM programmes.

The Advance Payments Program (APP) is a loan guarantee programme that aims to help producers cope with market volatility. The federal government guarantees cash advances of up to CAD 1 million (USD 740 000) to producers based on the anticipated value of their farm products. For each programme year, the government pays the interests on the first portion of each advance, with preferential interest rates applying to amounts above the interest-free limit. Initially set at CAD 100 000 (USD 77 000) per producer per year, this limit has significantly increased in the last two years (see section “Recent policy developments”). Producers are required to repay their advances as they sell their products, with most agricultural products having up to 18 months for repayment, and advances on cattle and bison having up to 24 months. Unlike Federal, Provincial and Territorial BRM programmes which are based on the Farm Income Protection Act, the APP is fully federally funded outside the Sustainable CAP budget and has the Agricultural Marketing Programs Act as its legislative base.

The federal-only funded strategic initiatives under the Sustainable CAP 2023-28 provides CAD 1 billion (USD 740 million) for programmes, primarily applying a cost-sharing approach reimbursing expenses on a 50-50 to 75-25 basis between the grant and the applicant. Some also offer technical assistance and extension services. These programmes focus on three pillars:

• Growing trade and expanding markets through:

  • AgriMarketing, a CAD 130 million (USD 96 million) programme which supports industry-led market development activities that help the sector to increase and diversify exports as well as seize domestic market opportunities.

  • AgriCompetitiveness, a CAD 26 million (USD 19 million) programme which supports activities that helps the sector adapt to changing commercial and regulatory environments, share best practices, and provide mentorship opportunities, facilitating knowledge transfer and sector leadership.

• Fostering innovative and sustainable growth of the sector through:

  • AgriScience, a CAD 325 million (USD 241 million) programme which supports innovation by providing funding to pre-commercial science activities and cutting-edge research to benefit the agriculture and agro-food sector.

  • AgriInnovate, a CAD 95 million (USD 70 million) programme which supports projects that accelerate the demonstration, commercialisation or adoption of innovative products, technologies, processes or services that increase the sector’s competitiveness and sustainability. It provides contributions to businesses on an interest-free repayable basis.

• Supporting diversity and a dynamic and evolving sector through:

  • AgriAssurance, a CAD 64 million (USD 47 million) programme shares costs with industry of developing and adopting systems, standards and tools to address market and regulatory requirements related to food safety, plant and animal health surveillance, animal welfare, environmental sustainability, traceability, market attributes and quality standards. It also aims to foster public trust by helping industry make verifiable claims about the health, safety and quality of Canadian agricultural products.

  • AgriDiversity, a CAD 5 million (USD 4 million) programme which aims to increase the capacity of youth, women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and other underrepresented and marginalised groups to overcome barriers and actively participate in the agricultural sector (see section “Recent policy developments”). It supports skills, leadership, and entrepreneurial development; and facilitates knowledge sharing and best management practices.

The FPT cost-shared strategic initiatives are funded 60% by the federal government and 40% by the provincial/territorial governments, and provide CAD 2.5 billion (USD 1.9 billion) under the Sustainable CAP 2023-28 for activities that focus on the following five priority areas:

• Climate change and environment to help the sector develop and adopt clean technologies that address agri-environmental issues; adopt priority beneficial management practices; develop and implement targeted climate change and environmental strategies; and carry out risk assessments.

• Science, research and innovation to support basic and applied research aligned with the provincial and territorial needs of the sector, knowledge and technology transfer activities, and other research activities related to climate change adaptation and GHG emissions reduction.

• Market development and trade to help the sector prepare for, and respond to, new and emerging market opportunities domestically and abroad as well as to recognise the quality and sustainability of the sector and improve the visibility and competitiveness of Canadian products domestically and in international markets.

• Building sector capacity, growth and competitiveness to help producers and processors enhance production efficiency and profitability through the acquisition of tools and skills and the adoption of improved products, practices and processes that add value and credibility, as well as to support industry-led initiatives that address labour shortages, including support for labour attraction and retention, and labour-saving technologies such as automation.

• Resiliency and public trust to develop and implement strategies that allow to effectively plan, prevent and mitigate production risks and potential supply chain disruptions, as well as to support the development, implementation and continuous improvement of pan-Canadian food safety, biosecurity and traceability systems at the farm and post-farm levels.

Most farm-level environmental programmes are designed and administered by provincial and territorial governments. More recently, a new FPT cost-shared strategic initiative worth CAD 250 million (USD 192 million), the Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program, seeks to support ecological goods and services provided by the agricultural sector, through per-acre payments to farmers and land agreements. Provinces and territories design and deliver the programme based on their local conditions and regional needs, alongside other initiatives aimed at fostering farming practices that leverage the natural abilities of farmland to address climate change. The programme supports the on-farm adoption of beneficial management practices, which vary by region and may include grassland and habitat management, cropland management, agri-food processing, demonstration tools, manure and confined livestock management, energy use and efficiency, pest management, product storage, and water use and efficiency (see section “Recent policy developments”).

Additionally, climate policies have come to complement agricultural policies in fostering the sector’s contribution to achieving the country’s ambitious climate goals. In its 2021 updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement, Canada committed to reducing national net GHG emissions 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030, to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and to reaching a national fertiliser emissions reduction target of 30% below 2020 levels by 2030 (Government of Canada, 2021[1]). Canada also signed the Global Methane Pledge and explicitly committed to reducing its economy-wide methane emissions by 2030. However, agricultural emissions remain largely excluded from Canada’s emissions reduction tool of pricing carbon pollution.

Building on the Pan-Canadian Framework (PCF) on Clean Growth and Climate Change established in 2016, the government of Canada created in 2020 its A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy plan (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2020[2]), which contains agriculture-specific actions including:

• The Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) initiative supports farmers and agro-food businesses in developing and adopting clean technologies via two funding streams. The Research and Innovation Stream (2021 to 2028) helps develop and disseminate clean technologies in three areas (green energy and energy efficiency, precision agriculture and bioeconomy). Non-repayable contributions of up to 50% of the costs of research, development and demonstration projects are provided, as are repayable contributions where activities involve commercialisation and scale-up. The Adoption Stream (2021 to 2026) helps farmers purchase and install commercially available clean technologies and processes, primarily those reducing GHG emissions and generating other environmental co-benefits.

• The Agricultural Climate Solutions (ACS) initiative helps develop and implement farming practices to tackle climate change, a multi-stream programme under the Natural Climate Solution Fund. The Living Labs Stream, supports research that aims to co-develop, test and monitor beneficial management practices on farms that sequester carbon and mitigate GHG emissions, through regional collaboration hubs that bring together farmers, scientists, and other sector partners. The On-Farm Climate Action Fund (2021-2024) helps farmers adopt climate-friendly practices, including nitrogen management, cover cropping and rotational grazing, providing a combination of training, technical support and financial incentives.

While the focus of these measures is on green growth and climate change mitigation and adaptation, there are cross-cutting approaches with sustainable productivity growth that are developed in the following section.

Innovation for sustainable productivity growth

Agricultural output in Canada grew by 2.3% annually between 1961 and 2006. While input use grew by only 0.7% per year over the same period, the remainder of the output growth (1.6% per year) was due to average total factor productivity growth (TFP), which measures the combined effects of new technologies, efficiency improvements and economies of scale. (OECD, 2015[3]). After being steady for a long time, the TFP growth in primary agriculture has slowed down in the last decade (USDA-ERS, 2024[4]).

The Canadian agri-food sector benefits from an abundance of natural resources and faces limited environmental constraints. Agri-environmental indicators reveal that agricultural output growth over the past decade has been achieved without a clear relationship with the level of pressure exerted on natural resources. Nevertheless, while the adoption of more sustainable practices has helped improve the environmental performance of agriculture, climate change currently ranks among the top challenges facing Canada’s agricultural sector. On one hand, the primary agriculture sector contributes around 10% of Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, despite accounting for only about 1.3% of GDP. On the other hand, agricultural productivity could face further impacts from the effects of climate change, along with potential increased consumer demands for emission reductions.

Strategic planning

Canadian policy aligns economic viability with environmental and social considerations. Government policies foster investment in research and development to optimise resource use, adoption of environmentally friendly agricultural practices, responsiveness to changing consumer preferences, and collaborative efforts among stakeholders to boost innovation and knowledge exchange.

Released in 2022, the Strategic Plan for Science outlines the vision for the future of research and development (R&D) to align the sector with the new reality and address emerging challenges. This approach entails a paradigm shift towards sustainable agriculture and has the potential to enable needed cross-sectoral collaboration, although implementation is still underway, and results unclear yet. The strategy is based on four main missions:

• Mitigating and adapting to climate change

• Increasing the resilience of agro-ecosystems

• Advancing the circular economy by developing value added opportunities

• Accelerating the digital transformation of agriculture and agri-food.

Research and innovation

The government has helped transform the agricultural sector through investments in R&D. The private sector has also contributed by investing in R&D, particularly in the areas of new crop varieties and livestock genetics. Public funds support 20 R&D centres and 30 affiliated sites which operate to address key agricultural challenges. Each R&D centre specialises in specific research areas tailored to the needs of the sector. For instance, to boost agricultural productivity and sustainability in cold and humid climates, research at these centres will focus on the development of field crop systems integrating perennial forage species.

The federal strategic initiatives AgriScience and AgriInnovate foster sustainable productivity growth of the Canadian agro-food sector (see section “Main policy instruments”). Focused on the development portion of the innovation path (i.e. pre-commercialisation and pre-adoption of innovation), AgriScience helps the industry move its activities from upstream (discovery science) to downstream (near market). Funding covers areas such as variety development, pest and disease management and mitigation, sustainability and indigenous knowledge. AgriInnovate supports the phases of technology demonstration, technology commercialisation and technology adoption. The programme invests in emerging technologies and processes that strengthen the Canadian agricultural and agri-food innovation ecosystem, fostering competitiveness and sustainability. Key areas include advanced manufacturing, automation, robotics, and digitisation.

Support for science and innovation within the sector is increasingly coming from other federal ministries. Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) Canada, for instance, has funded the establishment of several networks and clusters aimed at driving innovation and value-added in the sector. Notable initiatives include the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN), which focuses on precision agriculture, automation, and technological advancements. Similarly, the Canadian Food Innovators Network (CFIN) fosters collaboration and innovation within Canada’s food and food-tech sector. Moreover, Protein Industries Canada (PIC), part of ISED’s Global Innovation Clusters, is dedicated to enhancing Canada’s plant-based and co-products sector. Lastly, the National NSERC-SSHRC Sustainable Agriculture Research Initiative is committed to supporting research aimed at initiating or accelerating the development of solutions necessary for a sustainable, resilient, and profitable agricultural sector in a net-zero economy. With a broader range of stakeholders investing in science and innovation and an enabling environment that encourages more public and private R&D efforts, Canada aims at improving productivity, reducing emissions, and maintaining the sector’s role as an economic driver.

These programmes are complemented by FPT cost-shared strategic initiatives focused on the Science, research and innovation priority area, which are implemented at provincial level. Among the most recent initiatives, it is worth mentioning the following ones:

• Manitoba’s Research and Innovation Program helps develop science-based solutions and tools to address challenges, climate threats, and opportunities. It aims at accelerating innovation through funding for research and capacity building projects, including developing new technologies, new practices, new products and new knowledge.

• Ontario’s Agri-Food Research Initiative supports research and innovation activities that drive growth, sustainability, and market opportunities, including through the Growth Ontario Accelerator Hub.

• Saskatchewan’s crop-related research funding, including the Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) and Strategic Research Programs (SRP) focuses on enhancing sustainability, competitiveness, and innovation. It covers areas such as news crops and cultivars, optimised livestock feeding systems, innovative sustainable farming practices, adaptive capacity of soils, and use of biotechnology.

For FPT cost-shared programming under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, short and medium-term performance measures and targets for research, development and innovation were established.

Programme implementation

As described above, the various FPT cost-shared initiatives focused on Climate change and environment priority area encourage famers to adopt clean technologies and beneficial management practices to transition to sustainable agricultural production. The new flagship Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program aims to reconcile environmental and economic performance of farms by rewarding environmental goods and services provided by the agricultural sector.

Other programmes seek to improve productivity and sustainability in strategic commodities by providing financial incentives to primary producers. An example is the Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program, which helps supply-managed poultry and egg producers adapt to market changes resulting from the implementation of recent international trade agreements, namely the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). The programme subsidises on-farm investments that:

• increase efficiency or productivity (through more effective housing facilities or computerised control systems for instance)

• improve on-farm food safety and biosecurity (such as cleaning and disinfection equipment and water treatment systems)

• improve environmental sustainability (through solar panels or energy-efficient heating and ventilation systems for example)

• respond to consumer preferences (improving animal welfare, adopting alternative housing systems, transitioning to organic production, among others).

At provincial level, Ontario’s Agri-Tech Innovation Initiative provides financial aid to farm and food processing businesses adopting innovative technology. Nova Scotia invests in the Season Extension Enhancement Program, to help fruit and vegetable growers who invest in innovative and labour-saving technologies to extend their growing season, adapt to a changing climate and open up new market opportunities. This initiative supports acquiring on-farm infrastructure for adopting season extension technologies, enhancing storage capacity and developing irrigation capacity for field operations. The province also invests in the Local Food Advancer Program, assisting local producers and agri-businesses in acquiring equipment and technology to boost production, either by expanding their current operation or by creating new value-added products.

Recent policy developments

Domestic policy developments in 2023-24

Federal funded strategic activities – main changes under the new Sustainable CAP

Under the Sustainable CAP, strategic government initiatives funded by the federal government have been adjusted according to current priorities, with higher contribution rates from the government:

• AgriMarketing expands its scope with priority given to projects demonstrating the following priorities:

  • Market Diversification, with emphasis on emerging markets in the Indo-Pacific Region

  • Inclusive Trade, expanding eligible recipients to associations representing stakeholders from underrepresented or marginalised groups such as indigenous-led and women-owned groups

  • Marketing Canada’s Green Products, promoting environmental certification and assurance systems

  • Digital and Virtual Engagement, preferring digital campaigns, virtual B2B meetings and e-commerce to lower costs and reduce carbon footprint.

• AgriCompetitiveness entails an increase in the government’s contribution rate to 70% from the previous 50%.

• AgriScience tackles challenges and opportunities across the three following priority areas: climate change and the environment, economic growth and development, and sector resilience alongside societal challenges. Certain parameters have also been adjusted, notably the requirement for beneficiary clusters to include a mandatory minimum investment of 30% in R&D primarily focusing on the climate change and the environment priority area.

• AgriDiversity extends eligibility to encompass visible minorities and racialised persons, 2SLGBTQI+ communities, and official language minority communities. The government cost share percentage increased to 70% from 50%.

• Carbon credits to offset greenhouse gas emissions from travel activities are now accepted as eligible expenses under AgriMarketing, AgriCometitiveness, AgriAssurance and AgriDiversity.

Cost-shared strategic initiatives under the Sustainable CAP

During 2023, several new programmes were launched in the different provinces of the country under the umbrella of the FPT cost-shared initiatives of the Sustainable CAP. Activities focus on the different priority areas listed above.

Launched in April 2023, the Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program (RALP) has been implemented at provincial and territorial level. The government of Alberta provides funding of up to CAD 150 000 (USD 110 000) to farmers who undertake projects in pasture management, cropland conversion, tree establishment and wetland preservation, with the requirement to sustain these initiatives for a minimum of three years.

The government of Ontario offers funding to support projects to reduce GHG emissions and sequester carbon, focusing on natural grassland establishment, perennial biomass and warm season pastures, reduced tillage, tree and shrub planting, water retention features and wetlands.

Business risk management programmes – main modifications and new programmes

The Sustainable CAP introduced changes to existing BRM programmes and launched new ones. These changes aim to better integrate environmental and climate risks while maintaining their core focus on managing market and production risks.

Under the AgriInsurance programme, provinces now may implement Whole Farm Cost Shares as an alternative cost-sharing approach, with the federal and provincial governments fully subsidising premiums for catastrophic risks and covering half of the premiums for medium risks.1 Whole Farm Cost Shares aims to incentivise producers to diversify their crops by offering lower premiums based on higher farm diversity, while also maintaining coverage for disaster recovery. Provinces have also committed to introduce a cost-neutral AgriInsurance pilot programme with incentives aimed at encouraging producers to adopt specific Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs), which mitigate production risks, lower premiums, and provide environmental benefits.

AgriRecovery initiatives provided support for disaster recovery for bee colony losses due to severe cold in 2021-22; for producers affected by flooding in British Columbia in 2021; for livestock producers affected by drought and wildfires in 2021 and 2023; for grape growers impacted by extreme cold in Ontario in 2022 and to help producers in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador to recover from damages caused by Hurricane Fiona in 2022.

Addressing rising costs and policy responses to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

In order to address higher input and borrowing costs, the Government of Canada temporarily increased the interest-free limit for advances under the Advance Payments Program from CAD 100 000 (USD 74 000 to CAD 350 000 (USD 260 000) for the 2023 programme year and CAD 250 000 (USD 185 million) for the 2024 programme year. This change is expected to provide a total interest savings of CAD 171.6 million (USD 127 million) over the two programme years to approximately 12 000 producers.

In the 2023 budget, the government allocated CAD 34 million (USD 25 million) in support over a three-year period for eastern Canadian farmers affected by sudden increases in fertiliser market prices in early 2022. This funding, provided through the On-Farm-Climate Action fund targets eastern Canadian producers who heavily rely on Russian fertiliser imports and aims to facilitate the adoption of new or additional nitrogen management practices to optimise fertiliser utilisation (Government of Canada, 2023[5]).

Supporting the supply managed sectors

Launched in September 2023, the Dairy Innovation and Investment Fund provides financial support to Canadian dairy processors to help them manage the surplus of solids non-fat by modernising, replacing and increasing solids non-fat processing capacity. This CAD 333 million (USD 246 million) programme over 10 years aims to compensate for the impacts of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

An additional CAD 125 million (USD 92 million) was assigned to the Supply Management Processing Investment Funds to mitigate the impacts of the CUSMA. This fund complements the initial budget of CAD 292 million (USD 216 million) aimed at mitigating the impacts of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). They support investments in dairy, poultry, and egg processing facilities that improve productivity and/or efficiency through the purchase of new automated equipment and technology.

Strengthening pest and disease management

The federal government allocated CAD 57.5 million (USD 42.5 million) over five years in new funding for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to establish a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine bank and develop FMD response plans, aiming at controlling large-scale FMD outbreaks. It also extended the African Swine Fever Industry Preparedness Program until March 2025.

The government of Ontario committed in April 2023 to invest CAD 15 million (USD 11 million) to address veterinary shortages in rural and northern areas, establishing the Collaborative Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program to train more veterinarians. It also launched the CAD 5 million (USD 3.7 million) Veterinary Incentive Program offering up to CAD 50 000 (USD 37 000) in grants over five years to encourage newly licensed veterinarians to practice in underserviced communities.

Adjusting labour policy

The government of Canada announced in March 2024 changes to temporary measures the Workforce Solutions Road Map had first introduced in April 2022 based on labour market conditions. These latest measures under the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program included the reduction, from 30% to 20%, of the cap on temporary foreign workers that employers in certain sectors – including the agri-food sector – are allowed to hire as part of their total workforce through this programme, and the adjustment of the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) validity period. Additionally, the Recognized Employer Pilot (REP) under the TFW Program was launched in August 2023 with the aim to streamline LMIA processes for eligible employers, both in primary agriculture and in food processing. In 2023, there were over 70 000 TFWs in agricultural industries like cattle and ranch farming, fruit and tree nut farming, and greenhouse, nursery and floriculture production. There were also over 45 000 TFWs in food and manufacturing industries like dairy product manufacturing and seafood product preparation and packaging.

The immigration Levels Plan for 2024-26 aims to welcome 1.45 million new immigrants to Canada and prioritise economic immigration. Category-based rounds of invitations to candidates based on identified economic goals were introduced in 2023, agri-food occupations were chosen as one of six categories for 2023 and 2024. Furthermore, extensions to programmes like the Agri-Food Pilot until May 2025 aim to address long-term labour shortages in the agricultural sector – especially for specific occupations, such as meat processing, greenhouse crop production, and livestock raising, with expanded eligibility criteria and pathways to permanent residency.

Fostering food security

British Columbia (BC) announced CAD 200 million (USD 148 million) for food security in March 2023, aiming to enhance access to affordable, local food and strengthen the province’s food supply chain. Key policy elements include initiatives such as the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Program, allocating CAD 30 million (USD 22 million) to support Indigenous communities in building local food systems and revitalising traditional practices. The initiative funds infrastructure such as greenhouses, irrigation systems, community gardens and food storage, as well as climate change adaptation projects. Other programmes focus on developing emergency strategies for agricultural resilience, aim at boosting the BC food processing sector through facility upgrades, equipment investment, and capacity expansion, or provide funding to the BC livestock and poultry industry to invest in planning, preparedness, prevention, and mitigation of animal diseases.

Policies to facilitate climate change mitigation and adaptation in agriculture

In November 2023, the Agricultural Methane Reduction Challenge (AMRC) was launched. Up to CAD 12 million (USD 9 million) will be awarded to innovators advancing low-cost and scalable practices, processes and technologies designed to reduce methane emissions from the cattle sector, specifically cow-calf operation, feedlot, and dairy. Potential innovation areas are feed additives, grazing management practices and feed efficiency among others.

At the provincial level, British Columbia introduced the Perennial Crop Renewal Program, offering CAD 15 million (USD 11 million) in funding to perennial crop producers in the region. This initiative aims to support the removal of unproductive, diseased, or unmarketable cultivars, enabling producers to transition to growing systems better aligned with environmental conditions and market demands. In June 2023 the province launched the Agricultural Water Infrastructure Program, a three-year programme that provides incentives for investments in water infrastructure, with a total budget of CAD 20 million (USD 15 million).

Trade policy developments in 2023-24

After conducting public consultations in 2023, Canada has initiated Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Ecuador. A Notice of Intent (NOI) was tabled in Parliament in December 2023, and the first round of negotiations started on 30 April 2024. An FTA with Ecuador would reinforce existing strong bilateral relations while also providing means to further diversify trade and increasing commercial opportunities for the agriculture and agri-food sector.

Policy context

Key economic and agricultural statistics

Canada is a large, wealthy country with a small population relative to its land area and has relatively abundant land and water available to the agricultural sector. Primary agriculture accounts for 2% of GDP and 1.6% of employment but contributes to a larger share of economic output in some of the country’s regions (Table 6.2). Crop production, concentrated in the western prairies – where the typical farm is twice as large as the national average – is highly productive and largely oriented to export. Most milk production is located in eastern Canada, which has relatively smaller farms and a larger variety of crops. Red meat industries are present across Canada, with beef cattle production being especially prominent in western Canada, and hog production concentrated in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba.

Table 6.2. Canada: Contextual indicators

	Canada		International comparison
	2000*	2022*	2000*	2022*
Economic context			Share in total of all countries
GDP (billion USD in PPPs)	901	2 271	2.2%	1.7%
Population (million)	31	39	0.7%	0.7%
Land area (thousand km2)	8 966	8 789	11.0%	10.7%
Agricultural area (AA) (thousand ha)	61 287	56 991	2.1%	2.0%
			All countries1
Population density (inhabitants/km2)	3	4	52	64
GDP per capita (USD in PPPs)	29 362	58 348	9 363	25 965
Trade as % of GDP	33.2	26.3	12.3	16.6
Agriculture in the economy			All countries1
Agriculture in GDP (%)	2.3	2.0	2.9	3.8
Agriculture share in employment (%)	3.3	1.6	-	-
Agro-food exports (% of total exports)	6.0	11.6	6.4	8.0
Agro-food imports (% of total imports)	5.0	8.5	5.8	6.9
Characteristics of the agricultural sector			All countries1
Crop in total agricultural production (%)	43	61	-	-
Livestock in total agricultural production (%)	57	39	-	-
Share of arable land in AA (%)	67	67	32	34

Note: *or closest available year.

1. Average of all countries covered in this report.

Sources: OECD statistical databases; International Labour Organization (ILO); UN Comtrade; World Bank, WDI; FAO database and national data.

For most of the past two decades, with the exception of 2009 related to the financial crisis, Canada enjoyed a stable macroeconomic environment characterised by relatively low inflation rates, fluctuating around its 2% target, and positive economic growth. However, the economy has been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions, which caused a recession in 2020. After a significant recovery in 2021, Canada’s GDP growth declined, falling below pre-pandemic growth rates with 1.2% in 2023. Besides, the unemployment rate, which had declined from its 2020 peak in 2021, stabilised at 5.4% in 2023. Inflation, which had been rising since 2021, fell to 3.9% in 2023 (Figure 6.4).

Canada’s economy is well integrated in international markets – as measured by the ratio of trade to GDP at 26% in 2022 (Table 6.2). Agro-food products represent 11.6% of total Canadian exports and 8.5% of imports. Canada is a large net exporter of agro-food products, with nearly USD 17 billion of trade surplus, and access to export markets is highly important for the sector. More than half of Canada’s agro-food exports are destined for the United States. Most of Canada’s agro-food exports are either processed products intended for direct consumption (37%), or primary products for processing (33%). Canadian households’ final consumption absorbs 69% of agriculture and food imports, of which two-thirds are processed goods (Figure 6.5).

At 1.6%, Canada’s agricultural output growth over the decade 2012-21 was slightly below the global average of 1.9%. It was driven by the further intensification in the use of intermediate inputs (+1.5%), combined with the growth in Canada’s agricultural productivity (+0.75%), as measured by total factor productivity (TFP), which were sufficient to more than offset the impact of reduced primary factor input use (-0.65%), including labour, land, livestock and machinery, on agricultural output (Figure 6.6).

The agricultural output growth over the past decade has been achieved without a clear relationship being established with the level of pressure exerted on natural resources, as shown by various environmental indicators (Table 6.3). Average nutrient surplus intensities have been increasing by 28% since 2000 for nitrogen and decreasing by 20% for phosphorous. While agriculture’s share of total energy use (3.6%) has been rising since 2000 and is well above the OECD average (2.0%), its share of GHG emissions (8.1%), although increasing, remains below the OECD average (10.1%). The pressure on water resources is also very low, ten to twenty times lower than the OECD average.

Table 6.3. Canada: Productivity and environmental indicators

	Canada		International comparison
	1991-2000	2012-2021	1991-2000	2012-2021
			World
TFP annual growth rate (%)	2.4%	0.7%	1.7%	1.1%
			OECD average
Environmental indicators	2000*	2022*	2000*	2022*
Nitrogen balance, kg/ha	23.8	30.5	32.1	28.2
Phosphorus balance, kg/ha	1.5	1.2	3.3	2.3
Agriculture share of total energy use (%)	2.3	3.6	1.7	2.0
Agriculture share of GHG emissions (%)	7.1	8.1	8.7	10.1
Share of irrigated land in AA (%)	1.2	1.1	-	-
Share of agriculture in water abstractions (%)	9.7	8.6	47.0	49.5
Water stress indicator	..	0.9	8.7	..

Note: * or closest available year.

Sources: USDA Economic Research Service, Agricultural Productivity database; OECD statistical databases; FAO database and national data.

Historical trends in agricultural policies

Prior to the mid-1980s, Canada heavily supported the agricultural sector through measures such as import tariffs, export and production subsidies, and price and production controls. The dominant features of agricultural policy were supply management measures in the dairy and poultry sectors, collective marketing in grains and oilseeds (notably by the Canadian Wheat Board, or CWB), and income stabilisation programmes (Barichello, 1995[6]). Support varied between eastern and western provinces, partly due to Canada’s decentralised political system, and the independence of provincial governments in policies such as marketing legislation (Anderson, 2009[7]).

In the mid-1980s, Canada began agricultural policy reform, particularly in the grain sector. In 1990, the Western Grains Stabilization Program, which was intended to stabilise net margins for major grains and oilseeds from western Canada, was terminated (Anderson, 2009[7]). This was replaced by the National Tripartite Stabilization Program (NTSP), which established federal-provincial cost-sharing of programmes (Antón, Kimura and Martini, 2011[8]). The Farm Income Protection Act of 1991 changed Canada’s approach to supporting producers by moving from commodity-specific policies towards programmes supporting farm incomes. The Act established two safety-net programmes: (1) the Gross Revenue Insurance Plan (GRIP, 1991-1996/2002) to protect against reductions in revenues and yields; and (2) the Net Income Stabilization Account (NISA, 1991-2009) to subsidise savings accounts for individual producers (Anderson, 2009[7]; Klein and Storey, 1998[9]). Furthermore, compliance with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and free trade agreements of the early 1990s (NAFTA) accelerated the reform process, eliminating most commodity-based policies (e.g. NTSP) except those targeting supply-managed commodities (Antón, Kimura and Martini, 2011[8]). In 1995, transport subsidies to grains (the Western Grain Transport Assistance and the Feed Freight Assistance) were abolished (Anderson, 2009[7]), ending the period of high market price support2 to these commodities (Figure 6.7).

The Agricultural Income Disaster Assistance (AIDA) programme introduced in 1998 was the first to comply with criteria for income insurance and safety-net programmes under the World Trade Organization Agreement on Agriculture. AIDA was established to serve as a core income stabilisation policy, reducing the need for ad hoc programmes. The “disaster” component was integrated into subsequent programmes: the Canadian Farm Income Program (CFIP, 2001-03); the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization (CAIS, 2004-08); and AgriStability (Anderson, 2009[7]; Statistics Canada, 2021[10]; Antón, Kimura and Martini, 2011[8]).

Since 2003, agricultural policy objectives and approaches are set out in longer-term agricultural policy frameworks developed through co-operation by federal, provincial and territorial governments. The first framework covered five areas: (1) business risk management, (2) food safety and quality, (3) environment, (4) science and innovation, and (5) renewal (skills and training) (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2005[11]). Initially, the federal government delivered programmes directly. This evolved with the Growing Forward framework (2008-13) which transferred programme implementation to the provinces and territories, allowing for more flexibility and better adaptability to local needs (OECD, 2015[3]). During this time, the AgriStability and AgriInvest programmes replaced CAIS and NISA, respectively, continuing to provide farmers with income stabilisation products and subsidised saving accounts. The Growing Forward 2 framework (2013-18) strengthened the role of these programmes and incorporated additional initiatives, such as AgriInsurance (previously referred to as the Crop Insurance) and the AgriRecovery disaster framework (Anderson, 2009[7]; Statistics Canada, 2021[10]; Antón, Kimura and Martini, 2011[8]). Risk-management programmes have continued to evolve under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (2018-23) and the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership (2023-28) (see previous sections).

Table 6.4. Canada: Agricultural policy trends

Period	Broader framework	Changes in agricultural policies
Prior to 1985	Import barriers for competing imported products and support for traded products Domestic market control	Agricultural tariffs for competing imported products Import quotas/tariff-rate quotas Export subsidies for agricultural products Transportation subsidies for agricultural products Supply management for dairy and poultry products Grains policy featured by a one-desk selling marketing board and significant transportation subsidy Price controls for agricultural products using marketing boards such as the collective marketing of wheat and barley (CWB)
1985-2000	Gradual reforms and trade liberalisation Increasing emphasis on income and revenue support	Reduction of agricultural tariffs and quotas Diminishing reliance on marketing boards, supply management, price controls GATT, free trade agreements Dismantling of Western Grains Stabilization Program Termination of Western Grains Transportation Assistance and Feed Freight Assistance Gradual dismantling of payments coupled to production Introduction of “whole farm” income stabilisation programmes Introduction of insurance subsidies
2000-2020	Income stabilisation emphasis implemented through federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) co-operation	Continued supply management of the dairy, poultry and eggs sectors: price-setting mechanisms, production quotas and tariffs Privatisation of the CWB Agricultural policy frameworks developed through the cooperation of FPT governments Subsidies for farm income stabilisation Subsidies for farm savings Insurance subsidies Disaster relief framework
2020-present	Climate ambition and emphasis on sustainability	Fertiliser emissions reduction target of 30% below 2020 levels by 2030 Support to agricultural clean technologies and climate solutions Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership (2023-2028)

Support to agricultural producers in Canada decreased over the last three decades, with government support declining from over 34% of farmers’ revenues in the mid-1980s to around 7-9% in recent years (Figure 6.7). This resulted from the discontinuation of market price support to grains and oilseeds in the mid-1990s, and the reduction or phase-out of several programmes offering payments based on output (e.g. support to dairy farmers under the Agriculture Stabilization Act) and input use (e.g. Federal Fuel Tax Rebates) between the late 1980s and the early 2000s. Market price support for supply-managed commodities, particularly in the dairy sector, accounted for the largest share of transfers to producers up to 2020. Payments based on current production, including multiple risk-management programmes (e.g. AgriInsurance), were the second largest contributor. Over the past three years, this trend has been reversed. In 2021, the share of payments based on current production was particularly high due to a larger budget devoted to cope with the impacts of adverse weather conditions. In 2022 and 2023, the share of market price support was lower than usual due to high reference prices for certain supply-managed commodities, particularly egg prices – and to some extent poultry meat prices – in the United States, as a result of avian flu. Other categories of payments play a relatively minor role in Canadian farm revenues.

References

[11] Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (2005), Agricultural Policy Framework: Federal–Provincial–Territorial Programs, http://publications.gc.ca/pub?id=9.687269&sl=1.

[7] Anderson, K. (2009), Distortions to Agricultural Incentives: A Global Perspective, 1955-2007, World Bank and Palgrave Macmillan, Washington, DC, https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/9436.

[8] Antón, J., S. Kimura and R. Martini (2011), “Risk Management in Agriculture in Canada”, OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers, No. 40, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/5kgj0d6189wg-en.

[6] Barichello, R. (1995), “Overview Of Canadian Agricultural Policy Systems”, Proceedings of the 1st Agricultural and Food Policy Systems Information Workshop, 1995: Understanding Canada\United States Grain Disputes, https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.16747.

[12] Doan, D., B. Paddock and J. Dyer (2003), Grain Transportation Policy and Transformation in Western Canadian Agriculture, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Wye, https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/15748/files/cp03do01.pdf.

[2] Environment and Climate Change Canada (2020), A Healthy Environment And A Healthy Economy: Canada’s strengthened climate plan to create jobs and support people, communities and the planet, https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/eccc/documents/pdf/climate-change/climate-plan/healthy_environment_healthy_economy_plan.pdf.

[5] Government of Canada (2023), Budget 2023 and Canada’s Agriculture and Agri-Food Sector, https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/agri-info/budget-2023-and-canadas-agriculture-and-agri-food-sector (accessed on 2024 March).

[1] Government of Canada (2021), Canada’s 2021 Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/NDC/2022-06/Canada%27s%20Enhanced%20NDC%20Submission1_FINAL%20EN.pdf (accessed on 16 March 2023).

[9] Klein, K. and G. Storey (1998), “Structural Developments In The Canadian Grains And Oilseeds Sector”, Proceedings of the 4th Agricultural and Food Policy Systems Information Workshop 1998: Economic Harmonization in the CanadianU.S.Mexican Grain-Livestock Subsector, https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.16758.

[3] OECD (2015), Innovation, Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability in Canada, OECD Food and Agricultural Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264238541-en.

[10] Statistics Canada (2021), Data quality, concepts and methodology: Explanatory notes on direct program payments to agriculture producers, https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/statistical-programs/document/5229_D1_V4 (accessed on 15 January 2021).

[4] USDA-ERS (2024), International Agricultural Productivity database.

Notes

← 1.  Catastrophic risks correspond to 1-in-15-year farm loss events while medium risks correspond to 1-in-5-year farm loss events.

← 2.  Market price support to grains and oilseeds, which existed until the mid-1990s, resulted from the assistance provided to grain transportation which lower shipping costs for producers and consequently raised farm-gate grain prices. In 1989-90, the transportation subsidies covered about 70% of total freight costs with producers paying the remaining 30% (Doan, Paddock and Dyer, 2003[12]).