Ottawa-The Canadian agri-food system has three priorities for the government to implement to obtain the best results for the sector’s future, says Jill Verwey, Vice-President of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA).

Farmers need a policy risk management framework that gives producers the confidence to invest in growth, innovation and long-term resilience, she told the Commons agriculture committee.

Also, the agriculture sector should a leader in the adoption of data-driven innovation and artificial intelligence. Food security must be treated as a whole-of-government economic priority.

“Our agricultural and agriculture food system contributes nearly $150 billion to GDP and supports approximately 2.3 million jobs. We welcome the government's National Food Security Strategy (NFSS) and the recently proposed Productivity Mega Deduction.”

The CFA has recommended establishing a small, senior-level national food security advisory council to bring together producers, private sector leaders, financial institutions and key federal departments to provide a practical business and competitive lens to the NFSS’s implementation.

“This should be a working forum that identifies barriers to investment, tests policies against commercial realities and helps ensure that public investments translate into measurable improvements in productivity, processing capacity, resilience and growth.”

“A resilient food system is one with economically viable farms, sufficient product and processing capacity here at home, diversified markets and the ability to absorb shock and continue to supply Canadians and customers across the world.”

Food security starts with economically viable farms and a policy risk management framework that gives producers the confidence to invest in growth, innovation and long-term resilience.

“Global instability reaches the farm gate through trade, supply chain disruptions, volatile input markets, uncertainty of access to key inputs and changing export market conditions.”

When farm businesses are under sustained financial pressure, it becomes harder to absorb disruptions, manage risk and make the investment needed to strengthen productivity and competitiveness.

CFA recommends permanently setting the interest-free portion of the advance payments program at $350,000. While temporary increases in place for 2026 are helpful, producers need longer-term predictability rather than relying on year-to-year changes.

At the same time, governments should maintain and enhance funding under the next policy framework to ensure that producers have access to business risk management tools, innovation programs and strategic investments needed to strengthen resilience, improve our productivity and support Canada's long-term food security.

The government's AI strategy, combined with measures such as the proposed productivity mega deduction, can accelerate investment in precision agriculture, digital technologies and other productivity-enhancing tools.

Producers and agri-food businesses need a supportive policy and program environment that provides confidence to invest in new technologies and to scale their innovations, Verwey said.

This includes clear and trusted data governance frameworks and sovereign AI infrastructure that protect producers' interests, support interoperability and enable secure and trusted use of agricultural data.

The government should work in partnership with the agri-food sector to identify and fund priority agricultural incentives that enhance the on-farm utility of AI technologies as part of the national artificial intelligence strategy.

Food security must be treated as a whole-of-government economic priority. Decisions related to taxation, transportation, infrastructure, immigration, trade, regulation, competition and innovation all shape the conditions under which farmers invest and produce.