Question Period Note: INTERPROVINCIAL TRADE IN LLOYDMINSTER: SASKATCHEWAN AND ALBERTA

Q1 – How is the Canadian Food Inspection Agency helping to remove interprovincial trade barriers in Canada? Q2 – How are Federal and Provincial partners supporting the interprovincial food trade pilot in Lloydminster? Q3 – How will the CFIA ensure food safety during the provincial pilot? Q4 – Why just Lloydminster? Why won’t the amendment apply to other cities near provincial borders?

R1 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is exploring pilot opportunities with provinces and territories to help support interprovincial trade.
For example, to address the unique interprovincial context of the city of Lloydminster, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is proposing an amendment to the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations that would have the effect of treating Lloydminster as a single city for the purpose of food trade, not split by a provincial boundary. R2 - The Governments of Saskatchewan and Alberta are working closely with the Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce to administer a pilot for food traded within the city.
Food businesses participating in the Lloydminster pilot must continue to comply with provincial and federal laws that apply to all foods sold in Canada. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is working with industry, as well as other provincial and federal partners, to verify that food safety is maintained throughout this process. R3 - Food businesses in Saskatchewan and Alberta participating in the provincial pilot must continue to comply with provincial requirements and applicable provisions of the Food and Drugs Act and Safe Food for Canadians Act that apply to all foods sold in Canada.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will continue its current risk-based approach to enforcing food legislation in Lloydminster. The Saskatchewan Health Authority, which provides provincial food inspection oversight within all of Lloydminster, will also continue to carry out its responsibility. R4 - Lloydminster is a unique Canadian city in that it is located on the border of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city is incorporated by both Alberta and Saskatchewan as a single city, with a single municipal administration and a single mayor.

This is different from other Canadian cities, like Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau Quebec, which are closely linked but have separate municipal and provincial oversight.

The CFIA will take lessons learned from the Lloydminster project and work with provinces and territories to identify other opportunities to support internal trade.

Pilot Project Development
Federal and provincial/territorial (FPT) Ministers agreed at their July 2022 annual meeting that the Lloydminster pilot and others should be guided by the following principles:
o Maintaining public confidence in Canada’s food safety systems;
o Not compromising Canada’s market access abroad or its international reputation;
o Maintaining international obligations for like treatment of imported and domestic food;
o Recognizing the outcome basis of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations as the enabler for the pilots; and,
o Applying lessons learned from the pilots where similar challenges are faced across the country.
These principles are meant to underpin the work of FPT officials as they seek solutions to interprovincial trade challenges that industry and provincial governments have identified.
Lloydminster Provincial Pilot
The Saskatchewan and Alberta governments are working closely with the Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce to administer the provincial pilot.
Obligations under the Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA) and Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) generally apply to food businesses in Canada that import food or prepare food for export or interprovincial trade. This means that those food business subject to limited exceptions, must meet the requirements under the SFCA and SFCR, including licensing, preventive controls, preventive control plans and traceability.
Some prohibitions under the SFCA and traceability, labelling and packaging requirements under the SFCR apply to all food businesses, including those that trade within a single province or territory.
In addition to the SFCA and SFCR, all food sold in Canada including food sold only within a province or territory, must meet applicable requirements of the Food and Drugs Act and Food and Drug Regulations.
Saskatchewan and Alberta food businesses preparing food for export or interprovincial trade outside the city of Lloydminster will continue to be subject to all requirements under the SFCA and SFCR, including licensing.
Foods sold in Saskatchewan and Alberta are also subject to their respective applicable provincial legislation.
The goal of the proposed regulatory amendment is to allow for the movement of safe foods into and within the city of Lloydminster, similar to cities that are not split by a provincial boundary

• The Government of Canada works with industry and provincial and territorial partners to facilitate trade and verify that the food Canadians buy and consume is safe.
• The city of Lloydminster is situated partly in Saskatchewan and partly in Alberta. Food businesses that want to send or prepare food for a part of the city in the other province are subject to federal interprovincial trade requirements under the Safe Food for Canadians Act, such as licensing.
• The Canadian Food Inspection Agency published a notice of intent to amend the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations to address this situation and to allow for easier movement of safe foods for Saskatchewan and Alberta businesses within the city of Lloydminster.
• Alberta and Saskatchewan governments are working with the Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce to administer a pilot project to address the unique challenges of food businesses in Lloydminster while the Canadian Food Inspection Agency pursues the regulatory amendment.