Today, the Prime Minister was at the Ontario Food Terminal in Toronto to launch Canada’s first-ever National Food Security Strategy, backed by more than $3 billion in investments over 10 years. The Strategy has four objectives:
- Spur grocery store competition and create more choice for Canadians
- Invest $1 billion in food infrastructure to build new and expanded food terminals and hubs – helping independent grocers buy and move competitively priced products without relying on large retail chains; and,
- Provide the Competition Bureau and Competition Tribunal with nearly $130 million to investigate, prevent, and combat anti-competitive businesses practices.
- Boost domestic food production across Canada
- Launch a new $1 billion Agri-food Project Finance Fund through Farm Credit Canada (FCC) to provide seed capital financing for businesses to expand food processing capacity;
- Establish a $150 million Food Security Fund to help small and medium-sized businesses upgrade their equipment to grow, produce, and process more food in Canada; and,
- Create a $100 million Collaborative Food Innovation Fund to help producers expand agri-food processing.
- Grow fruits and vegetables year-round
- Invest $750 million to drastically expand year-round Canadian production of fruits and vegetables, including through greenhouses, vertical farms, and other enclosed growing spaces.
- Cut red tape across the agricultural supply chain
- Modernise key regulations; speed up approvals for seeds, feed, fertilizers, and veterinary products; and reduce backlogs that slow down the system to reduce the regulatory burden on farmers and producers.