Sector will have a major role in the economic recovery from the pandemic.Ottawa—While the pandemic dished out a hefty financial toll on the food processing sector, it can rebound with innovation to play a major role in the country's economic recovery, says Agriculture Canada.The pandemic caused an unprecedented shock to the whole food system as a result of significant changes in food demand that kept processors busy trying to keep up, Frederic Seppey, Assistant Deputy Agriculture Minister, has told the Commons agriculture committee.“With continued support of Canadian innovators, we can capitalize on emerging technology areas and changing consumer demands and realize incredible growth opportunities in the food sector,” he said.The federal government has been assisting with targeted investments in the value-added food processing sector through the strategic innovation fund and the innovation superclusters initiative, he said. It has awarded close to $30 million to the Canadian Food Innovators Network “that will accelerate innovation and collaboration specifically in the sector.”The food and beverage processing industry is the country's largest manufacturing sector and has 290,000 employees and purchases about 40 per cent of Canada's farm production. However there currently are about 28,000 job vacancies in the sector.Exports of processed food and beverage reached a record $38.1 billion in 2019. Globally, Canada was the 11th largest exporter of processed foods in the world, Seppey said.What will happen post pandemic in the sector is a tough forecast because of the changes during 2020. “Although the supply chain seems to have stabilized, we cannot take the resilience of the sector for granted. Extraordinary efforts were required to keep grocery store shelves stocked and food on the table. The system remains vulnerable as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have an impact.” The pandemic inflicted new and significant cost pressures on companies and the total financial consequences are still being tabulated.One popular federal program has been the local food infrastructure fund, which has helped develop food processing facilities in rural areas, he said. “In the evolution of the demand for food products across the country, we have seen a greater attachment to procuring from local producers and local food processors.” Raising awareness supporting local farmers is “definitely one element of our consideration for future strategies.”NDP ag critic Alistair MacGregor said a regular topic the committee hears about is the over-concentration of meat-processing capacity in Canada. “While it has been very efficient in the past, has certainly been one of our weak links” during the pandemic.Seppey said that under the federal emergency processing fund, “we had one stream that was specifically to address imbalances at the regional level. That's one element that is on our radar.”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.