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Results: 121 - 135 of 206
View Alistair MacGregor Profile
NDP (BC)
Sure.
Dr. Mussell, did you have any thoughts on the question I was asking Mr. Buy about success stories?
View Alistair MacGregor Profile
NDP (BC)
The question I was asking you is, apart from any specific success stories, is there a common thread that weaves through them that you can allude to for our committee to examine when we make our recommendations to the government?
Serge Buy
View Serge Buy Profile
Serge Buy
2021-02-02 16:09
Yes, absolutely.
I think the common thread is the fact that a lot of those companies are not having their own the capacity to do this. Therefore, the joining of efforts, the ability to benefit from this incubator type, has enabled them to move forward.
In the stories we are going to assemble for you, you are going to see through those three organizations that are mentioned and others the fact that it is the same story on a regular basis. We are hearing regularly that they need to pool their resources, that they need to get some support initially and move forward.
View Alistair MacGregor Profile
NDP (BC)
When you look at the motion that's guiding our study, our primary objective in this study is to ensure the stability and renewal of the value chain, but one of the other parts of our study refers to also supporting the goal of increasing local capacity to protect food security. You made mention of that in your opening statement.
Can you add anything to cover that particular aspect of our committee study?
Serge Buy
View Serge Buy Profile
Serge Buy
2021-02-02 16:28
Absolutely.
Two of the recommendations deal specifically with this increasing access to capital for local processing plants and manufacturing plants.
We need to look at the local aspect of this. I don't have the funding to support their activities on that front. The major international companies do and can make the investment, but the small and medium-sized enterprises don't. The government needs to support them on that. The government also should be able and should want to promote the investments in those facilities.
Those are two things that I think could help on this, and the NRC IRAP as well, which mainly deals with small and medium-sized businesses. The recommendation to enable capital funding within that program should be able to help as well.
Rob Lipsett
View Rob Lipsett Profile
Rob Lipsett
2021-02-02 16:38
Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Rob Lipsett and I'm a beef producer from Grey County, Ontario. I'm the president of the Beef Farmers of Ontario. Joining me today is BFO's executive director, Richard Horne. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the focus on processing capacity, the beef sector across eastern Canada has had to contend with capacity challenges for some time due to a variety of factors that have led to periodic supply bottlenecks, significant negative pressure on farm gate prices and lost market opportunities.
Over the last five years, federally inspected processing utilization in eastern Canada increased from 71% in 2015 to 100% in 2020. In addition, Ontario provincial processing numbers are up approximately 20% over 2019 and the five-year averages. Some beef farmers must wait four to six months, and in many cases up to one year, to have their cattle processed at provincial facilities. CanFax estimates that shortages in beef processing capacity equated to $129 million in lost revenue in 2020 for farmers in eastern Canada.
To enhance processing capacity, we recommend four key areas of focus. They are strategic investment in the sector, addressing labour shortages, addressing regulatory differences between Canada and the U.S., and creating permanent tools to help mitigate processing disruptions.
First and foremost, continued government investment in the sector is needed. We need to simplify programming and ensure funding windows have enough runway to allow facilities sufficient time to plan and execute. Focus programs on outcomes and stop limiting what and how businesses can invest in capacity growth. Funding priorities should be placed on projects with the greatest ability to expand production capacity. A combination of cost-share funding, no-interest loans and non-repayable loans should be offered to assist with capital investments to spur production and improve efficiencies.
Between 2008 and 2017, Canada's agricultural exports grew three times faster than the Canadian average. Last year, Canadian beef exports grew 17% and opportunity for further growth remains. The sector's ability to maintain jobs through COVID-19 makes agriculture a priority for economic recovery. To capitalize on export opportunities, we recommend creating an industry export development fund to assist export diversification efforts and address trade barriers. For example, the fund could enable processors to apply for matching funding that would support enhanced capabilities to segregate eligible product, support modifications to food safety interventions to meet country-specific requirements or make strategic investments that spur growth and improve efficiencies.
Access to labour is another issue of concern. A study was done by Food Processing Skills Canada indicating that the meat sector had a job vacancy rate of about 13%, compared to other food companies that averaged 2% to 4%. In Ontario, this equates to approximately 2,400 vacant positions and $1.2 billion in lost productivity. A domestic strategy to attract, train and retain the workers by providing investments and supports in training and education is needed. A refocus of foreign worker programs into permanent programs is also needed. The agri-food labour pilot was a good first step, but we need to be doing more. There are dozens of countries with ample supplies of workers willing to come here and fill the jobs. Pathways need to be created to facilitate this.
I'll now turn it over to Mr. Horne to complete our presentation.
View Yves Perron Profile
BQ (QC)
I'd like to conclude with two questions, if there's time.
You mentioned the need to increase slaughter capacity. Do you think that new small- and medium-sized slaughter plants could meet the needs of the market? If so, what actions should we do about it?
Richard Horne
View Richard Horne Profile
Richard Horne
2021-02-02 17:30
That's an excellent question. Thank you.
Touching on the investment for plants, it needs to be targeted and strategic. In terms of reaching out to plants—
I apologize; I was getting interpretation in my headphones.
Yes, on investment, small, medium and large-sized plants are part of this equation. It starts with investment by government direct to them, with sufficient runway and without limitation in terms of what is allowed under growth projects.
View Alistair MacGregor Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Barrett, the motion that is guiding our study is tasking our committee to look at how we ensure stability in our processing sector and how we support the goal of increasing our capacity.
Your organization represents many different businesses that are of varying size. You've gone over the impediments—the compensation delays, the competition in the retail market.
If you're a small-scale producer right now, or if you're an entrepreneur who's looking to get into dairy processing.... Can you talk a little more about how the local landscape is looking for them? If we're trying to increase opportunities for these people to get started, what does it look like if you put yourself in their shoes right now?
Michael Barrett
View Michael Barrett Profile
Michael Barrett
2021-02-02 17:32
I certainly appreciate that DPAC represents varying sizes of establishments. Also, we have a very good working relationship with the provincial organizations, which even take it down to the next level as well, to those entrepreneurial individuals. There is on-farm processing taking place, and it's being supported, and there are small organizations. It's very difficult, however, to work into a main stream in order to grow. It's great to be able to grow locally, and then they have to take the next step. That's when they start to run into some of the bigger issues.
There are listing fees. If you get too large, then the infrastructure has to get larger. There are the trucking pieces—the ability to truck, access to market, access to labour. Equipment is exorbitant; it's not made in Canada, but is from Europe or from the U.S. They're at the mercy of having to make sure they have adequate supply, because you need plant supply quota to enter the marketplace.
Being innovative in a niche market has certainly helped, but there is an element that you have to be able to take to the next level. Those organizations that are between $30 million and $100 million are struggling with the same elements as the large ones. Once you get to that element, there's a host of other criteria that you have to be able to meet as well, which they struggle with, and there's being played off as one supplier against another.
View Alistair MacGregor Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you so much, Chair, and thank you to the witnesses.
As we're continuing this conversation on our food processing study, it's remarkable the parallels we have with an earlier study that we did in the 42nd Parliament on technology and innovation in this sector. I thought that was a fascinating study. I was lucky to be a member of the committee during that time.
One of the witnesses we had during that study in the previous Parliament was one of my constituents. He started up a company called EIO Diagnostics that is tackling the problem of early mastitis detection in the dairy industry, which costs the industry millions of dollars per year worldwide.
During the course of his testimony, he said as a start-up that the four pillars that foster young companies are capital, talent, advisory services and markets. He said that as a nation we're pretty good at the talent part in Canada, but a lot of companies—I think, Professor Charlebois, you alluded to this—really have difficulty accessing capital in that start-up phase, when a young, intrepid entrepreneur has that really big idea, but securing the capital to get the company from the drawing board up to an actual company....
Professor Charlebois, I'll start with you. Could you comment on his testimony and, if you want to, provide a little more detail on how the federal government could structure those grants to allow these intrepid entrepreneurs who get that big idea to actually start up something physically here in Canada?
Sylvain Charlebois
View Sylvain Charlebois Profile
Sylvain Charlebois
2020-12-01 16:12
Those are very good points. I will say that I do mentor companies myself, from here in Halifax to Calgary. I work with District Ventures in Calgary, which is led by Arlene Dickinson in Montreal. I help companies.
The struggle we have beyond the capital issue and beyond the talent is with the discipline and the mentorship that these companies need. Once you educate venture capitalists about agri-food, about the fact that you need to be patient and you can't go in and out in two years and get your money, as you can in clean tech or fintech, then you're in good shape, but also these entrepreneurs need the support and the connection.
The one thing that District Ventures has done that I thought was really valuable is to connect and partner with retailers to test products in a real setting, which has allowed some companies to be successful. In Halifax, at Dalhousie we actually partnered with the Rotman School of business at the University of Toronto to establish what we call the “creative destruction lab”.
This lab is a model that has been replicated I think four or five times across the country, including in Calgary, at UBC, in Montreal and for us here in Halifax. It's a nine-month program providing a lot of mentorship to entrepreneurs. It provides a lot of discipline as well. We need something like this for agri-food as soon as possible. If there's one recommendation I would make, it's to make a CDL à la agri-food. Right now, there's nothing.
View Alistair MacGregor Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you.
I'll turn to you, Dr. Campbell and Dr. Van Acker, for your comments. We also got to tour the University of Guelph. It's a fantastic facility. The research you have going on there si amazing. We also made it out to Saskatoon to look at the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre.
Is there anything you want to comment on that you would ultimately really love to see as a recommendation in our report?
Malcolm Campbell
View Malcolm Campbell Profile
Malcolm Campbell
2020-12-01 16:14
I'll double down on Professor Charlebois' comment around having the capacity to incubate company start-ups here in Canada. EIO is a great example.
By the way, MP MacGregor, it was wonderful to have you in Guelph. It's great to see you again.
If we take a look at the investment opportunities in start-ups in Canada, even during COVID we saw an increase in venture capital going into start-up companies across the country, and we also saw significant federal investments in that regard. I know that Sheryl Groeneweg has already talked to this particular committee. She spoke explicitly to the investments that ISED has made under the SIF, the strategic innovation fund, as but one example. Similarly, the regional development offices, such as FedDev here in Ontario, have been making investments in those companies to mobilize them. As Professor Charlebois said and I would reiterate, the challenge is making sure that those investments are in companies that are relevant to this particular sector, the agri-food sector, and more specifically to food processing. I think there are clearly opportunities there.
It seems to be the case that, as I often describe it, everybody and their grandmother has a recipe that's lived in their family for years and years and they want to start a company on the basis of that. The challenge is pulling that together into a venture that will actually gain mileage, gain traction and have a long life. Professor Charlebois mentioned having the supports in place. One of those four components that you describe as necessary is the guidance for those companies. I would say that actually does exist across the country—maybe not specifically for agri-food, but we have some great examples there, with Bioenterprise as but one example here in Ontario. You'll be hearing from Bill Greuel later today. I think PIC is wanting to be very active in this space as well.
Other international players are looking at opportunities in Canada for investment. We ourselves just partnered with SVG Thrive, a major investor out of Silicon Valley that's looking at Canada as an opportunity to grow companies.
View Kody Blois Profile
Lib. (NS)
View Kody Blois Profile
2020-12-01 16:47
I'm sorry to interrupt, Madam Ouellet. I have only so much time and I want to ask more quick questions of you.
In terms of when you were building the small abattoir in the Granby area, how did you make it come to fruition? I know that there was about $300,000, I think, between the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec to help as seed funding. Was there a co-operative model with many different producers?
For example, in Nova Scotia, we have FarmWorks, which is an organization that helps to bring together a lot of different smaller-capital groups to help build these types of projects. Is there something similar in Quebec, whether it's being run in the community or by government?
Results: 121 - 135 of 206 | Page: 9 of 14

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