Food & Beverage Canada and other industry groups have together created recommendations for the next federal budget, to ensure the food and beverage sector recovers effectively from the pandemic.
They state that “few Canadian agriculture products make it to Canada’s grocery shelves without first being transformed by one of this sector’s 7,000+ companies. Read the recommendations in our pre-budget submission to the federal government here.”
These recommendations are summarized below:
Recommendation 1: That the federal government establish a refundable tax credit in respect of the
extraordinary expenditures incurred by critical infrastructure sectors – like F&B manufacturing – to
respond to COVID-19.
Recommendation 2: That the federal government direct the Competition Bureau to launch an
investigation into the practices of Canada’s food retailers and work with industry and provincial
governments to moderate the conduct of Canada’s food retailers by implementing a Retailer Code
of Practice.
Recommendation 3: That the federal government empower and resource a central department or
agency with responsibility for Canada’s entire food supply chain with a mandate to develop a
coordinated approach to all federal policy and economic measures impacting Canada’s food system:
to ensure Canada achieves food sovereignty and leverages the strength of its food system to support
economic prosperity for Canadians, and to interact with provincial governments for a coordinated
approach to these measures.
Recommendation 4: That the Industry Strategy Council develop a full industrial strategy for Canada’s
food system.
Recommendation 5: That the federal government work with industry to develop a People, Careers &
Workforce Planning action plan for Canada’s F&B manufacturing sector and that the government
appoint a lead to coordinate this work across key departments.
Recommendation 6: That the federal government increase support for F&B manufacturing by working
with industry to identify the barriers to innovation and by creating a $150 million innovation fund to
support innovation adoption.
