Canada Launches Food Link Fund to Strengthen Food Supply

Oct 06, 2026
By Farms.com

New $1 Billion Program Supports Food Terminals and Regional Food Hubs

The Government of Canada has announced the launch of the Food Link Fund, a new $1 billion initiative designed to strengthen the country's food distribution system and improve access to affordable, locally produced food.

The program is a key part of Canada's National Food Security Strategy, a long-term plan backed by $3.2 billion in investments over the next ten years. The strategy aims to create a stronger, more reliable, and more competitive food system that benefits producers, businesses, and consumers across the country.

The Food Link Fund will focus on improving the infrastructure needed to move food efficiently from farms and processing facilities to stores and communities. By investing in transportation, storage, distribution, and market connections, the fund is expected to strengthen food supply chains and support economic growth in rural and urban regions alike.

A major component of the initiative is the Food Terminal Fund. This program will help support the development and expansion of wholesale food terminals and distribution centres. These facilities serve as important marketplaces where farmers, food businesses, and independent retailers can buy and sell products efficiently.

“Strong food supply chains help get more affordable high-quality food to Canadians, no matter where they live. The Food-Link Fund will help build the infrastructure we need to move food more efficiently, open new markets for producers, and give independent grocers more options. We are building a stronger, more competitive food system that helps keep food affordable and accessible for Canadians,” said Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Food terminals can help increase competition within the food sector by providing alternatives to distribution systems controlled by large retailers. Greater competition may create more opportunities for producers and provide consumers with better access to affordable food options.

The second component of the initiative is the Food Hub Program. This program will support the creation and expansion of regional food hubs across Canada. Food hubs connect producers with essential services such as storage, processing, packaging, transportation, and distribution.

Regional food hubs play an important role in helping local food producers reach larger markets. They can also improve food availability in underserved communities and strengthen regional food systems.

“Canadians deserve a food system that is reliable, efficient and affordable. Through the Food Terminal Fund, we are investing in the facilities that help move food more efficiently across Canada, strengthening regional supply chains, and improve access to fresh, affordable food. By building modern food distribution infrastructure, we are helping create more resilient communities and supporting the goals of Canada’s National Food Security Strategy,” said Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada.

Funding through the Food Hub Program can be used for a variety of infrastructure projects. Eligible investments may include cold storage facilities, transportation equipment, food processing and packaging systems, digital management tools, and upgrades to existing buildings and operations.

The government believes these investments will help reduce gaps in regional food distribution networks while creating new opportunities for producers and food-related businesses.

Officials say stronger supply chains are essential for maintaining affordable food prices and ensuring communities have reliable access to fresh products. Improved food distribution infrastructure can also reduce inefficiencies, support local economies, and improve resilience during supply chain disruptions.

The Food Link Fund is expected to benefit independent grocers as well. By expanding access to wholesale markets and regional food hubs, smaller retailers may have more options for sourcing products, helping them better compete in local markets.

The application process for the Food Link Fund will officially open on October 14, 2026, and remain open until December 11, 2026. Interested applicants must first submit an Expression of Interest. Projects that meet the program's objectives will then be invited to submit a full proposal for consideration.

Through this investment, Canada aims to create a food system that is more efficient, competitive, and resilient. The initiative is expected to improve connections between producers and consumers while strengthening the infrastructure needed to support future growth.

“Strong regional food systems are essential to ensuring producers have the connections and infrastructure they need to bring more Canadian food to market. The Food-Link Fund will help strengthen these connections, expand access to storage, processing and distribution, and create new opportunities for producers and food businesses across Quebec and Canada,” said Daniel Gobeil, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Member of Parliament for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, Quebec.

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Video: The 15-Year Bet Behind Every New Variety!

Canada is trying to decide how much agricultural research capacity it can afford to lose. Brian Rossnagel believes the better question is whether the country can afford to rebuild it.

The longtime barley and oat breeder makes the case with a simple fact about his profession: the consequences of today’s decisions may not become visible for 10 or 15 years.

“Pick the right parents. That’s the biggest thing,” Rossnagel says. “If you pick the wrong parents, you’re not going to get anywhere—and you don’t know that until 10 years, 15 years later.”

That warning carries particular weight as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada moves to reduce spending and streamline parts of its science operations. The department’s 2026–27 plan anticipates the loss of approximately 665 positions by 2028–29 and says some research will be reduced where capacity exists in academia or industry. AAFC says the changes will make its science operations more cost-effective over the long term.

For Canada’s seed industry, Rossnagel’s career illustrates what is at stake.

This fall, the retired University of Saskatchewan breeder will be inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame. During his 35-year career at the Crop Development Centre, he helped develop more than 100 barley and oat varieties, including CDC Austenson—one of Western Canada’s most widely grown feed barleys. His induction recognizes not only those varieties, but the collaboration and research system that made them possible.

Rossnagel is quick to emphasize that none of it was the work of one person.

“The first thing I thought about was all the other people who contributed to whatever success I and my program had over the years,” he says. “We know that it’s not an individual who does this. It’s a group—a team.”

That team extends well beyond the breeder whose name appears beside a variety. It includes technicians, pathologists, quality specialists, statisticians, regional testing sites, seed growers and industry partners. It also includes the breeders who came before and those who will carry the germplasm forward.

CDC Fraser barley, for example, moved through three breeding careers. Its parents came from Brian Harvey’s program. Rossnagel advanced the material after Harvey retired, and Aaron Beattie later guided it through registration and release.

That kind of handoff is normal in plant breeding. The person who makes the original cross may never see the resulting variety reach farmers.

It also explains why lost research capacity cannot simply be switched back on when budgets improve.

“If you shut it off, it’s very, very difficult—and particularly costly—to start it up again,” Rossnagel says. “If you have to start from scratch, it’s going to be at least 10 years before anybody notices whether you’re getting anything done or not.”

The concern is not simply how many experimental lines Canada can process. Modern equipment, statistical tools and genetic technologies allow today’s breeding programs to evaluate tens of thousands of lines—far more than Rossnagel could handle when he entered the field in the early 1970s.

But efficiency and automation do not generate every idea.

“If you pare back down, and instead of having six or seven individual scientists concentrating on wheat breeding, you go down and say three people could handle all this, well, that’s half the ideas gone,” he says. “Particularly if you happen to lose the three people who had the really neat and innovative ideas, boy, that’s a problem.”

It is a timely distinction for Canadian agriculture. Consolidating programs may preserve the volume of material moving through a system, at least initially. It may not preserve the diversity of thinking, regional knowledge or willingness to pursue unconventional crosses.

That regional knowledge matters because Canadian agriculture is not one uniform production environment. A variety suited to southern Alberta may face different disease, moisture and maturity pressures than one grown in Manitoba, Ontario or Atlantic Canada.

“Agriculture is applied biology,” Rossnagel says. “Biology, all around the Earth, moves from the poles to the equator. It does not move from Newfoundland to B.C. like politics do.”