Fruit And Vegetable Growers Of Canada Brace For Tariffs, Call For More Government Action

OTTAWA — Over three days last month, Canada’s greenhouse vegetable growers got a preview of what sweeping US tariffs would do to their industry, and the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada say that they saw that the impact could be devastating.

Canada’s fruit and vegetable growers say that in recent years, extreme weather events and a growing threat of emerging pests have hurt domestic production. Now, the threat of US tariffs has made these vulnerabilities even more acute.

In Ontario alone, between March 4 and 7 when US President Trump’s tariffs were implemented on a range of goods covered under the Canada-US-Mexico free trade agreement (CUSMA), Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada say that greenhouse growers reported losses of $2.2 million a day in sales.

With 48 percent of total production exported to the United States, the group says that all Canadian fruit and vegetable growers are threatened by the US tariffs.

The Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada (FVGC) released a report that spotlights the impact of US tariffs on Canada’s horticultural sector and the need to quickly adapt federal and provincial safety net programs to address new and more extreme challenges.

Unlike other agricultural sectors, the group says that fruit and vegetable industry has limited tools to manage volatility and external shocks due to the perishability of products, intensive labour requirements, and just-in-time supply chains.

Among the measure to mitigate the impact of US tariffs, FVGC recommends the creation of a dedicated emergency fund to provide direct compensation for greenhouse operators and other fruit and vegetable growers, domestic price supports to prevent market collapse during harvest periods, and regional support packages addressing unique provincial conditions.

The report also calls for an overhaul of existing business risk management programs – as safety net programs are known – to better adapt them to changing and more extreme weather conditions, external shocks and the unique needs of Canada’s fruit and vegetable sector.

“Canada’s fruit and vegetable sector is uniquely exposed to trade disruptions. Perishable goods can’t sit indefinitely in warehouses or be rerouted through alternative markets. When delays or tariffs occur, crops spoil and markets are lost—sometimes permanently,” said Massimo Bergamini, Executive Director, Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada.