Question Period Note: SUPPLY CHAIN

Q1 – What is Canada doing to improve bottlenecks along Canada’s trade corridors which negatively impact the supply chain? Q2 – What is the Government doing to support farmers affected by supply chain issues?

R.1 - My department is actively supporting Transport Canada efforts to reduce bottlenecks and increase transparency and fluidity along the supply chain, such as the establishment of the National Supply Chain Office and the development of a National Transportation Supply Chain Strategy.
We are also supporting the Government’s efforts to identify areas where improvements to supply chain-related regulation or regulatory practices can support the movement of goods, services and people in Canada. R.2 - To support farmers affected by supply chain issues and rising input costs, the Government increased the interest-free portion of the Advance Payments Program from $100,000 to $250,000 for the 2022 program year and to $350,000 for 2023. This change represented additional savings of up to $119 million over these two years for the approximately 12,000 producers who took advantage of advances above $100,000 during the time the increase was in place.

Over the past few years, the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has seen how vulnerable Canadian supply chains are and how disruptions can severely impact the sector. As a result, the Government of Canada continues to work on improvements to supply chains.
In March 2022, the Minister of Transport announced the creation of an independent National Supply Chain Task Force to examine the key pressures affecting Canada's supply chain operations. Agriculture stakeholders actively participated in the Task Force, as well as the resulting final report (October 2022) which included 21 recommendations on short- and long-term actions. These recommendations served to inform the development of Canada’s National Transportation Supply Chain Strategy, as committed to in Budget 2022. This Strategy will help ensure that Canada’s agricultural sector can continue to meet the needs of its global customers.
AAFC has continued to supported Transport Canada (TC) with the implementation of the National Supply Chain Office, as well as having provided agricultural-specific input to TC on the Supply Chain Task Force recommendations. AAFC has maintained ongoing engagement regarding supply chains with TC, across multiple levels (including ADM-level discussion).
Additionally, AAFC has liaised with the grain handling industry via the Crop Logistics Working Group and participated in a shared contract with TC for the Grain Monitor (Quorum Corporation) to ensure consistent review of Canada’s grain handling transportation system.

• The Government of Canada is working to identify solutions to minimize bottlenecks and improve the efficiency and reliability of Canadian supply chains.
• We are committed to ensuring a strong and stable food supply chain by responding to challenges, including severe weather events, labour shortages or disruptions, and other ongoing supply chain challenges.
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada strongly supports actions taken by this Government to increase supply chain fluidity and resiliency, such as the establishment of the National Supply Chain Office and investments to support supply chain visibility through enhanced data efforts.