Guelph to host the 2020 Federal-Provincial-Territorial Agriculture Ministers Conference

The Government of Canada and Ontario announced today that Guelph will host the annual conference of federal, provincial and territorial agricultural ministers in 2020.

Taking place in July next year, the focus of the 2020 Federal-Provincial-Territorial Agriculture Ministers Conference will be ‘Strong Agrifood: Strong Economy.’ The event will highlight leading issues to help grow the Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector as well as highlight Ontario’s and Guelph’s leading role as a worldwide hub for research and economic development in the sector.

“The University of Guelph stands at the centre of an agri-food research and innovation hub based in the Guelph area,” said University of Guelph president, Franco Vaccarino. “Along with our numerous regional partners, we look outward to address important challenges and seek out opportunities, both nationally and internationally. We welcome the opportunity this event affords to showcase our collective capacity to help the agri-food sector grow and meet emerging challenges.”

The Guelph area is home to several agri-food research centres of excellence supported by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Government of Ontario, such as the University of Guelph, the Livestock Research Innovation Centre, and the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario. It is also the headquarters of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The announcement took place immediately following a roundtable session on Wednesday where Hardeman and Ontario agri-food industry leaders met to discuss Ontario’s priorities heading into the 2019 event.

The 2019 Federal-Provincial-Territorial Agriculture Ministers Conference will take place in Quebec City, from July 17 to 19, 2019.