This House of Commons Agriculture and Agri-Food committee meeting, held on April 23, 2026, resumed its study on business risk management (BRM) programs in Canada’s agriculture sector. Witnesses were Chris McKee, Senior Vice-President of Business Development for the National Circle for Indigenous Agriculture and Food; Jaye Atkins, Chief Executive Officer of the Agricultural Credit Corporation; and Charles-Félix Ross, General Manager of the Union des producteurs agricoles.
Chris McKee stated that Indigenous producers face compound risks from climate volatility, limited capital, and infrastructure gaps, and are often excluded from BRM programs because eligibility criteria rely on conventional financial benchmarks that do not apply to many communities. He recommended embedding Indigenous inclusion as a core pillar of program design, creating dedicated funding streams for Indigenous-led projects, and establishing formal federal-provincial-territorial Indigenous agriculture tables to co-design solutions. He also called for proactive climate risk mitigation, investment in processing and transportation infrastructure, and better broadband access to enable precision agriculture.
Jaye Atkins focused on the advance payments program (APP), AgriStability, and production insurance, noting that the APP delivers essential operating capital to nearly 30,000 farmers but suffers from unpredictability. He recommended making the $350,000 interest-free threshold permanent rather than subject to annual ministerial announcements, which would improve planning and reduce administrative burdens. He criticized revised 2024 credit guidelines from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for increasing the share of loans requiring full adjudication from 25% to 73% without reducing default rates, and warned that changes to AgriStability or production insurance could affect their use as security for APP loans.
Charles-Félix Ross argued that Canada’s public support for agriculture, at less than 1% of government spending, is half the international average and insufficient given rising climate and geopolitical risks. He recommended gradually increasing federal agricultural investment to 2% of spending, raising the AgriStability trigger threshold to 85% of the reference margin, and establishing a minimum support threshold tied to production costs to protect producers after multiple loss years. He also called for faster AgriRecovery payouts, more provincial flexibility in AgriInsurance, and increased funding for applied research and living laboratories, noting that recent cuts to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research budgets undermine long-term risk prevention.
During questions, Ross agreed with Atkins on making the $350,000 APP interest-free threshold permanent, and emphasized that rising interest rates have made short-term credit vital for Quebec producers. McKee reiterated that programs must be co-designed with Indigenous communities, not simply offered after design, and noted that land titled to the Crown can block access to payments. Atkins highlighted a case where a producer with a million-dollar output had a reference margin of $2.76 after multiple loss years, arguing that AgriStability needs a baseline to prevent such outcomes. On AgriInvest, Atkins supported raising the contribution rate from 1% to 3% of sales.
No procedural debate, motions, or votes occurred during this meeting.
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