Canada invests in dairy to boost sector under CETA

The Canadian government has announced an investment of $350 million for two new programs to help boost the dairy sector in anticipation of the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) coming into force.

According to a federal government press release, this support is aimed at maintaining the strength of Canada’s dairy sector by helping to ensure that dairy producers and processors continue to innovate and improve productivity.

“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,” Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s Minister of International Trade.

The two new programs are:

• $250 million over five years for a Dairy Farm Investment Program that will provide targeted contributions to help Canadian dairy farmers update farm technologies and systems and improve productivity through upgrades to their equipment. This could include the adoption of robotic milkers, automated feeding systems, and herd management tools.
• $100 million over four years for a Dairy Processing Investment Fund that will help dairy processors modernize their operations and, in turn, improve efficiency and productivity, as well as diversify their products to pursue new market opportunities.

“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,” says Lawrence MacAulay, Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

The government plans to engage with the dairy sector in the coming weeks to seek input to help ensure programs respond to the needs of producers and processors. Programs are expected to be in place when CETA comes into force.