Key Takeaways
- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has launched Canada’s first-ever National Food Security Strategy, backed by more than $3 billion in investments over ten years.
- The strategy targets four pillars: spurring grocery competition, boosting domestic food production, expanding year-round fruit and vegetable growing, and cutting regulatory red tape across the agricultural supply chain.
- A $750 million fund will be dedicated to expanding year-round domestic production of fruits and vegetables, explicitly including greenhouses, vertical farms, and other enclosed growing systems.
- A new $1 billion Agri-food Project Finance Fund through Farm Credit Canada will provide seed capital for businesses to expand food processing capacity, alongside a $150 million Food Security Fund for equipment upgrades.
- The strategy includes nearly $130 million for the Competition Bureau and Competition Tribunal to investigate and combat anti-competitive practices in the grocery sector.
Canada Launches $3 Billion National Food Security Strategy
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced the launch of Canada’s first National Food Security Strategy, a $3 billion-plus, ten-year programme designed to reduce the country’s reliance on foreign food suppliers, improve grocery affordability, and expand domestic food production. The announcement, framed against the backdrop of global trade disruptions, conflict, and climate pressure, positions food sovereignty as a core pillar of Canada’s broader economic resilience agenda.
Despite being one of the world’s largest agri-food exporters, Canada has some of the highest grocery costs in the G7. The strategy is structured around four objectives: increasing grocery competition, boosting domestic production, expanding year-round fruit and vegetable growing, and streamlining agricultural regulation.
“Canadian farmers deserve more options to sell their produce, and Canadians deserve more options for where to buy their food. Canada’s first-ever National Food Security Strategy will help grow and process more food here and put more Canada on Canadian plates — lowering costs, creating jobs, and building a food system that is more resilient, more competitive, and more our own,” said Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Pillar 1: Breaking Open Grocery Competition
The strategy allocates $1 billion to food infrastructure, specifically to develop new and expanded food terminals and distribution hubs. The stated objective is to give independent grocery retailers the logistical capacity to source and move competitively priced products without depending on large retail chain networks. An additional $130 million will be directed to the Competition Bureau and Competition Tribunal to investigate and act on anti-competitive practices in the grocery sector.
Pillar 2: Boosting Domestic Food Production
Farm Credit Canada (FCC) will administer a new $1 billion Agri-food Project Finance Fund providing seed capital financing for food businesses seeking to expand processing capacity. Complementing this, a $150 million Food Security Fund will support small and medium-sized producers and processors in upgrading equipment. A further $100 million Collaborative Food Innovation Fund will help producers expand agri-food processing capabilities.
“Through this made-in-Canada approach, we will process more of what our farmers grow here at home, creating jobs, driving economic growth, and strengthening Canada’s food self-sufficiency,” said Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.
Pillar 3: Year-Round Fruit and Vegetable Production
A $750 million investment is earmarked specifically to expand Canada’s year-round domestic production of fruits and vegetables. The strategy explicitly names greenhouses, vertical farms, and other enclosed growing systems as priority vehicles for achieving this expansion — a direct policy signal of intent to scale controlled environment agriculture as a domestic food security tool. The government also announced immediate expensing for new or expanded greenhouse construction, providing upfront tax relief to accelerate supply growth.
Pillar 4: Reducing Regulatory Red Tape
The strategy commits to modernising agricultural regulations and accelerating approvals for seeds, feed, fertilizers, and veterinary products, with the goal of reducing backlogs that currently slow innovation and adoption. A specific measure would help provincially licensed food businesses meet federal requirements, making it easier for a product produced in one province or territory to reach retail shelves in another — addressing a long-standing interprovincial trade friction point for Canadian food producers.
Complementary Measures Already Underway
The strategy builds on a set of cost-reduction measures already in motion, including the permanent establishment of the National School Food Program (serving up to 400,000 children annually), the cancellation of the federal consumer carbon price from April 1, 2025, and the launch of a Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit providing up to $1,890 this year for a family of four. An early wave of proposals under the Strategic Response Fund is expected to launch in June 2026, with a second wave in autumn 2026.
