Innovation key to future growth in the sector.   Ottawa—A federal-Ontario program to aid food processors should be made available across the country, says Kathleen Sullivan, CEO of Food and Beverage Canada. The program provides more than $5.4 million to more than 75 processors through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) to improve food safety, increase labour productivity and access more markets. Among the projects are implementing technology or other systems to improve food safety, transitioning to automated, advanced manufacturing and/or robotic processing technology and developing new products or processes. Sullivan said, “Innovation will be critical to growth in food and beverage manufacturing and could in fact play a key role in mitigating labour shortages in the sector. Unfortunately, Canada has an innovation deficit in F&B manufacturing. The OECD ranks Canada 20th among developed countries in food manufacturing R&D investment. “Existing federal innovation programs are not well suited for F&B manufacturing,” she said. “Often, they are premised on job creation or on the development of disruptive technologies. Technology will not always lead to jobs, and as noted above, could help relieve labour pressures. As well, in a small market like Canada, it is unrealistic to think all or even most innovation will be disruptive. Canadian F&B manufacturers can, however, benefit from adopting technologies that already exist in other countries or industries, and in so doing, introduce and customize innovative products and processes within the sector.” The federal government “should increase support for F&B manufacturing by working with industry to identify the barriers to innovation and by creating a dedicated innovation fund to support innovation adoption.” CAP is also investing in programs this year at provincially-inspected dairy and provincially-licensed meat processors to support food safety enhancement projects, the government announcement said. Since June 2018, both the federal and provincial governments have committed cost-share support to more than 2,500 projects through the Partnership to help eligible Ontario farmers, processors, businesses and sector organizations innovate and grow. “Targeted investments into the innovation of our food processors such as these ensure our food supply chain remains strong and competitive for years to come,” said Ned Ellis, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture. “This is about serving our communities from both levels of government, helping to give a boost to our local food businesses and address some of the challenges around labour we are seeing right now.” Ontario Agriculture Minister Erie Hardeman said, “By investing in this sector, we are helping our homegrown processors become more competitive, more innovative and better positioned to keep supplying safe, quality foods for domestic and international markets.” The Ontario agri-food sector supports more than 837,000 jobs in Ontario and contributes more than $47.5 billion each year to the provincial economy. Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.