Government of Canada announces support for Prince Edward Island hog producers

Ottawa, Ontario – Hog producers in Prince Edward Island (PEI) have been impacted by COVID-19 outbreaks and disease control measures at processing plants, and many producers are being forced to keep hogs on-farm beyond their standard lifecycle. This has resulted in extraordinary feed and maintenance costs which have put a financial strain on their operations.

 

Today, Member of Parliament for Malpeque, the Honourable Wayne Easter, on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, and PEI's Minister of Agriculture and Land, the Honourable Bloyce Thompson, announced the launch of an initiative under the AgriRecovery Framework to provide up to $500,000 to assist hog producers affected by processing shut downs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The program will be funded through AgriRecovery, a Federal-Provincial-Territorial disaster relief framework to help producers faced with the extraordinary costs associated with recovering from disasters, and will be cost shared on a 60/40 basis between Canada and PEI.

 

This Initiative will provide assistance for up to 90 per cent of the cost to feed market-ready hogs held back from processing, and to manage surplus hogs whose welfare is at risk. The PEI Department of Agriculture and Land will administer program applications and payments to producers.

Video: CEOs of the Industry – International Edition Michael Agerley | Partner, IQinAbox

In this CEOs of the Industry – International Edition, we sit down with Michael Agerley, Partner at IQinAbox, to explore how data is reshaping the future of pig production.

After more than 20 years as a veterinarian, Michael shares his unique perspective on the shift from hands-on animal care to data-driven decision making across the pork value chain.

We dive into:

• How better data is improving real on-farm decisions

• The biggest opportunities still untapped in pig production

• How Europe is leading (and where it’s still lagging) in tech adoption

• The role of AI and smart systems in the next 5–10 years

• Why trust, leadership, and practical application matter more than ever

This conversation bridges veterinary insight, technology, and real-world farming, offering a clear look at where the industry is headed—and what it will take to get there.