The CANADA List Blog

Despite our immense land mass and small population, despite the fact that climate change means more land will become arable and the growing seasons will expand, despite new technologies which allow more and more food to be grown on less and less land, Canada imports most of its food. As someone with 30 years of project management experience overseas, I see a huge opportunity to change that, to help Canadian farmers and rural communities increase production, expand processing, distribution and marketing and take their rightful place in our immense market, to anchor a goal for food security and to ‘tariff-proof’ our daily choices.

The Real Challenge: Who Controls Our Food?

Canada is a net importer of fresh fruit and vegetables: according to 2022 data, we produced close to $8 billion worth of produce nationally (mostly in Ontario, Quebec and BC), but imported nearly $10 billion from foreign producers – including 36% of fruit and 67% of vegetables from the US. On the surface, it’s easy to blame our short growing season or cold winters. But the deeper problem is that, for fifty years, our supply and distribution systems have become “continentalized.” Trade deals have made it easier for multinationals to ship peas from Mexico than from BC or Ontario. As a result, local farmers are squeezed out, transportation costs mount, and consumers ultimately face higher prices.

Of course, this year the US has begun leveraging tariffs on a wide variety of Canadian imports. An unintended benefit is that this has motivated millions of Canadians to examine food labels and increase their ‘buy Canadian’ purchases. To support this, numerous grassroots campaigns – including The CANADA List, as well as mobile apps intended to quickly identify Canadian products, have been created. However, nearly all of these initiatives are aimed at individual consumers, and I believe there is also a need – and an opportunity – to strengthen our national food supply at the structural level. Doing so would give us increased opportunity to meet local food demands, in a way that decreases our dependence on foreign countries – their weather, their supply chains, or unpredictable changes to their trade policy.

My experience in overseas development has shown me that most successful projects have key characteristics: collaboration of multiple stakeholders to address systemic issues which inhibit progress; interventions at multiple levels – individual, organizational, governmental; a wide range of actions including research, training, investment and policy advocacy. An analysis of distinct farming regions would identify unique combinations of these characteristics. Since I am a BC native, with experience living on Southern Gulf Islands, I will use that for examples of obstacles and opportunities, and I hope some will resonate with growers in other regions.

What we need: A Program for Canadian Food Security

Many organizations are already working to support farmers, including organic, cooperative, regenerative, and urban farming groups. In BC, the BC Agriculture Council also has its own strategic plans and programs. However, the efforts of these organizations are often fragmented and focused on supporting individual members. What’s missing is a coordinated program that can provide strategic, system-wide support. Such a program would do three things:

1. Add resources where they’re most needed: By pooling expertise and funding, a program can help local organizations seize new opportunities and respond quickly to changing conditions.
2. Offer a broader perspective: With a bird’s-eye view, it can draw on experiences from other regions, encourage collaboration, and create a long-term vision that delivers more than the sum of its parts. The program could in turn inform future policy at municipal, regional, provincial and national levels.
3. Support innovation and reduce risk: By providing technical and financial resources, it can help foster experimentation and resilience that smaller groups might not manage alone.

Most existing efforts focus on boosting farm gate sales for individual producers. To truly strengthen Canada’s local food system, a broader program should aim for bigger goals, such as:

• Expanding the acreage of local production, especially near urban centres;
• Supporting more farms to sell through multiple channels and create good local jobs.
• Increasing the number of Canadians buying local produce at more points of sale;

A wider, more coordinated approach not only addresses immediate barriers, but also helps identify and tackle the systemic challenges that stand in the way of lasting growth and food security.

How would a program achieve this?

An effective program would likely require a combination of grassroots leadership, and strong institutional and government support. In practice, a program like this should include five key elements, each requiring collaboration across local organizations, industry groups, and various levels of government:

Where to Begin?

Start with a “Phase 1”: bring existing organizations together, gather market intelligence, identify “low-hanging fruit” for quick wins in 2026, and build the partnerships needed for long-term progress. This first stage would assess whether working together and taking targeted measures can lift value-added production for all, and clarify what additional work is needed to secure a lasting, sustainable future for domestic food production.

I do believe food security is important, especially after the crises of COVID19 and now the US tariffs. But also, because, as climate change takes irrevocable hold, food security will be an economic necessity. My experience overseas has taught me that systemic change requires some kind of program – to bring people and institutions together, to identify effective strategies and actions and to identify new paths forward. I also do not believe that we can rely on the private sector alone nor ‘market forces’ to resolve these issues. That is how we came to be where we are today.