Government of Canada invests $16.9 million to improve worker safety and strengthen the food supply chain in British Columbia

Delta, British Columbia – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian food producers and processors have stepped up to deliver quality food for Canadians. From the outset, the Government of Canada has helped food processors invest in safety measures and maintain their capacity to keep up with demand.

 

Today, on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion and Member of Parliament for Delta, the Honourable Carla Qualtrough and Member of Parliament for Surrey Centre, Randeep Sarai, announced support of up to $16.9 million through the Emergency Processing Fund for 117 food processing companies in British Columbia.

 

With this funding, recipients are adopting measures to help keep employees safe. This includes making adjustments to enable social distancing, purchasing reuseable personal protective equipment (PPE), increasing cleaning, improving air circulation within their facilities and developing employee training. These improvements help producers and processors supply Canadians with the food they need during this unprecedented time.

 

The announcement was made alongside Earth's Own Food Company, a health food and beverage manufacturing company in Delta, which is receiving up to $2,638,210.

 

The Government of Canada will continue working with food processors to protect the health and well-being of workers in food processing plants across Canada and strengthen our food supply chain.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.