Ottawa-While Canadian agriculture and food exports were strong last year, Canada needs to produce more homegrown food for Canadians, Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald has told the Commons agriculture committee.

More than $100 billion in Canadian agri-food was shipped to almost 200 countries in 2025 and the government is trying to help diversify those markets even more.

“However, at the same time, we need to get more of our homegrown food into our kitchens and onto our tables right here at home” through the $3.2 billion National Food Security Strategy (NFSS).

MacDonald said the farmers he has met across the country “are primed and ready to grow their markets right here at home, but they need the tools to do that.”

The NFSS will speed up the time it takes for farmers to get their hands on new products, such as fertilizers and pest control technologies.

“Less red tape will help Canadian farmers to produce more food for Canadians while competing on an even playing field with producers in other countries.”

“To ensure food security for the long term, we will make it easier for young farmers to enter the sector and take over family operations. Every time I sit down with young producers across the country, I come away even more optimistic about the future of the sector.”

“They are the innovative ones. They are ambitious and they are passionate about the sector, but their biggest challenge is daunting - the start-up costs of fulfilling their dreams for farming.”

The government will double the guaranteed loan limit and extend terms of the Canadian Agricultural Loans Act. “We have increased the lifetime capital gains exemption to $1.25 million for qualified farm property, which will be indexed to inflation starting in 2026.”

“We are launching a task force to examine potential supports for intergenerational farm transfers to better reflect the structure of modern farm operations and we’re including youth, who will be at the table.”

The government will invest $750 million in controlled environment agriculture to help fruit and vegetable growers expand year-round production.

Food and beverage manufacturers will have better access to targeted programs and new financing to support growth at all stages, he said. Farm Credit Canada will establish a $1-billion agri-food project finance fund that backs food and farming projects that can transform the industry.

“We will help provincially licensed food businesses get the help they need to meet the federal requirements. That way, a Canadian product made in one province can more easily reach a shelf in another.”

The NFSS will keep farmers productive and competitive and create new jobs and economic opportunities and stronger food security for Canadians.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture has called for increasing agri-food’s Gross Domestic Product by $100 billion to $250 billion during the next decade.

Achieving that goal will require the co-operation and support of the federal government starting with the regulatory impediments farmers face every day around seeds, feeds, fertilizers, innovation and technology.

The red tape puts us “at a competitive disadvantage with other countries we trade with. That, first and foremost, is what I'm hearing from stakeholders across the country.”

This news report prepared for National Newswatch