Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food

Comité permanent de l'agriculture et de l'agroalimentaire

For immediate release

Ottawa, November 06, 2023 -

On 6 November 2023, the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food presented a report to the House of Commons on the environmental contribution of the agriculture sector. This is the committee’s fourth substantive report of the first session of the 44th Parliament.

The report, entitled “Stewards of the Land: Examining Canadian Agriculture’s Environmental Contribution”, is based on testimony from 58 witnesses that the committee heard over nine meetings held between 28 March 2022 and 31 May 2023. It also considers testimony of 20 witnesses the committee heard over three meetings that took place between 13 May and 8 June 2021, during the 2nd session of the 43rd parliament.

Canadian agriculture has a long tradition of environmental stewardship and farmers have constantly looked for innovative ways to reduce their environmental impact while increasing their production. The report contains 14 recommendations that the federal government can implement to help farmers to unleash their full innovative potential and preserve natural resources for future generations. In cooperation with stakeholders and the provinces and territories, it can provide a national framework for data collection, allowing, for example, farmers to identify opportunities to preserve grasslands and wetlands in their operations. The federal government can promote efforts to reduce emissions in agriculture, such as the 4R Stewardship program and other fertilizer application methods, and it can identify and encourage practices that increase carbon sequestration in agricultural soils.

Warned by beekeepers of the worrying levels of mortality among honeybee colonies in Canada, the Ccmmittee devoted three meetings and four of the report's recommendations to this pressing subject. The federal government should ensure Canadian beekeepers can access secure and cost-effective imports, notably from safe zones in the United States. The federal government should also ensure the Pest Regulatory Management Authority has the resources necessary to fulfill its mandate, namely, to provide producers access to effective pest control products in a timely manner and to ensure these products do not have adverse effects on pollinators and other parts of the ecosystem.