Saskatchewan was pleased to host federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Agriculture in principle for the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership. This partnership will replace the current five-year framework, the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, when it expires at the end of March 2023.
The new five-year agreement includes a 25-per-cent increase in the cost-shared portion of the partnership, which will inject $500 million in new funds into the industry across the country. The increase in the funding envelope for strategic programs is important in ensuring governments address all the priority areas included in the new partnership, including building sector capacity; climate change and environment; science, research and innovation; market development and trade; and, resiliency and public trust. Moving forward, Saskatchewan will work with industry stakeholders to develop and design programming specific to the province. Business risk management is also an important component of the framework and Agriculture Ministers agreed to deliver additional support for producers with an increase to the AgriStability compensation rate from 70 per cent to 80 per cent.
“I believe we have found the proper balance between economic and environmental objectives to ensure our industry remains globally competitive,” said Agriculture Minister David Marit. “This balance will be vital as Canada’s producers continue to provide the food the world needs. The improvements made to our Business Risk Management suite demonstrate our continued commitment to making programs more timely, equitable and easier to understand. We look forward to the benefits this partnership will achieve for our industry.”