Grow Ontario Strategy takes root with agri-food sector

The province’s newly released agri-food strategy, Grow Ontario, has been welcomed across the agricultural sector.

It outlines the province’s goal to increase the production and consumption of food grown and prepared in Ontario by 30 per cent, increase food and beverage manufacturing GDP by 10 per cent and increase agri-food exports by eight per cent annually by 2032.

The strategy will focus on three priorities: strengthening the stability of the agri-food supply chain; increasing agri-food technology and adoption; and attracting and growing the labour pool. 

Why it matters: The Grow Ontario Strategy aims to modernize the province’s agri-food industry, which will allow it to increase production and exports.

“Our strategy presents ambitious, tangible actions and measurable targets that will help us to monitor our progress on our commitment to ensure that our province’s powerhouse agri-food sector continues to help grow Ontario,” Lisa Thompson, Ontario’s minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs, said in a news release..

Peggy Brekveld, Ontario Federation of Agriculture president, said the last three years exposed vulnerabilities within the food supply chain due to COVID-19, war and weather events. However, she said she is confident Ontario can continue to shore up the supply chain with the province’s commitment to strengthen agri-food supply stability.

“The food supply chain needs to be stable and strong, and that will help Ontario farmers continue to produce for the domestic and export markets,” said Brekveld.

Process bottlenecks prevent growth in the livestock sector, said Franco Naccarato, Meat and Poultry Ontario executive director. A recent study revealed 80 per cent of farmers would like to grow their business, but the processing gap hampers expansion.

“Eighty per cent of processors want to expand their capacity but have barriers,” said Naccarato. “So, it’ll have a direct impact — the more food we produce, our local farmers win.”

The $25 million Strategic Agri-Food Processing fund to address capacity shortage just wrapped up after receiving $1 billion worth of requests, said Naccarato. That reflects growth opportunities in the processing sector.

“Agri-food is the engine that will drive Ontario forward if we can get the right investments to help expedite that growth,” Naccarato said. “If we can redirect some of the investments going into the tech sector into our agri-food sector, you’ll see it play a much more critical role and increase the speed in which we accelerate our growth.”

The strategic plan includes a $22 million Agri-Tech Innovation Program to spark and encourage innovation adoption while enhancing the sustainability and profitability of the agri-food sector.

“Many of the outcomes outlined in the strategy will require a multi-ministry approach,” said Emily McLaughlin, press secretary to Thompson. “We will work across government to achieve these targets, such as the leverage of existing programming to develop an agri-food labour campaign to increase job entry pathways to the agri-food sector.

“Part of the research and innovation pillar is 250 new technology and research projects that will be supported by the government developed by 2030,” said McLaughlin. “These will also benefit farmers and lead to new technologies and best practices.”

Automation within the processing sector is necessary if Ontario wants to remain competitive globally, said Naccarato.

“When we say automate, it doesn’t mean robots everywhere,” he said. “There’s a lot of different levels of automation you could have in a meat plant. But we need to be smarter about the technologies we’re using.”

Brekveld agreed. The automation of a process for higher efficiency, safety and output requires the engagement of research, technology and people to maintain the machinery, she said.

“Farther down the food chain, or food line, you’re going to have the ability to sell more products which, in turn, ensure we can grow more fruit,” said Brekveld. “All the automation, robotics and innovation help drive the industry.”

She said she hopes the province recognizes and invests in the domestic processing potential throughout Ontario to fill gaps in local access now impacting agriculture.

While automation and AI address one aspect of the labour shortage, Brekveld said investment in rural community infrastructure to accommodate agriculture’s labour force is necessary.

“Our settlement areas and rural hubs need to be healthy,” she said. “So, when we attract workers, they’re encouraged and excited to stay and have the things they need to live.”

Naccarato said the Grow Ontario Strategy aligns with his organization’s recommendations to address the labour issue by securing a domestic workforce, a foreign worker strategy and automation.

“Those three things will help us get to where we need to be to improve our workforce and get it working where we need it to be,” said Naccarato.

Efforts to strengthen the province’s food supply chain include a commitment to partner with Supply Ontario to promote, track and report Ontario’s agri-food procurement by broader public sector institutions.

“The strategy recognizes the province’s role in their procurement and supply chain, and there was some emphasis on buying local,” said Naccarato. “We hope to see that come back with even greater diligence and maybe some targets as well.”

The modernization of the Veterinarians Act to reflect the needs of today’s farmers and animal owners, and updating the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario Act (ARIO) to include innovation and technology as a critical area of focus, also fall under the Grow Ontario strategy umbrella.

Crafted 60 years ago, the ARIO Act no longer reflects the reality for the agri-food sector today, said chair Lorne Hepworth.

“Looking at it through today’s lens and where the agri-food sector is going in the future … it’s pretty anachronistic,” he said. “(It doesn’t reflect) technology and its impact, whether that’s genomics, robotics, automation, artificial intelligence and its application in the sector or precision farming – all those technologies we know about and ones to come.”

The Act does not address the value added/processing sector and innovative research to develop a new method, process, idea or product. The new legislation could change that, Hepworth said.

“The Act was silent on tech transfer, knowledge transfer. So it’s a pretty big deal and one of the things the minister has outlined as important.”

Ontario and Canada struggle to commercialize and scale-up innovation.

“We’ve had a history of being pretty good at the front end, but not so good at commercialization end,” said Hepworth.

“There are lots of opportunities here to modernize the Act to better reflect where we are today and, more importantly, where we might be going for the next 20 or 30 years.”

Brekveld said Grow Ontario’s goals are achievable and have the potential to move the industry forward, whether it’s through processing, research or labour.

“All those pieces are part of the infrastructure that gets the food from the field to the fork,” she said. “(Agricultural) organizations and stakeholders want to be part of the solution and make sure the domestic food supply chain remains strong and viable.”

Ontario’s agri-food supply chain provided $47 billion in GDP and employed one in 10 Ontarians in 2021, which reflects the importance of the sector in Ontario’s economy. However, Brekveld said achieving Grow Ontario’s goals requires a healthy and robust agriculture industry, and while processing is essential, there are other critical priorities.

“They must also continue to ensure there are places to farm and farming is prioritized,” she said. “If we prioritize food and farming, that will make a difference. And part of the way we do that may be having some goals through OMAFRA.”

“One thing we learned out of COVID is we’re stronger when we work together,” said Naccarato. “As an agri-food industry, if we continue to work collaboratively towards common goals, that’s going to make the entire sector stronger and everybody’s going to win.”