The House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food met on April 30, 2026, to continue its study of business risk management programs in Canada’s agriculture sector. Witnesses included Catherine Lessard from the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada, David Beauvais from the Fédération de la relève agricole du Québec, Catherine Lefebvre and Patrice Léger Bourgoin from the Association des producteurs maraîchers du Québec, Tyler McCann from the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, John Cranfield from the University of Guelph and the Deans Council of Agriculture, Food and Veterinary Medicine, and Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab.
Catherine Lessard described a sharp decline in profit margins for fruit and vegetable producers since 2015, with fruit growers operating at a loss for two years and debt ratios exceeding 30% for some sectors. She attributed this to rising production costs, climate-related crop damage, and competition from U.S. producers who benefit from a $3.65 billion direct payment program. She recommended lowering the AgriStability trigger to a 15% margin decline, revising reference margins to exclude catastrophic weather years, expediting payments, permanently increasing the interest-free advance payment loan portion to $350,000, expanding AgriInsurance to cover all fruits and vegetables and greenhouse production, and overhauling AgriRecovery, while also calling for more flexible federal-provincial agreements.
David Beauvais argued that farm succession is the primary risk facing Canadian agriculture, noting that $50 billion in assets will transfer over the next decade and that land prices have risen tenfold since 2000. He proposed a patient capital program offering up to $1 million in financing for producers under 40 with a low fixed interest rate over 40 years and a 5% down payment, and stressed that young farmers need more responsive programs due to limited liquidity and credit history, adding that burnout is rising among the next generation.
Catherine Lefebvre and Patrice Léger Bourgoin highlighted that vegetable growers face volatile farm-gate prices, unpredictable weather, and unsustainable pressure from retailers who shift risks onto family-owned SMEs. They noted that profit margins for Quebec vegetable growers have fallen across all business sizes from 2018 to 2023, and that AgriStability fails to cover losses after two bad years because the reference margin drops. They recommended increasing agricultural investments to 2% of public spending, raising the AgriStability trigger to 85% of the reference margin, speeding up AgriRecovery implementation, giving provinces more flexibility to adapt AgriInsurance to regional risks, and increasing support for research and technology transfer.
Tyler McCann argued that the current risk management framework lacks clarity of purpose and has not kept pace with a changing risk landscape, with declining participation and late payments undermining effectiveness. He said the cost of programs has more than doubled in ten years but payments do not reliably increase when farm incomes fall, and he urged the committee to first agree on what the programs are supposed to achieve before redesigning them. He recommended integrating proactive risk management, prioritizing government support for catastrophic losses, and giving farmers more tools tailored to their individual needs, including through private-sector involvement.
John Cranfield emphasized that innovation and research are foundational to long-term risk management, as productivity improvements reduce costs and early detection systems prevent crises. He described the Deans Council’s driving digital agriculture initiative, which aims to create a national network connecting universities to accelerate the translation of research into practical tools for producers. He noted that universities cannot alone replace the $27 million in annual federal research centre cuts, but that partnerships with industry and other governments could help fill the gap.
Sylvain Charlebois argued that the current BRM approach is too reactive and should shift toward helping the sector manage and distribute risk more effectively without increasing public spending. He recommended expanding market transparency through standardized risk reporting, moving to rules-based program delivery with predefined triggers tied to measurable indicators, and using BRM eligibility to incentivize voluntary risk-sharing agreements across the value chain, such as price bands or cost indexing. He also stated that the U.S. remains a vital trading partner and that private capital engagement in Canadian agri-food lags behind other G20 nations.
The committee also heard discussion on the Alto high-speed rail project in Quebec, with Lefebvre and Beauvais warning that it would cut farmland in half and destroy farming businesses, and that no compensation could replace the long-term loss of agricultural land.
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