Canadian agri-businesses want to see economic sustainability and competitiveness at the heart of Canada's Next Policy Framework

Jun 22, 2022

TORONTO, - Canada's Next Policy Framework, aimed at strengthening and growing Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector, should lay out a clear roadmap to ensure farmers are competitive, productive and viable, says the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

Agriculture ministers will meet at the 2022 annual conference in July in Saskatoon. As they work on finalizing the policy framework, CFIB is urging all levels of government to focus on agri-businesses' top priorities, particularly reducing the total tax burden and red tape.

"Less than one-quarter of our agri-business members said the current five-year Canadian Agricultural Partnership was effective at improving the competitiveness of their agri-business. It is important new policies focus on ensuring agri-businesses' voices are heard, so that they are profitable and more competitive," said Jasmin Guenette, Vice-President of National Affairs at CFIB.

Agri-businesses are facing many challenges that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. An overwhelming majority of agri-businesses (94%) said the rising prices of inputs have impacted their business, followed by supply chain challenges (83%) and government increasing business costs (72%). Labour shortages (57%) also pose difficulties.

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Border View Farms is a mid-sized family farm that sits on the Ohio-Michigan border. My name is Nathan. I make and edit all of the videos posted here. I farm with my dad, Mark and uncle, Phil. Our part-time employee, Brock, also helps with the filming. 1980 was our first year in Waldron where our main farm is now. Since then we have grown the operation from just a couple hundred acres to over 3,000. Watch my 500th video for a history of our farm I filmed with my dad.

I started making these videos in the fall of 2019 as a way to help show what I do on a daily basis as a farmer. Agriculture is different from any other industry and I believe the more people that are showing their small piece of agriculture, helps to build our story. We face unique challenges and stressful situations but have some of the most rewarding payoffs in the end. I get to spend everyday doing what I love, raising my kids on the farm, and trying to push our farm to be better every year. I hope that I can address questions or concerns that you might have about farms and agriculture.