GUELPH, ON, - While visiting the Gay Lea dairy processing facility today, Member of Parliament for Guelph Lloyd Longfield on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, reaffirmed the Government of Canada's commitment to provide compensation for supply-managed sectors for the impacts of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). Dairy, poultry and egg processors and producers are expected to share more than $1.7 billion in direct payments and investment programs.
This investment will help dairy, poultry and egg processors and producers make key investments and improve their operations to be even more productive and sustainable.
The federal Government intends to invest up to $105 million in the Supply Management Processing Investment Fund to support investments in dairy, poultry and egg processing plants, to grow their productivity or efficiency through new equipment and automation technologies. This brings the total investment for processors up to $497.5 million.
Starting in 2023, the Government intends to invest up to $300 million in a new program to support innovation and investment into large-scale projects to add value to solids-non-fat, a by-product of milk processing. The Government will consult closely with industry stakeholders in the development of program parameters.
The Government intends to offer dairy producers funding of up to $1.2 billion over six years under the Dairy Direct Payment Program to account for the impacts of CUSMA. The total compensation under this program will potentially reach up to $2.95 billion, which in addition to the $250 million provided under the Dairy Farm Investment Program, brings total compensation for dairy farmers to up to $3.2 billion.
For the Canadian poultry and egg producers, the Government intends to provide up to an additional $112 million under the Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program. Producers will receive funding based on their quota holdings, to support improvements to their farm businesses. This funding will bring the total compensation for this sector to $803 million.
These programs will help drive innovation and growth in the supply-managed sectors. With this announcement, the Government of Canada delivers on its commitment to fully and fairly compensate producers and processors who have lost market share under CETA, CPTPP and CUSMA. The total compensation will reach up to $4.8 billion.
Source : Newswire.ca