- Replacing one-third of food imports with local food.
- Strengthening supply management.
- Restoring the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Program.
- Restructuring BRM programming to support farmers facing extreme weather events.
- Reducing the use of pesticides and non-selective herbicides by 50 per cent by 2030.
- Reinstating the Canada Land Inventory to track ag land use, soil health, and farmland conversion.
- Banning “bulk” acquisitions of farmland by non-resident investors.
- Protecting collective rights to seeds.
In addition, the Greens have targeted promises for temporary foreign workers (TFW), and some related to animal welfare.
For TFWs, the party promises to review the TFW program “to protect workers from exploitation while ensuring critical labour needs are met in agriculture,” the platform says. “This includes strengthening enforcement of labour protections, fair wages, adequate housing, and safe working conditions for foreign agricultural and other seasonal workers.”
On the animal welfare front, the Green Party is committed to having that file run by its own ministry and not AAFC.
The Greens also promise to support farmers transitioning from livestock to crop production, and to reduce maximum livestock transportation times to four hours.
Jonathan Pedneault and Elizabeth May’s party platform includes a section dedicated to rural communities too.
These promises include re-evaluating the Canada Health Transfer to ensure rural communities receive proper funding, provide annual funds for rural and northern infrastructure beginning in 2028, increasing salaries for rural Canada Post employees, and create land trusts to control farmland prices and protect arable land.
The NDP’s platform is specific to the party’s first budget if it forms government.
The commitments do not include any definite mentions of agriculture or rural communities. Instead, the party is focused on healthcare, affordability, and housing.
These promises include introducing national rent control and building 3 million homes by 2030, and supporting workers with plans to build and buy Canadian.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has mentioned ag, farmers, and food on the campaign trail.
On April 18, Singh called the agriculture sector “fundamental for our sovereignty,” and committed to strengthening supply management.
And on April 12, he promised to improve Nutrition North and invest in local food programs.
You can read about ag and rural promises in the Liberal platform here.
Farms.com will have coverage of the Conservative platform once it becomes available.