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 Canadian Food Inspection Agency ensure food safety during the provincial pilot? Q4 – Why just Lloydminster? Why won’t the amendment apply to other cities near provincial borders?

R.1 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is exploring pilot opportunities with provinces and territories to help support interprovincial trade.

The Lloydminster pilot was implemented in 2023 to address the unique interprovincial context of Lloydminster.

The Agency-proposed regulatory amendment to the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations was published in Canada Gazette, Part I on February 10, 2024. This amendment would allow Alberta and Saskatchewan businesses to prepare and trade food into or within the city of Lloydminster as if the city were not split by a provincial border.

Comments received during the 45-day comment period were supportive of the amendment. The amended regulations are anticipated to be published in Canada Gazette, Part II as early as fall 2024. R.2 - Until the regulatory amendment comes into force, the Governments of Saskatchewan and Alberta will work closely with the Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce to continue implementing the pilot for food traded within the city.

Food businesses participating in this pilot must continue to comply with provincial and federal laws for all foods sold in Canada. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is working with industry and provincial and federal partners to verify that food safety is maintained throughout this process. R.3 - 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. R.4 - 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 Canadian Food Inspection Agency will take lessons learned from the Lloydminster project and work with provinces and territories to identify other opportunities to support internal trade.

Proposed amendment to the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR)
Lloydminster is a city situated in both Saskatchewan and Alberta. Current federal regulatory requirements for food do not recognize the unique situation of Lloydminster, therefore, businesses that prepare food to be sold to the part of the city in the other province are currently subject to federal requirements related to interprovincial trade.
If Lloydminster were situated entirely within one province (either Alberta or Saskatchewan), the interprovincial trade requirements under the SFCA and the SFCR would not apply. Businesses in Lloydminster therefore view the federal interprovincial trade requirements as a barrier to local trade.
The proposed amendments would allow businesses in Alberta and Saskatchewan to conduct interprovincial food trade activities as if the city was not split by a provincial border in exempting those food commodities from the application of the interprovincial trade requirements of the SFCA and the SFCR.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency actively engaged industry and stakeholders in developing the proposed regulatory amendment which would reduce the administrative burden on local businesses and facilitate local trade, economic growth and competitiveness in Lloydminster.
The proposed amendment would not apply to Saskatchewan and Alberta food businesses that prepare food for export or interprovincial trade beyond the city limits of Lloydminster.
The Food and Drugs Act and Food and Drug Regulations continue to apply to all foods sold in Canada. Foods sold in Saskatchewan and Alberta are also subject to their respective applicable provincial legislation.
Pilot Project Development
Federal and provincial/territorial 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 reciprocal 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 federal and provincial/territorial 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 and Safe Food for Canadians Regulations generally apply to food businesses in Canada that import food or prepare food for export or interprovincial trade. This means that those food businesses are subject to limited exceptions, must meet the requirements under the Safe Food for Canadians Act and Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, including licensing, preventive controls, preventive control plans and traceability.
Some prohibitions under the Safe Food for Canadians Act and specific requirements related to traceability, labelling and packaging under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations apply to all food businesses, including those that trade within a single province or territory.
In addition to the Safe Food for Canadians Act and Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, 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 Safe Food for Canadians Act and Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, 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 is taking action to address the unique interprovincial trade challenges faced by food businesses within the city of Lloydminster.

• Consultation to amend the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations closed on March 26, 2024. This proposed amendment would allow Alberta and Saskatchewan businesses to prepare and trade food into or within the city of Lloydminster.

• The Government continues to work with industry, provincial, and federal partners to facilitate trade and verify that food consumed in Canada remains safe.