The Canadian government will inject a $350m into the country's dairy sector to support its competitiveness ahead of the likely implementation of the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
Investment into the dairy sector will be utilized to create two programs that will support the continued innovation and enhance productivity of producers and processors.
Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay, P.C., M.P. said: “The Government strongly supports supply management. Canada’s dairy producers and processors are vital to the prosperity and clean growth of our nation.
“They create jobs and offer high-quality products for Canadian consumers. These programs will help Canada’s dairy sector become more productive in order to help it adapt to the anticipated impacts from CETA.”
The first program, dubbed as the Dairy Farm Investment Program, will see an investment of $250m over a five-year period. The program will help dairy farmers in updating farm technologies and systems, besides helping in upgrading equipment to improve productivity.
The support could include the introduction of robotic milkers, herd management tools and automated feeding systems.
The second program called as Dairy Processing Investment Fund will help dairy processors with modernization of their operations to improve efficiency and productivity. It will also help in diversifying their products to seek new market opportunities.
Canada International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, P.C., M.P. said: “This is an opportunity for Canadian dairy producers and processors to modernize their operations and become more competitive in Canada and in international markets. I encourage producers to leverage the new market access provided by CETA and other free trade agreements in order to grow their business.”
Earlier this month, the Canadian government secured export agreement with Thailand for Alberta seed products.
