“Artificial intelligence supports earlier detection of weather-related events, as well as enhance the reliability and accuracy of forecasts,” said Julie Dabrusin, minister of environment, climate change and nature, in a news release.

ECCC will create a new hybrid weather forecasting model, combining the predictive abilities of AI and traditional physics-based meteorology and the department’s knowledge of local factors for wind, temperature and precipitation.

• More weather coverage: El Niño risk building, U.S. forecaster says

The new forecasting model would enhance public safety, improve emergency readiness and give more Canadians time to act when severe weather is expected, the department said.

The hybrid model is also expected to improve the accuracy of short and long-term forecasts. It claims the six-day forecast would be as accurate as the traditional model’s current five-day forecast and would predict major weather systems from eight to 24 hours earlier.

ECCC said it has tested the hybrid model over the past year to compare its performance with the traditional models. They found that the hybrid model predicted extreme weather more effectively, while the traditional model was better at small-scale details.

The post Federal forecasters to add AI to improve weather predictions: ECCC appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“Projects like this are essential as we work together to lower greenhouse gas emissions and build a stronger, more resilient agriculture sector for Canadians,” said Heath MacDonald, federal minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food in a news release.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced April 7 that Anodyne Chemistries Inc. will receive up to$1,236,310 through Ottawa’s AgriScience Program – Projects Component under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

Anodyne describes itself as a Canadian chemical startup on its website. It plans to use the funds to develop a bio-electric process to convert carbon dioxide and water into hydrogen peroxide and formic acid.

Hydrogen peroxide disinfects and sanitizes equipment, while formic acid’s uses include as a preservative for animal feed.

The processes to make these products would reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as the ag sector’s reliance on petrochemical feedstocks.

“We’re proud to work alongside AAFC to build the foundation for a domestic, decarbonized agrichemical supply chain in Canada,” said Anodyne chief executive Iain Evans.

The post B.C. agrochemical startup gets $1.2M in federal funding appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, told reporters he also discussed the impact of geopolitical tensions on the oil and gas market and how China sees Canada as a stable energy supplier.

“We are becoming a partner of choice,” he said.

WHY IT MATTERS: While China has lowered levies on Canadian agricultural products like canola, it continues to charge a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian pork.

The two officials also agreed to hold high-level economic and financial dialogue in the second half of this year, according to an official Chinese summary of the meeting.

Champagne said the discussions centred on the financial services sector but addressed trade in energy and pork, as well as fair labour practices.

“Canada puts a lot of importance on supply chain integrity and that our bilateral trade needs to be conducted in accordance with international standards,” Champagne said.

Canada, like China, has been targeted with tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump since his administration took office in January 2025. Strained U.S. trade relations have posed a major challenge for the Canadian economy.

Among the Trump administration’s actions, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office in March said it initiated a second set of unfair trade practice probes of 60 economies, including Canada and China.

Tariffs on Canadian pork discussed

China is Canada’s second-largest trade partner with about C$120 billion of bilateral trade. Canada aims to increase its overall exports to China by 50 per cent by 2030.

Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in January as Ottawa works to diversify trade away from its largest partner, the United States.

While China suspended some agricultural levies on Canada following Carney’s visit, Beijing still has a 25 per cent tariff on imports of Canadian pork, which Champagne said he raised during the meetings.

“Part of my message to the Chinese side was, really, we need to get to a point where we remove these trade irritants,” he said. “I’m leaving Beijing tomorrow with the feeling that we have laid the foundation.”

Champagne added that the automotive sector was not discussed, following reports that Stellantis was reviewing options for building electric vehicles in Canada with Chinese partner Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology.

He said Stellantis would need to live up to its obligations on investments and workers in Canada.

— Additional reporting from Reuters’ Beijing newsroom

The post Canadian finance minister talks supply chain integrity, pork tariffs with Chinese vice premier appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

This extends the $250,000 limit, which was set in March 2025.

Producers can receive an additional $250,000 interest free on canola only for a total of $500,000.

“By increasing the interest-free portion of the Advance Payments Program, we’re helping farmers manage costs, while giving them more flexibility to market their products on their terms,” Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Heath MacDonald said in an April 1 news release.

The program offers up to $1 million to Canadian farmers based on the expected value of their agricultural products. Twenty-four industry groups across Canada deliver the program.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture praised the extension of the $250,000 interest-free limit.

“Maintaining the $250,000 interest free portion reflects the realities farmers are facing today,” said CFA president Keith Currie.

“We are seeing continued volatility in input costs, supply chains and global markets, and this type of support is important in helping farmers navigate those pressures.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with government to secure a permanent increase to the interest free portion of the program, so that producers have the predictability they need to make informed business decisions in an increasingly complex operating environment,” he added.

The post Advance Payments Program interest free limit set at $250,000 for 2026 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

On March 22, the federal government announced it would develop such a strategy, calling it “an opportunity to discuss how we can address freshwater-related threats and opportunities,” protect freshwater ecosystems, and secure water for communities and the economy, according to a news release.

The Canada Water Agency, which was repurposed in 2024 as a stand-alone freshwater management agency separate from Environment and Climate Change Canada, will spearhead the strategy’s development.

While the announcement was scant on details of what such a strategy might look like, it said the agency will work with provinces and territories, First Nations, Inuit and Métis partners, “stakeholders across sectors” and the public.

Farmers should be among those consulted, the CFA said in a statement to Glacier FarmMedia.

“Water security is absolutely critical for the future of Canadian farmers. Farmers in different regions of Canada have been devastated by water issues over the past few years, such as the floods in B.C., or the ongoing long-term drought in the Prairie provinces,” a federation spokesperson said.

“A lack of water has severe negative impacts on any type of farm, no matter what they grow or raise.”

Prioritizing food security, agriculture

The strategy should protect farmers and mitigate the effects of water-related events. It should also secure predictable access to water so farmers can maintain food production — for example, through effective water management policies and investment in water infrastructure, CFA said.

“Farmers need to make it clear that food security and agriculture production should be prioritized if there was any issues with access to water.”

“Farmers are also on the front-line of climate change, dealing with the on-ground realities of water-related events,” CFA added. “They have experience and knowledge that will be critical in developing this strategy.”

While the announcement made no specific mention of the agriculture industry, the sector will have an opportunity to share its views during the public engagement process, “recognizing that freshwater is fundamental to our economy, powering industries, agriculture, and the growth of communities,” a federal spokesperson told Glacier FarmMedia.

The federal government has not yet set timelines for consultations, but said those will be announced “in the coming months.”

The post Get farmers in on federal water security strategy planning, CFA says appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

On March 27, federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald announced that the government will propose amendments to the Income Tax Act to extend the income tax deferral period for livestock producers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Eligible producers received compensation for their animals to be destroyed due to bovine tuberculosis in 2024 and 2025.

This action is a response to concerns from livestock producers about the challenges of replenishing their herds during the same tax year that they received compensation.

Under the Health of Animals Act, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency provided compensation to livestock producers whose animals were destroyed in 2024 and 2025 due to the bovine TB outbreak.

A section of the Income Tax Act allows for only a one-year deferral, but the proposed amendments will allow livestock producers to defer compensation for a prescribed schedule from 2026 to 2030, enabling them to have greater flexibility to manage their incomes and sustain their operations as they rebuild their herds.

Producers who received amounts as compensation in 2025 or 2026 under the Health of Animals Act because they had to destroy their animals due to tuberculosis outbreaks will have the option of including those amounts in income for tax purposes as follows:

• Up to 100 per cent of the compensation deferred to the 2027 tax year, with at least 83 per cent included in income in 2027.
• Up to 17 per cent of the compensation deferred to the 2028 tax year, with at least nine per cent included in income in 2028.
• Up to eight per cent of the compensation deferred to the 2029 tax year, with at least four per cent included in income in 2029.
• Up to four per cent of the compensation deferred to the 2030 tax year, with the remaining four per cent included in income in 2030.

The post Producers affected by bovine TB receive extended tax deferral appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“It’s a critical time that we’re in, relevant to soil erosion, climate change, and everything that we’re doing with technology and innovation is to ensure that soil remains where it is,” said federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald at the announcement on Thursday morning.

“(The Strategy) is going to put an element of integrity on any research that’s being done in the future and hopefully that research can coincide with what we’re seeing here today.”

MacDonald made the announcement alongside Senator Rob Black. Black led a Senate study of soil, published in the report “Critical Ground: Why Soil is Essential to Canada’s Economic, Environmental, Human, and Social Health,” which was published in 2024.

Black also championed Bill S-230, the National Strategy for Soil Health Act, which aims to protect, conserve, and enhance Canadian soils and closely follows the 25 recommendations laid out in Black’s report. That bill passed in the Senate on Thursday evening.

MacDonald said Bill S-230 will inform the strategy.

Government ready to move forward: Black

During Bill S-230’s third reading, Senator Rob Black told the Senate Chamber it was bolstering to know “the government not only supports the bill but is ready to move forward before it is legislated.”

Reading the AAFC’s intention to develop a national soil health strategy during the third reading showed the value of the Senate, he said.

“It also put (the government) on record, on notice that we’re watching,” Black said.

According to Black, work on the strategy to safeguard Canadian soil could begin as early as April and be completed and officially launched by December 2027.  

Collaboration with farmers, industry pledged

Black said that ideally the national strategy will avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. It will include educational support, financial support, peer-to-peer networks, and a position for a national soil health advocate.  He noted that Australia’s soil advocates have been very effective in promoting the adoption of soil health practices, but acknowledged that the position comes with a cost.

Collaboration will play a key role in developing the strategy, with input from the Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCCC), farmers, the agriculture industry, Indigenous communities, provinces and territories, and related ministries.

Black pointed to the ongoing work by the SCCC to develop a soil strategy, which MacDonald assured the AAFC will take on board rather than “recreating the wheel.”

When asked if this was a foundational step to recognizing soil as a finite resource critical to food security and sovereignty, MacDonald said it was an opportunity to “put a lens on soil health in this country.”

He acknowledged that farmers are among the best land stewards and that the strategy will ensure the work of farmers, Black and the Soil Conservation Council of Canada inform policies going forward.

Healthy soils important for all Canadians: Kruszel

The in-depth research by Black and the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry into Canada’s soil has highlighted the significance of healthy soil and the threats it faces said Alan Kruszel, Soil Conservation Council of Canada’s eastern producer director.

“Healthy soils are so important for producers as well as for all Canadians. Healthy soils provide the majority of the food we eat,” said Kruszel. “Soils help to purify our water, to clean our air and provide habitats for all kinds of life.”

Kruszel said the agriculture sector provides one in nine jobs nationally. Investment in soil health is ongoing through research, farm organizations, input suppliers and other groups to support the adoption of sustainable on-farm practices.

“Our intention through the National Soil Health Strategy is to optimize those investments through collaborations,” Kruszel said. “And collectively working to identify gaps in research, measurement, education and extension, and of course, resources while establishing priority actions that we can all work on.”

-Updated March 27. Clarifies that the government’s commitment to the soil strategy is separate from the passing of Bill S-230. Adds further comments from Black.

The post Federal government commits to national soil strategy as Black’s soil protection bill passes Senate appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Most of those job losses, possibly 494, will be in the department’s science and innovation branch.

Those figures come from Agriculture Canada’s 2026-27 departmental plan, which was released in March.

WHY IT MATTERS: Deep AAFC cuts and closures, including the announced closure of AAFC Portage la Prairie in Manitoba, sparked sharp concern over the future of farm research in Canada earlier this year, although others have said there’s nothing wrong about trimming fat, if there was fat to be trimmed.

The 494 estimate comes from the Agriculture Union, which represents department employees.

Agriculture Canada is planning the following cutbacks, the plan says:

• 2026-27: $112,248,000

• 2027-28: $80,083,097

• 2028-29: $154,721,097

“It is anticipated that these spending reductions will involve a decrease of approximately 665 positions by 2028–29.”

The job losses are part of budgetary reductions at Agriculture Canada announced in late January.

At first glance, it seems like a high percentage of the job losses are directed at the science and innovation branch. The jobs being eliminated include lab/field technicians and the other staff who support the work done at the department’s research centres and farms across Canada.

Milton Dyck, national president of the Agriculture Union, confirmed that the majority of reductions are happening within the science division, but there’s a reason for that.

“Science and technology, by far, it’s the biggest group. It’s the largest holder of people in the branch.”

Therefore, if the federal government wants to cut costs at Agriculture Canada, it must reduce the number of employees working on science, research and innovation.

In 2024-25, Agriculture Canada employed 5,134 full time staff, says the departmental plan. Those people worked in four sectors:

• Domestic and international markets (563 staff).

• Science and innovation (2,621).

• Sector risk (412).

• Internal services (1,538).

By 2028-29, Agriculture Canada plans to have 2,125 people working in science and innovation, a loss of 496.

Most of the affected people will be support staff rather than scientists. The jobs eliminated will include technicians and field staff.

“(By) axing them, you’re ensuring that there’s no more science being done (in specific programs or locations),” Dyck said.

“You get rid of that middle group.… They’re not doctors, but they do a lot of the lab work and technical work and do the work for the scientists.”

As for cutting managers and administration and bureaucratic jobs, a bit of that is happening at Agriculture Canada.

The department plans to reduce the workforce in internal services from 1,465 this year to 1,297 in 2027-28, a loss of 168.

Cuts to international marketing?

The workforce reductions, closures of research stations and termination of other programs will allow Agriculture Canada to trim more than $650 million from its annual budget from 2025-26 to 2027-28.

Of those cuts, about $265 million will come from international and domestic marketing of Canadian agriculture and agri-food products.

Those cuts contrast with comments from Prime Minister Mark Carney, who frequently says Canada must diversify its trade away from the United States.

An Agriculture Canada spokesperson said the $265 million reduction can be attributed to a $131 million decrease in the Dairy Direct Payment Program, the Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program and the Youth Employment and Skills Program.

As well, another $135 million decrease is from the end of Wine Sector Support Program and the Local Food Infrastructure Program, along with planned reductions to the Supply Management Processing Investment Fund.

The spokesperson said the government remains committed to trade diversification.

“The Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food Office (IPAAO) was opened in Manila, Philippines, in February 2024 and is a sign of our long-term commitment in the Indo-Pacific, along with the importance we place on building upon Canada’s reputation as a stable and trusted supplier for agriculture, agri-food and seafood products. The IPAAO will continue to operate.”

The post More major staff cuts planned at Agriculture Canada appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne made the announcement March 17.

“Agriculture is without a doubt one of the most important and investable sectors in our economy,” said federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald in a news release.

“The pace of technological advancement we’ve seen across the industry in recent years has been impressive, and investments like this will continue to accelerate innovation.”

The federal cash is part of an $50 million equity commitment alongside Idealist Capital to support the next phase of Solugen’s growth and commercial expansion.

Solugen produces and commercializes Azogen, a fast-release liquid ammoniacal nitrogen fertilizer derived from hog manure.

The investment will allow Solugen to expand capacity at its existing plant in St-Patrice-de-Beaurivage, Que. and construct a second facility in the province.

Solugen was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Lévis, Que. Its Azogen is produced through a fully circular process. By converting manure into high-performance fertilizer, it reduces greenhouse gas emissions associated with conventional fertilizers, the news release said.

The funding comes through the Canada Growth Fund, a $15 billion, arm’s length public investment vehicle launched by the federal government to attract private capital and invest in Canadian projects and businesses.

The post Federal government funds Quebec organic fertilizer company appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“In response to a formal request from the Canadian Association of Vegetable Growers and Processors, the government has directed the Canadian International Trade Tribunal to conduct an inquiry,” federal finance minister François-Philippe Champagne said in a March 13 news release.

A statement via Ottawa government relations consulting firm Maple Leaf Strategies bills the association as “the voice of Canadian vegetable growers, harvesters, employees and processors from coast to coast to coast, working to protect and strengthen the sector from farm to consumer.”

The CITT will have 180 days to decide if imports of frozen and canned vegetables are harming or threatening to cause harm to domestic growers and processors. If so, it will propose remedies to the federal government.

It has also been asked to consider impacts to food affordability and security for Canadians, the news release said.

The CITT, in a separate release March 16, confirmed it has launched the inquiry as requested and will report back to Champagne by Sept. 9.

In its notice of inquiry, the CITT said anyone wanting to make submissions to the tribunal on this matter must file notice by April 2 of their intent to do so, and it will hold its hearing on the inquiry in Ottawa starting June 15.

In an order in council, the government said that it appears importation of increased quantities of vegetables is a result of obligations under the World Trade Organization Agreement and “unforeseen developments in global trade.”

These have led some WTO members to restrict imports of vegetables into their markets, which has led those goods to be diverted into Canada.

In 2024, 55 per cent of Canadian fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty food were imported, according to Farm Credit Canada’s 2025 food and beverage report. That category includes frozen and canned vegetables and fruit, pickling and drying.

The Canadian Association of Vegetable Growers and Processors, in its separate statement, described the government’s move as “an important first step,” saying the domestic frozen and canned vegetable sector “has been facing a sudden surge of low-priced imports that is disrupting the Canadian market. Temporary, rules-based safeguard measures will restore fair competition and allow Canadian growers and processors to compete on equal terms.”

Such measures, it said, “will help stabilize supply chains that retailers and consumers depend on.”

The post Canadian trade tribunal to examine imports of frozen, canned vegetables appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.