Federal government unveils CUSMA package details

On a dairy farm in the Eastern Townships, Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau re-affirmed the federal government’s commitment to provide compensation for supply-managed sectors for the impacts of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). Dairy, poultry and egg producers and processors are expected to share more than $1.7 billion in direct payments and investment programs.

This federal investment will help dairy, poultry and egg producers and processors make key investments and improve their operations to be even more competitive and sustainable.

For the Canadian poultry and egg producers, the government intends to provide up to an additional $112 million under the Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program. Producers will receive payments based on their quota holdings, to support improvements to their farm businesses. This funding will bring the total compensation for this sector to $803 million.

In addition, the federal government intends to invest up to $105 million in the Supply Management Processing Investment Fund to support investments in dairy, poultry and egg processing plants, to grow their productivity or efficiency through new equipment and automation technologies. This brings the total investment for processors up to $497.5 million.

Poultry sector leaders welcomed the news.

“Today’s further investment in our sector will help farmers enhance the long-term efficiency and sustainability of their farms and continue to feed Canadians,” says Tim Klompmaker, chair, Chicken Farmers of Canada.

Brian Bilkes, chair, Canadian Hatching Egg Producers, shares similar sentiment. “This funding will help our producers reinvest to make our sector stronger and more resilient which benefits all Canadians.”

In terms of dairy, producers already know how much they will receive next year under the fourth compensation payment for CETA and CPTPP. The government intends to offer them extra funding of up to $1.2 billion over six years under the Dairy Direct Payment Program to account for the impacts of CUSMA.

From 2024 to 2029, the owner of a farm with 80 milking cows may receive compensation through a direct payment of about $106,000 in six yearly instalments on a declining scale. These funds will give producers the flexibility to invest according to their individual needs.

Starting in 2023, the federal government intends to invest up to $300 million in a new program to support innovation and investment into large-scale projects to add value to solids-non-fat, a by-product of milk processing. The Government will consult closely with industry stakeholders in the development of program parameters.

The total compensation to supply managed sectors for these various programs will reach up to $4.8 billion.