Question Period Note: BUDGET 2024

Q1 – How did Budget 2024 support families and communities struggling with food security? Q2 – What are the linkages between the National School Food Program and the Food Policy for Canada? Q3 – How is the Canadian Food Inspection Agency utilizing Budget 2024 funding to prevent potato wart in Canada? Q4 – How did Budget 2024 support farmers struggling with increasing costs? Q5 – How did Budget 2024 support agricultural youth?

R.1 - Budget 2024 included key investments to strengthen Canada’s food systems and make progress toward the Food Policy for Canada’s vision to ensure access to safe, nutritious, and culturally diverse food.

These investments included $62.9 million over three years to strengthen local food security, $42.8 million to strengthen access to culturally important foods, $124.3 million for northern food security, and $1 billion for a National School Food Program. R.2 - Proposed investments to strengthen the Food Policy for Canada will directly support the National School Food Program and together will address broader affordability and food access challenges. As part of the proposed expansion of the Local Food Infrastructure Fund, support will be available to improve infrastructure for school food programs.

Initiatives to strengthen Indigenous and northern food systems under the Food Policy will help address a key barrier identified by Indigenous partners to have increased access to affordable, traditional and country foods in school settings. R.3 - Budget 2024 announced $12 million over two years (2024-2026) to support the development of tools, scientific research and an expansion of surveillance activities to manage, regulate and prevent potato wart in Canada. These investments will help maintain public confidence in Canada’s potato industry at home and abroad. R.4 - As announced on March 25, 2024, and reiterated in Budget 2024, the interest-free limit for loans under the Advance Payments Program has been temporarily set at $250,000 for the 2024 program year instead of returning to $100,000. Building on similar changes to the program in 2022 and 2023, this measure will support approximately 11,950 participating producers by providing access to additional cash flow and interest savings to help cover their costs until they can sell their products. These producers will save an additional $4,916 in interest costs on average, for a total savings of up to $58.7 million. R.5 - Increasing the participation of youth in the Canadian agricultural sector is critical for its long-term prosperity. In this respect, Budget 2024 announced an additional $150.7 million for the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy in 2025-26. In previous years, this funding has supported programs, such as AAFC’s Youth Employment and Skills Program, to continue to encourage young Canadians to seek employment opportunities and gain experience in the agricultural sector.

Local Food Infrastructure Fund

Budget 2024 announced $62.9 million over three years, starting in 2024-25, to renew and expand the Local Food Infrastructure Fund (LFIF) to support community organizations across Canada to invest in local food infrastructure, with priority to be given to Indigenous and Black communities, along with other equity-deserving groups. Part of the expansion will support community organizations to improve infrastructure for school food programs as a complement to the National School Food Program.

Under the first Food Policy, the Government of Canada invested $50 million over five years with an additional $20 million in top-ups in the LFIF. Funding sunsetted on March 31, 2024. LFIF supports community-based, not-for-profit organizations with a mission to reduce food insecurity by establishing and strengthening their local food system.

Northern Isolated Community Initiatives Fund

Budget 2024 announced $14.9 million over three years, starting in 2024-25, to renew and expand the Northern Isolated Community Initiatives Fund to all regions of Inuit Nunangat to support local and Indigenous food production systems, including innovative northern food businesses, which contribute to food security in the North.

Under the first Food Policy, the Government of Canada invested $15 million over five years in the Northern Isolated Community Initiatives Fund led by the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.

Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program

Budget 2024 announced $25.1 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, on a cash basis, to expand the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program led by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to assist Indigenous communities to safely access shellfish harvest for food, as well as social and ceremonial purposes.

This funding will address ongoing resource pressures to deliver monitoring services in certain areas, especially Indigenous communities in remote locations. This funding could mitigate an infringement on Indigenous rights to harvest, as well as support federal government commitments towards Reconciliation and the UN Declaration Act.

Implementing the UNDA Action Plan Measures

Budget 2024 announced $2.8 million over three years, starting in 2024-25, to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDA) Action Plan Measures to bolster the policy and engagement capacity among Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Inuit Treaty Organizations to co-develop legislative and policy options to facilitate the production, sale, and trade of traditional and country food.

Northern Food Security

Budget 2024 announced:

$23.2 million in 2024-25, to Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada for Nutrition North Canada’s subsidy program to lower the cost of nutritious food and other essential household items; and,

$101.1 million over three years starting in 2024-25, to support the Harvesters Support Grant and Community Food Program Fund and promote Indigenous communities in implementing culturally appropriate, local solutions to address food insecurity.

Nutrition North Canada provides access to nutritious foods for 125 northern communities. Its work supports the Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy, which prioritizes local food production and community food programs.

National School Food Program

Budget 2024 announced the creation of a National School Food Program, which will provide $1 billion over five years to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, and Indigenous Services Canada, starting in 2024-25, to work with provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners to expand access to school food programs. This includes investments for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities as well as Self-Governing and Modern Treaty Partners, many of whom have some of the highest rates of food insecurity in Canada.

This fulfills a commitment first put forward in Budget 2019 as part of the Food Policy for Canada to work with provinces and territories towards the creation of a National School Food Program. It also fulfills a December 2021 mandate letter commitment for the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, with the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous partners and stakeholders to develop a National School Food Policy and to work toward a national school nutritious meal program.

Through Budget 2024, the government proposed to provide a statutory appropriation authority in the Budget Implementation Act that would enable the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development to sign bilateral agreements and transfer funding to provinces and territories to support National School Food programming for the 2024-2025 school year.

Budget 2024 did not include the release of the National School Food Policy that ESDC is leading in collaboration with AAFC and other departments and agencies.

Potato Wart on Prince Edward Island

Potato wart is a soil-borne fungal disease that can remain dormant in a field for more than 40 years. It is spread through the movement of infested tubers, soil and farm equipment. It reduces yields and can make potatoes unmarketable but does not pose a risk to human health or food safety. Control measures are required to help prevent the spread of potato wart including surveillance, biosecurity, traceability.

In October 2021, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed the presence of potato wart on two processing farms in Prince Edward Island. The investigations that followed were the largest since potato wart was first detected in Prince Edward Island in 2000 and involved the collection and analysis of almost 50,000 soil samples. Potato wart was detected in an additional four fields as part of the investigation.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food issued a Potato Wart Order in November 2021 to help contain, control and prevent the spread of potato wart to other parts of Canada and support continued trade, including with the United States. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is actively working with industry and stakeholders to develop a new National Potato Wart Response Plan, which will aim to help further enhance risk mitigation measures, minimize the impact of potato wart on Canadian industry, keep trade open, and prevent potato wart from spreading. It is expected to be finalized in 2024.

Advance Payments Program

In recent years, agricultural production costs in Canada have increased significantly. This has created cash flow challenges for producers as they must commit to paying for their farm inputs (e.g., seed, fertilizer and feed) before knowing what their revenues will be for that year.

Temporary increases to the interest-free limit for loans under the Advance Payments Program (APP) provide eligible producers with interest relief and increase their access to cash flow through the program. Producers are eligible for low-cost cash advances of up to $1 million, based on the expected value of the agricultural products they will produce or have in storage. The program is delivered through 27 industry-led associations, and advances are available on over 500 crop and livestock products across Canada.

Due to exceptional circumstances, the Government temporarily increased the interest-free limit (i.e., the portion of the APP advances on which the Government pays interest) from $100,000 to $250,000 for the 2022 program year, and to $350,000 for the 2023 program year. On March 25, 2024, the Government announced that the interest-free limit was set at $250,000 for the 2024 program year. It is currently set to return to $100,000 for 2025. The interest on the interest-bearing portion of advances is at competitive rates.

Producers also have access to a suite of business risk management (BRM) programs to help them manage significant risks that threaten the viability of their farms and are beyond their capacity to manage. The suite includes the core programs of AgriStability, AgriInsurance and AgriInvest.

Sustainable Pesticide Management

Since 2021, Health Canada, AAFC and Environment and Climate Change Canada have made significant progress in strengthening the capacity and transparency of the pesticide review process and advancing alternative pest management approaches. Renewed and expanded funding is required to sustain gains and continue strengthening the protection of human health, wildlife and the environment from risks posed by pesticides. Renewed funding for AAFC will support research into lower risk pesticide alternatives through the Alternative Pest Management Solutions (APMS) Initiative.

Youth Employment and Skills Program

The Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) is the Government of Canada's commitment to help young people, particularly those facing barriers to employment, get the information and gain the skills and experience needed to access quality employment. It is a horizontal initiative led by ESDC involving twelve federal departments and agencies, including AAFC. Through the YESS, AAFC receives funding for its Youth Employment and Skills Program (YESP), which provides a wage subsidy to agricultural employers to incentivize them to hire youth. The YESP also provides additional support to employers who hire Indigenous youth, youth living with a physical or diagnosed mental health disability, youth living in a remote or an Official Languages Minority community, racialized or recent immigrant youth, or youth identifying as being members of other marginalized or underrepresented groups.

As part of Budget 2024’s commitment to jobs and skills training for Gen Z, 90,000 youth job placements and employment support opportunities will be created. As part of this commitment, Budget 2024 proposed $150.7 million in 2025-26, for the extension of the YESS. Under the Budget, AAFC is set to receive the same amount of funding for 2025-26 as it received in 2024-25.

Budget 2024 included key investments to strengthen Canada’s food system and advance the Food Policy for Canada’s vision to ensure access to safe, nutritious, and culturally important food.

Budget 2024 announced investments to ensure a competitive and sustainable agriculture and agri-food sector, including funding to prevent potato wart and support for sustainable pesticide management.

At a time when agricultural production costs are high, the Government is offering programming to provide producers with interest relief and to increase their access to cash flow.