Canada’s agriculture industry is one of the country’s greatest economic drivers, but it is constrained by outdated and inefficient regulatory processes. At a time when global demand for safe, sustainable food is rising, Canada risks losing ground to competitors and missing opportunities to strengthen food security at home. 

This is why at CropLife Canada we are pleased to see the Government of Canada moving forward with its red tape review exercise. Its efforts to ‘streamline services, cut duplication, and reduce costs for Canadians and businesses’ are a step in the right direction towards driving productivity gains for agriculture and the plant science sector. Agriculture already contributes almost $150 billion annually to Canada’s GDP, however, if Canada is to become the strongest economy in the G7 as the current government aspires, it will need the agriculture and food sector to flourish and grow. 

We desperately need a fundamental shift in how Canada approaches regulation. Health and environmental protection will always be of the utmost importance, but collectively we must find the balance between regulating for risk and regulating for growth. Canada has long neglected this balance, which is highlighted in its dismal ranking of 32 out of 38 member countries for administrative and regulatory burden as tracked by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. 

However, while the red tape review progress reports from Health Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) include recommendations related to plant science innovations that are a step in the right direction, Canada urgently needs bolder and faster action from government. The current measures are simply not enough to pull us out of our productivity slump. Much of the current opportunity for regulatory reform lies in low hanging fruit such as no-cost measures to improve the efficiency of the regulatory system and ensure farmers have timely access to innovative new seed and crop protection tools.

When it comes to the PMRA, the challenges are particularly acute. Back in 2021, the PMRA launched its ‘Transformation Agenda’, resulting in tens of millions of dollars spent, a rapidly increasing administrative headcount, and a decline in performance. These efforts have not resulted in any improvements when it comes to the protection of human health and safety and have only added unnecessary regulatory burden to the system.

The results of excessive red tape are clear: annually, new product submissions to the PMRA are half of what they were a decade ago, and the timelines for approval have nearly doubled. This significantly diminishes Canada’s reputation as a global regulatory leader and disadvantages Canadian farmers.

Canadian fruit and vegetable growers in particular need timely access to new innovations to stay competitive. Yet in Canada, new product innovations are slow to come to market while farmers are losing access to some existing products. Fruit and vegetable growers rely on timely access to the crop protection products they need to protect their crops from insects, weeds and disease. Without these tools the quality, value and yield of crops would fall, reducing the availability of home-grown products and increasing reliance for Canadians on imported produce. Simply put, many fruits and vegetable crops would potentially not be viable without crop protection tools.

Canada is a small market for pesticides globally. If we are going to attract investment in new crop protection tools, especially for smaller acreage crops, it’s imperative that our regulatory system be predictable and timely and not mired in red tape. Think about the opportunity lost if it takes over a decade for a grower to get a new crop protection product that can save an orchard from devastation from a new insect pest or a strawberry from destruction from disease. If companies can’t count on a fair and efficient regulatory process, we risk losing sources of innovation and jobs in Canada. That’s not just lost income for farmers, it’s a hit to Canada’s economy, lower food security and higher grocery bills for consumers.

Regulatory inefficiency affects the entire food system, from innovation to consumer affordability and sustainability. The good news is that our members are already investing in and driving cutting-edge research and development, supporting Canadian manufacturing, and providing agronomic expertise that helps farmers use products responsibly and effectively. These investments depend on a regulatory environment that enables innovation rather than discourages it, protecting human and environmental health while serving as a catalyst for growth. Regulatory agencies play a critical role in safeguarding people and the environment, but they also influence Canada’s economic competitiveness, and right now slow approvals and excessive red tape are holding agriculture back. 

Without bold, immediate action, Canada’s agriculture industry will remain limited by inefficient regulatory processes. Now is the time for the government to aggressively pursue reforming the PMRA’s mandate and restoring its performance standards to enable timely access to innovation. The plant science industry is ready to work alongside the government and regulators to ensure Canada’s regulatory system can keep pace with new submissions and re-evaluations, so Canada’s farmers have the tools they need to compete and win on the global stage.