At a panel titled Sustainability Disclosure in Canada: Overcoming the Headwinds, hosted by the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB), speakers discussed the challenges and opportunities for Canadian businesses as international trading partners increasingly look for environmental, social and governance (ESG) transparency.

Eight out of Canada’s 10 biggest trading partners either have or will soon have mandatory disclosure rules — including those in the Indo-Pacific region, an emerging market for Canada’s agri-food sector, said Canadian Sustainability Standards Board chair Wendy Berman.

She called Canadian Sustainability Standards the “ticket to play” in a global market which may also be moving toward sustainability disclosure practices.

Canadian standards in the global market

Companies do not need to be perfect, only rigorous, Berman said.

“If you communicate that rigour, and you put sunlight around the main assumptions, which our standards tell you to, then that is what you’re communicating to the market.”

Berman said the standards board is helping Canadian companies address the market’s needs by looking at global reporting baselines and adding changes to reflect the uniqueness of the Canadian market.

“What we also have is a Canadian version of proportionality mechanisms,” she said. “What we’re saying to the market is ‘It’s okay, build capacity on these items and continue to do that so that you’re ready to enter the global market’.”

Ontario Securities Commission CEO Grant Vingoe said Canada will need to follow a global baseline if it wishes to continue on the path of market diversification. He said he hears many investors express frustration at a lack of a consistent global framework, forcing them to rely on private sources.

Disclosure fatigue

Canada is in a “pivotal moment for sustainability in Canada,” one “full of complexity and uncertainty and also real possibility,” said Elizabeth Dove, executive director of the UN Global Compact Network Canada.

“Over the last few years, Canadian companies have stepped up,” Dove said. “They’ve adopted climate action strategies. They’ve incorporated ESG into governance and risk. They’ve built systems to measure, disclose and manage sustainability performance. But let’s be honest, it hasn’t been easy.”

There has been fatigue around disclosure, and some businesses are now asking if the measures are necessary — particularly if they seem to hamper the company’s ambitions.

“We cannot allow ambition to be the casualty of uncertainty,” Dove said.

“Climate change is not waiting for regulatory clarity.”

Adoption of ESG will likely increase as the means of measuring climate risks improve, said Peter Routledge, superintendent of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.

“Guess what? As you measure the risk more effectively, boards of directors and senior management teams will make really smart decisions about how to invest to counteract that risk,” Routledge said.

“That’s the beauty of market capitalism at work.”

“It is not a regulatory burden for the sake of increasing costs to in pursuit of some abstract virtue,” Routledge said. “That’s the last thing we’re interested in. What we’re interested in is creating management and risk measurement discipline to elevate and improve and sustain shareholder value.”

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Panels covered ESG and the changing Canadian ag landscape from national and global perspectives.

The first panel focused on ESG standards in a global context.

IFRS Foundation Montreal office Director Isabelle Mégré, said that in many international markets, like the United States and European Union, sustainability disclosure could soon become standard.

To illustrate how this could affect Canada, she gave the example of a California bill set to take effect in 2026 which would see large companies required to disclose climate-related financial risks, including value chain emissions.

“Canada was worth nine billion in 2023,” she said of Californian export money. “We are actually California’s top agriculture and agri-food export market”

Centre for Agri-Food Benchmarking Founder David McInnes asked the speakers how ESG standards can be created to apply to the disparate sectors of Canadian agriculture.

“The standards are not a one-size fits all as we might think,” Mégré said. “It actually requires a lot of judgment and reflection from new companies that are using it.”

“It might feel like a one-size-fits-all, because there’s one set of standards. But really, when you dig into it, it’s about reflecting on what is affecting your company’s perspectives, your company’s business models.”

“We’re trying to find this common place where it can fit for everybody,” she said.

Canadian sustainability Standards Board Interim Chair Bruce Marchand stressed the importance of having organizations like his remain independent in this process.

“In some countries, the regulator sets the standard and the regulation at the same time,” he said, “and in other countries, the regulator and the standards are separate, but they’re both an arm of government.”

“I want to stress that our board is independent, so it’s not a government and it’s not a government board like our sister boards.”

Mégré closed the discussion by warning that ESG regulation can be very politically polarizing. She said that this has created a fear of backlash among investors wanting to discuss ESG.

The second panel took on upcoming policy such as the Jan. 1, 2025, implementation of the S1 and S2 of the ESG Sustainability Disclosure Standards as well as Bill C-59, which aims to increase greenwashing accountability.

Deloitte Senior Manager of Infrastructure and Capital Projects Michelle Leslie expressed concern over how producers and businesses will have a burden of proof put on them for their sustainability efforts in accordance with Bill C-59. “There’s no standard as to what that burden of proof is,” she said.

Leslie thought definitions of sustainability have not been sufficiently broadened beyond just environmental factors. “If you achieve emissions reductions but it’s at the cost of bankrupting communities, if it’s at the cost of making people poor in the process, then I would say you have failed.”

Pulse Canada VP of Corporate Affairs Greg Northey said ESG goals are not as important to Canadian producers and consumers as other economic development goals.

“From an agricultural sector perspective, we’re still very much focused on how do we become the best, most competitive producer in these global markets,” he said. “And a lot of the time, sustainability, ESG, is not as much an issue.”

United Farmers of Alberta Sustainability Director Selene Munro said there should be more attention paid to cost and scope when creating ESG standards.

“There is a cost to implementing or building or consolidating these standards. Not all programs are built out. There is no understanding of scope.”

“A lot of those organizations will not meet the requirements for reporting because they’re not publicly traded,” said Munro. “The companies that are publicly traded are going to need or require that data from individuals within the supply chain, and that will go down to producers.”

The panelists also highlighted the importance of data collection for influencing public policy.

Before lunch, breakout groups of attendees discussed questions about disclosure standards and a National Index. Following the break, panelists from the breakout groups debriefed on the Importance of consolidation and issues with limited awareness of the standards.

They also spoke to the importance of translating tenets of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) to be relevant to ag-specific data tracking.

Finally, Centre for Agri-Food Benchmarking Tarra Drevet closed the conference with some words about ESG, sustainability and data collection, stressing the importance of quality information and communication of data.

Drevet communicated an overall note of hope in her closing remarks: “I think we can be optimistic about what’s coming up next.”

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The report, titled Forces Impacting Animal Agriculture In Canada: A Synthesis, delves into the issues surrounding cattle, dairy and poultry production in the country and how it is interconnected within various factors in day-to-day life of residents.

Al Mussell, CAPI’s director of research, said the report draws from a lengthy technical report and while both that and the Synthesis document come to the conclusion of the importance of animal agriculture, the actual economic impact may not be so clear.

“It makes the point, and really drives home, that animal agriculture is extremely important in Canada. It’s extremely important from an economic growth perspective but it is particularly important regionally in rural areas that otherwise would not have the same levels of employment, levels of income in local communities,” said Mussell.

It’s also an industry that is built on using farming byproducts to increase the value of animals.

The report also highlights that Canada has some of the lowest CO2 emissions from the production of pork and beef, outclassing Western Europe, South America and Australia.

As well, the report highlights that farmers are the most trusted people in the Canadian food system and that animal agriculture in the country produces $90 billion in sales, 164,000 direct jobs and roughly two-and-a-half times that in indirect jobs.

The importance of animal agriculture provides options to farmers whose crops have been ravaged by hail and drought, and enhances pasture lands through grazing.

Mussell said such points can get lost in the complexity of the agricultural food production system.

“The motivation for writing this report, this major initiative on our part, comes out of the concern there are quite a number of people who need to be involved in decisions that relate to animal agriculture but don’t bring particular expertise to it,” said Mussell.

“Those people are in a difficult spot because there is always a tendency to fall into a subset of isolated facts that might take you in a particular direction when in fact this is a much more complicated type of a system.”

The report is designed to provide a well-rounded perspective to such decision makers to offer a balanced understanding of the value of animal agriculture and its importance to many communities.

“In Canada, we have an excellent animal agriculture system. It’s not perfect. There are problems. There are challenges and they need supportive policy to make headway on those challenges,” Mussell said.

One is the continuing diminishing of cattle inventories in the country over the past two decades.

On the other side, the positive parts of the industry when it comes to improving biodiversity through responsible grazing techniques might not be fully understood, Mussell said.

“You look at what we are able to do today to make better use of grasslands, lighten up the footprint of animal agriculture within that — pretty impressive and that’s over and above the basic conversion efficiency of animal agriculture.”

That conversion efficiency applies across Canada and involves calculating land not suitable for crop production and otherwise would be wasted if it were not used for livestock feed, said Mussell.

“We manage all of this in a manner which is profitable for each of the segments involved and which also supports communities that can work together to deal with the many issues that can come up and mitigate those by working together,” said Mussell.

The Forces Impacting Animal Agriculture In Canada: A Synthesis report can be found on the CAPI website.

— Alex McCuaig reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Medicine Hat, Alta.

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According to the latest FCC Food and Beverage Report, released Tuesday, sales increased 11 per cent to $156 billion in 2022. These gains came largely from higher export values and strength in the grain and oilseed milling industry.

On the manufacturing side, margins were tighter last year as companies navigated increases in the prices of raw materials, labour shortages and supply chain disruptions.

“Gross margins as a percent of sales fell to their lowest level in over 20 years in 2022,” FCC’s chief economist J.P. Gervais said.

“While margin trends vary based on industry, we do anticipate an overall improvement to gross margins in the coming year.”

FCC projects a modest two per cent growth in sales in 2023. However, dairy, meat and seafood are expected to outperform that forecast.

“Consumers cut back on discretionary spending last year as they faced higher inflation, depleted savings and higher costs of servicing debt,” Gervais said.

Domestically-produced food faced a decline, reverting to the pre-pandemic consumption mix of domestic versus foreign foods. However, that’s partly the result of an increasingly diverse Canadian population looking to put different kinds of food on their tables.

“Inflation led to changes in food consumption decisions which resulted in fewer purchases of locally made or higher-value foods that consumers supported in mass during pandemic lockdowns,” Gervais said.

“We all know money doesn’t have the same buying power it once did, and consumers are being careful with their grocery budgets. Despite inflationary pressures, we continue to see Canada’s food and beverage sector adapt and innovate to meet the changing market demands.

“The sector remains healthy and has a positive long-term outlook.”

Global demand for Canadian-produced food is growing rapidly, he said. Promising food manufacturing innovations and technology can position Canada to expand its reach into profitable emerging industries.

There is also opportunity to grow the sector by meeting consumer demand for affordable, convenient and sustainably produced foods.

“How businesses adapt to changing consumer needs and economic conditions will determine their success going forward,” Gervais said.

“There have been many tests of resiliency and adaptability in recent years and the strength of the sector proves that despite challenges, there are opportunities Canadian food and beverage manufacturers are eager to take advantage of.”

The annual FCC Food and Beverage Report features insights and analysis on grain and oilseed milling; dairy, meat, sugar, confectionery, bakery and tortilla products; seafood preparation; and fruit, vegetable and specialty foods as well as soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The province on Tuesday announced plans for what it calls the Alberta Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit — a 12 per cent, “non-refundable” tax credit for corporations making capital investments in “value-added agri-processing” in Alberta.

The tax credit would be applied against eligible capital expenditures for corporations investing $10 million or more to build, or expand, agri-processing facilities in the province.

Capital investments made as of Tuesday or later may be considered in the calculation of a company’s total tax credit, the province said, adding it will be ready to start accepting applications this spring.

Eligible qualifying applicants may include corporations that have received funding from other provincial sources, the province said.

“We have heard from Alberta’s producers and processors that we need to do more to help grow our province’s agri-processing industry,” provincial Ag Minister Nate Horner said during an announcement at Harmony Beef at Balzac, just north of Calgary.

The province, he said, “has the fundamentals to take our value-added agriculture industry to new heights and meet the increasing global demand for food.”

With the tax credit, “Alberta has positioned itself to attract more large-scale sector investments than ever before from companies like mine,” Harmony CEO Rich Vesta said in the province’s release. “This is the right way for Alberta’s agri-food sector to support diversification, create jobs, compete and win.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The Canadian arm of Rabobank — an Amsterdam-based farmer co-operative lender, providing banking, leasing and real estate services in more than 38 countries — announced Tuesday it’s getting set to offer “financing, risk management and partnership solutions” to primary producers in this country.

For now, the company said, it plans to focus on a “core market” of the three Prairie provinces, served by a remote workforce rather than physical branch offices.

Rabobank’s Canadian arm has operated out of Toronto since 1997 and today has a staff of about 20 providing loans, asset-based financing, private placements, merger-and-acquisition services and risk management products among others.

It describes its Canadian business so far as “food and agribusiness industry-specific,” for wholesale clients across much of the value chain.

At the farm level, though, the Canadian arm’s work has until now been only indirectly, through “third-party vendor finance partnerships.” For example, Rabobank has provided financing on crop inputs to an estimated 12,000 farmers via Richardson Pioneer’s ag business centres on the Prairies.

The company said this week via email its decision to enter the farm lending business will have no impact on its offerings through third-party vendors such as Richardson at this time.

In a joint venture with Calgary-based Telus Agriculture, Rabobank in 2021 also took ownership of Minneapolis tech firm Conservis, whose software products gather and integrate farm-level data from platforms such as Climate FieldView, the John Deere Operations Center, Crop Data Management Systems and Rabo AgriFinance.

Since Rabobank’s arrival in Canada, “we’ve gained a deep understanding of the marketplace and how Rabobank can best serve Canada’s leading growers,” Paul Beiboer, Rabobank North America’s CEO, said in a release Tuesday.

Expanding its Canadian portfolio to include direct farm-level lending has already been an ongoing project for nearly three years, the company said Tuesday, noting it’s already met all national and provincial regulatory and licensing requirements.

Rabobank said it plans to offer “short- and long-term debt options” at the farm and ranch level. “We will be a one-stop shop for Canada’s agricultural term and operational lending needs, as well as other financial services and risk management products,” Marc Drouin, Rabobank Canada’s general manager, said in Tuesday’s release.

Rabobank has also already named Roxane Lieverse as its new head of Canada agricultural banking, to be based in Calgary. Lieverse, up until October, was director of Alberta agricultural banking with Scotiabank, and previously was a regional manager for National Bank of Canada.

Lieverse is also now building a “dedicated team of relationship managers” for the ag lending business, Rabobank said.

The company is now “onboarding several experienced and talented relationship managers,” she said via email, adding that it’s entering the market “with skilled bankers who truly understand agriculture and want to support industry growth.” Meanwhile, she said, farmers will be able to contact the company via its general email.

In Rabobank’s release, Lieverse said the company plans to “do business with our customers at their kitchen table (and) meet face-to-face with clients to listen to their needs and understand their operations.”

Rabobank’s approach, she said via email, will focus on a “partnership model” with a producer. Such producers, she said, “tend to take a longer-term, growth-based view of their operation and understand that they need a financing partner through the industry cycles.”

Setting Rabobank apart from other lenders in the same market, she said, is the bank’s “deep global research… which prospective customers will benefit from, as they navigate the global impact on their operation.”

In a separate interview this week with Rod Nickel of the Reuters news service, company officials said that out of the total Canadian farm lending market, currently dominated by Farm Credit Canada and the big six domestic banks, Rabobank aims to command a 10-15 per cent share within 15 years.

“The number of young farmers is actually growing and the country is on track to become the world’s second-largest food and agricultural products exporter,” Beiboer said in Tuesday’s release, describing Canada as “an attractive and logical market” for Rabobank to work with farmers and ranchers as well as its current corporate clients.

— Article updated Jan. 14, 2023 to include additional information from Roxane Lieverse of Rabobank.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s tour through the region last week included a pledge of $31.8 million over five years for a regional agriculture office, to be set up at an as-yet-unnamed location.

The new office is meant to “position Canada as a preferred agriculture and agri-food supplier to the region, strengthening trade on both sides of the Pacific,” the government said Friday in a release.

The new agriculture office will be devoted to “engaging with stakeholders, regulators, and policy decision makers” and “deepen(ing) partnerships with Indo-Pacific partners to diversify export markets and products.”

The announcement comes as the feds work toward development of a comprehensive Indo-Pacific strategy — which was telegraphed in Global Affairs Canada’s departmental plan this spring, and which Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly has said will be released before the end of this year. It’s expected that more details on the ag office will be announced after the overarching strategy is released.

In a joint statement, the Canola Council of Canada, Cereals Canada and Pulse Canada said they were “pleased to see” the support for an agriculture office, noting the Indo-Pacific region “represents a significant opportunity for Canada to diversify its agricultural exports while positively impacting global food security.”

Canada’s cereals, canola and pulse industries “enjoy a significant export share within the region and there are great opportunities,” the groups said, but “the rise of non-tariff barriers may prevent Canada from achieving its full potential in the region.”

Support for resources to deal with sanitary and phytosanitary issues in a “strategic, co-ordinated manner with industry” would help to build, and maintain, market access, they said.

“Nearly every day I get calls asking about Canadian soybeans, to resolve issues, or to do more promotion of our products in Indo-Pacific markets,” Brian Innes, executive director of Soy Canada, said Friday in a separate statement. “We’re ready to work arm in arm with our government partners to make today’s modest investment produce results.”

“It is important for Canada to have a proactive presence in the region to help address market assess barriers and increase Canadian beef exports by maintaining stable and open trade,” Canadian Cattle Association president Reg Schellenberg said of the proposed office in a separate release.

The Indo-Pacific region today takes about 20 per cent of Canada’s beef exports, the CCA said, listing Japan, mainland China, South Korea, Vietnam and Hong Kong as the region’s top five markets.

Funding initiatives Trudeau announced Friday in Bangkok also include $45 million over five years for “Modern Team Canada 3.0” minister-led trade missions; $92.5 million over five years for almost 60 new positions to “significantly expand” capacity at Canada’s missions in the region; and $13.5 million over five years to expand and diversify trade in Canadian natural resources.

“By opening new markets and opportunities for Canadian businesses, innovators, and entrepreneurs, and attracting investment to Canada in sectors like clean energy that will define the global economy, we are building an economy that works for all Canadians,” Trudeau said in a statement.

The Bangkok visit, Trudeau’s first to Thailand as prime minister, was the third and final leg of a tour of the region which also included appearances at the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit at Phnom Penh, Cambodia and the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Employment and Workforce Development Minister Carla Qualtrough announced what’s called the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program Workforce Solutions Road Map, which the government said “marks the next step in an ongoing effort to adjust and improve the TFW Program to ensure it continues to meet the labour market needs of today.”

Starting “immediately,” the government said Monday, the length of a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) — the document an eligible employer has to obtain, to show that the use of TFWs in a given workplace won’t affect the Canadian job market, and that both the employer and the specified job are legitimate — will be doubled.

Where before the COVID-19 pandemic, LMIAs were valid for six months, and were later extended to nine months, they will from now on be valid for 18 months, the government said.

Also effective immediately, the maximum term of employment for workers in the “high-wage” and “global talent” streams will be extended to three years, up from two.

“This extension will help workers access pathways to qualify for permanent residency, enabling them to contribute to our workforce for the long-term,” the government said.

Also, to better handle seasonal peaks, the number of low-wage positions that employers in seasonal industries — that is, sectors such as fish and seafood processing — can fill with TFWs will no longer be limited, making permanent the seasonal cap exemption that’s already been in place since 2015. The maximum term for those positions will also be increased to 270 days a year, up from 180.

Later, starting April 30, eligible low-wage employers will be able to hire a maximum of 20 per cent of their full-time equivalent workers at a given worksite, up from the current 10 per cent, until further notice.

Also starting April 30, in seven sectors with “demonstrated labour shortages” — including food manufacturing, accommodation and food services, wood product manufacturing, furniture manufacturing, construction, hospitals, and nursing /residential care — the cap will be raised to 30 per cent, for one year.

Also, in regions with an unemployment rate of six per cent or higher, where the TFW program now won’t process applications in the accommodation/food services and retail trade sectors, that “refusal to process” policy will be eliminated starting April 30.

LMIAs in such regions “must still demonstrate the clear need for foreign workers,” the government said, but the policy change is expected to help employers in areas where “severe labour shortages have persisted” despite higher unemployment.

Overall, the government said Monday, the Canadian labour market is tighter than before the pandemic and the job vacancy rate reached an “historic peak” in the third quarter of 2021, with much of the unmet demand is in low-wage occupations.

Out of all foreign workers coming to Canada as TFWs, over 60 per cent — about 50,000 to 60,000 per year — are agricultural workers, the government said.

“Currently, thousands of jobs are vacant in food processing plants,” Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in Monday’s release. “By facilitating the entry of foreign workers and extending their stay, our government aims to enable businesses to operate at full capacity and access new markets, increasing demand for our agricultural producers.”

The Canadian Meat Council, for one, hailed Monday’s announcement. “Our sector went from 1,700 to 10,000 empty butcher stations in the past few years,” the council’s senior vice-president for public affairs, Marie-France MacKinnon, said in a separate release Monday.

“The temporary foreign worker cap was a cap on our processing capacity and our sector’s growth potential. Today’s announcement allows our meat processors to hire temporary foreign workers, but there’s nothing temporary about our jobs; they are full-time and permanent.”

Canadian food and beverage manufacturing generally is facing an “escalating labour crisis,” the council said, with some companies reporting vacancy rates of 20 per cent or more, and some “forced to limit production and/or stop producing some products altogether.”

However, the Toronto-based Migrant Workers Alliance for Change on Monday panned the government’s planned changes. Alliance executive director Syed Hussan said the government “keeps making it easier for employers to hire migrant workers without ensuring migrants have basic rights and protections that can only be accessed by those with permanent resident status.”

Canada does not have a “crisis” of labour shortage, Hussan said Monday in a release, but rather a “wages and work conditions crisis” to be solved by “decent work and full immigration status for all.”

Low-waged essential workers, Hussan said, “should be able to come to Canada with permanent resident status instead of on employer-controlled permits with few rights.”

The government said Monday that its ministerial roundtable on TFWs, a consultative forum announced in December last year, will hold its first meeting this June, focusing on housing standards for TFWs.

Meetings of the roundtable, which will have up to 25 members and will be chaired by Qualtrough, are to be held twice each year for the next three years, each focusing on a different topic. Members are to include representatives from “stakeholders, employers, labour organizations and migrant support worker organizations.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Conservative leader Erin O’Toole on Tuesday named John Barlow, MP for the southwestern Alberta riding of Foothills, as shadow minister for agriculture, agri-food and food security.

As ag critic, Barlow replaces Lianne Rood, MP for the southwestern Ontario riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, who O’Toole named Tuesday as shadow minister for rural economic development and rural broadband strategy.

Barlow’s riding along the B.C. border includes communities such as Fort Macleod, Okotoks, Claresholm and Pincher Creek and extends into Alberta’s cattle-producing Feedlot Alley region.

Born in Regina, Barlow worked as a newspaper editor in southern Alberta before entering politics. He came to the Commons in 2014 in a byelection for the riding then known as Macleod, replacing Ted Menzies following the latter’s resignation in 2013, and has since been re-elected three times in what’s now Foothills.

Among other roles, Barlow served as the Conservatives’ assistant ag critic in 2017-18, and as lead shadow minister for agriculture from late 2019 up until September last year. O’Toole then dropped him from the shadow cabinet and replaced him with Rood, who until then had been deputy ag critic.

Canada’s ag industry has become “more efficient as well as more environmentally and economically sustainable,” Barlow said in a statement Tuesday. “The government should not be targeting farmers, but rather fostering and encouraging best practices and shared information.”

Farmers, he said, “worked without compromise to ensure a safe and stable food supply throughout the pandemic… If this pandemic has revealed anything, it is the absolute need to prioritize our agriculture and food supply chains.”

Canada’s farmers, he added, “can compete with the best, but they need a level playing field to do so. Many of the recent Liberal policies put Canadian businesses, producers and farmers at a major disadvantage in the global marketplace.”

As for Rood, she said on Twitter Tuesday she has been “hands-on in rural Canada throughout my life and will continue to fight for and champion the needs of rural Canada.”

As ag critic, Barlow will face the Liberals’ incumbent agriculture and agrifood minister, Marie-Claude Bibeau, when the Commons resumes sitting, now scheduled for Nov. 22.

While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled several of his cabinet ministers last month, Bibeau was reappointed to the ag file off the Liberals’ re-election in September to a second minority government.

Two other opposition parties will keep their incumbent ag critics when the Commons resumes sitting.

New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh on Oct. 29 reappointed Alastair MacGregor, MP for the Vancouver Island riding of Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, as critic for agriculture and food and public safety, and as deputy justice critic.

Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet on Oct. 5 reappointed Berthier-Maskinonge MP Yves Perron as critic for agriculture, agrifood and supply management.

The Green Party, which in September was reduced to a caucus of two MPs — Elizabeth May and Mike Morrice — hasn’t yet announced how they’ll handle critic portfolios.

Among other portfolios of interest to farmers, the following ministers and critics have now been appointed or reappointed:

• Environment: Steven Guilbeault becomes minister, across from critics Dan Albas (Conservatives); Monique Pauze (BQ); and Laurel Collins (NDP).
• Rural economic development: Gudie Hutchings becomes minister, across from critics Lianne Rood (Conservatives) and Rachel Blaney (NDP).
• Transport: Omar Alghabra remains the Liberals’ minister, across from critics Melissa Lantsman (Conservatives); Xavier Barsalou-Duval (BQ); and Taylor Bachrach (NDP).
• Foreign affairs: Melanie Joly becomes minister, across from critics Michael Chong (Conservatives); Stephane Bergeron (BQ); and Heather McPherson (NDP).
• International trade: Mary Ng becomes minister, across from critics Randy Hoback (Conservatives); Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay (BQ); and Brian Masse (NDP).

— Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The federal government on Tuesday announced new rules for TFWs taking effect starting Sunday (March 21). Like other arrivals, TFWs will still be subject to COVID-19 testing at their airport of arrival in Canada and will have to quarantine for at least 14 days.

However, starting Sunday, if workers are asymptomatic and have private transport set up to take them to their places of 14-day quarantine — and are accompanied only by others who travelled with them to Canada — they may skip the immediate quarantine at a government-authorized accommodation (GAA) and go directly to that other place of quarantine.

But if arriving TFWs need to travel by public means, such as a connecting flight, to a secondary location after they first touch down in Canada, they will first be required to go immediately into GAAs to await the results of their COVID-19 tests, then continue on to wherever the 14-day quarantine takes place.

“Provided TFWs have a suitable quarantine plan and safe transportation arranged to their place of quarantine, the government intends to ensure employers and TFWs will not assume incremental costs associated with the three-day quarantine requirement at the point of entry,” the government said Tuesday. “Workers will also be provided with supports on arrival and during their hotel stay.”

For eligible TFWs who arrive in Canada between now and Sunday, the deferral that allowed them to skip the GAA step and proceed directly to their 14-day quarantines — and that was set to expire March 14 — has now been extended to March 21.

The new system applies to TFWs arriving for work in “primary” agriculture, horticulture and landscaping, or for work in other agrifood, fish and seafood occupations, such as livestock slaughter and food, beverage, fish or seafood further-processing.

“Foreign agricultural workers are absolutely essential to the successful operations of our farms, our food plants, and, as a result, our food security,” Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in a release Tuesday.

“We are doing everything necessary so they can arrive as scheduled and in a way that is safe for their health and the health of Canadians.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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