Canada’s agriculture minister, Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, has launched consultations to develop a Sustainable Agriculture Strategy (SAS) with a diversity of partners. The overarching and integrated strategy will focus on five priorities:  soil health, climate adaptation and resilience, water, climate change mitigation, and biodiversity.  

Minister Bibeau made the announcement alongside parliamentary secretary Francis Drouin, Terry Duguid, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Mary Robinson, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), and Martin Caron, president of the Union des producteurs agricoles and board member of the CFA.

By identifying goals and a way forward, Canada’s agriculture sector will be equipped to recover quickly from extreme events, thrive in a changing climate, contribute to world food security, while also contributing to Canada’s overall efforts to cut emissions.

The process will include public consultations, targeted workshops and an Advisory Committee, co-chaired by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the CFA. The advisory committee will be comprised of industry experts, including producers and representatives of associations and non-governmental organizations. These members will identify shared challenges and solutions in order to finalize the strategy in 2023.The committee’s inaugural meeting occurred December 12, 2022.

 A  discussion document is now available for comment. Consultations run until March 31, 2023. 

Source:  Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada December 12, 2022 news release