The NPF is a 5-year (2028–2033) federal and provincial investment program aimed at strengthening and growing the agri-food sector. It will succeed the current Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP), which is in effect to March 31, 2028.

To support the development of the NPF, Agriculture Canada has launched a public consultation. It wants feedback on current and emerging challenges as well as opportunities facing the sector to help guide the vision and priorities for the framework.

The NPF will be announced by the agriculture ministers in July 2026.

SPI says that since deploying the Sustainable CAP, the sector has learned two valuable lessons. One is that delaying action on resilience increases costs, undermines productivity and hampers competitiveness.

The other is that without program modernization and stronger engagement with private investment, Canada risks falling behind global competitors.

Delayed investment in resilience is already driving higher costs across the sector, which is most evident in the Business Risk Management programs, where increasing exposure to climate-related events has led to significant financial pressures.

Investments in resilience must be prioritized to enhance long-term stability, manage public costs and buffer against climate, market, and geopolitical shocks, SPI said.

This includes supporting producers in adopting practices to improve climate resilience and input efficiency, rebuilding extension capacity, expanding on-farm pilots and innovation and developing new insurance tools that reward proactive risk reduction.

Importantly, policies, programs and private investment opportunities should focus on the transition period for adopting resilience-building practices, when producers may face short-term productivity declines before realizing longer term gains. Targeting support for this phase will be critical to accelerating adoption, SPI said.

Second, maintaining Canada’s competitiveness will require modernizing agriculture programs and creating the enabling conditions for private investment. On the program side, other jurisdictions have moved quickly to align risk management tools with resilience objectives.

Examples include the Post Application Coverage Endorsement in the U.S., Nitrogen Risk Insurance in Australia and Green Insurance in France, which all support producers in managing the risks associated with adopting resilience-building practices.

At the same time, unlocking private investment will require the development of enabling market infrastructure. This includes ecosystem service markets and a sustainable finance taxonomy that guides investment in agriculture, SPI said. Internationally, governments are investing in ecosystem service markets, including the U.S. Investment in MMRV for Agriculture and Forestry, the EU’s Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Regulation and Australia’s Nature Repair Market.

With careful consideration and sectoral engagement, taxonomies and frameworks, such as those developed by Farm Credit Canada or underway through Business Future Pathways, can also be leveraged to drive private investment into Canadian agriculture, similar to New Zealand’s draft Sustainable Finance Taxonomy for Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use.

For more information, go to www.institute.smartprosperity.ca

This news report prepared for National Newswatch