Canada’s agriculture ministers have outlined the priorities that will shape the country’s next five-year agricultural policy framework, with improved business risk management programs and greater flexibility for producers emerging as key themes.
Meeting in Halifax for their annual Federal, Provincial and Territorial (FPT) conference, ministers released the Halifax Statement, a blueprint that will guide negotiations on the Next Policy Framework (2028-2033), which will replace the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership when it expires in 2028.
For Alberta growers, the discussions provide an early look at where future programming and funding could be headed as the province prepares to host next year’s ministers’ meeting in Calgary.
“We have to adapt,” said federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald said at this morning’s prress conference. “There’s climatic situations. There’s geopolitical situations, and we’re seeing it firsthand.”
He said governments are working toward a framework that better reflects today’s production realities while helping farmers respond to increasingly frequent weather extremes and market disruptions.
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