National regenerative agriculture strategy

AI summary

Petitioners ask the Government to adopt and fund a national regenerative agriculture strategy with long-term funding, incentives, technical support, measurable soil/water/biodiversity targets, research and extension, pollution-reduction policies, and local food-system support. The government responds it supports these aims through existing federal and cost-shared programs and is developing a national soil-health strategy.

AI summaries describe petitioners’ requests and claims. Consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED We, the undersigned residents of Canada, draw the attention of the House of Commons in Parliament Assembled to the following: Whereas Canada's industrial agricultural model is contributing to soil erosion, biodiversity loss, water contamination, and greenhouse gas emissions; Intensive farming practices contribute to soil and nutrient runoff, harmful algal blooms, plastic pollution, insect population collapse, and impacts on freshwater and marine ecosystems; Healthy soils, clean water, and biodiversity are essential to food security, climate resilience, national sovereignty, and the long-term sustainability of Canadian agriculture; Regenerative and agroecological farming practices can rebuild soil health, increase biodiversity, recharge aquifers, reduce erosion, capture carbon, and prevent pollution from entering rivers, lakes, and oceans; Regenerative food systems strengthen farmer livelihoods, support community well-being, enhance climate resilience, and improve individual and public health; Many farmers want to adopt regenerative practices but face financial, technical, and transitional barriers without adequate public support; Therefore, We, the undersigned, Citizens and Residents of Canada call upon the Government of Canada to: 1. Develop and fund a national regenerative agriculture strategy that prioritizes soil health, biodiversity, water protection, and climate resilience; 2. Provide long-term funding, incentives, and technical assistance to support farmers transitioning to regenerative and agroecological practices; 3. Integrate soil health, water protection, and biodiversity outcomes into federal agricultural programs and climate policy; 4. Expand farmer-led research, extension services, and knowledge-sharing on regenerative practices suited to diverse regions of Canada; 5. Strengthen policies to reduce soil erosion, pesticide use, agricultural runoff, nutrient pollution, and plastic waste affecting freshwater and marine ecosystems; 6. Support resilient and democratic local and regional food systems that improve food security, rural economies, and community well-being.

Government response

Response by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Signed by The Honourable Heath MacDonald The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food understands and acknowledges the concerns of the petitioners. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) recognizes that taking action to support farmers in improving soil health, enhancing biodiversity, protecting water, and adapting to climate change is critical to the resilience and sustainability of the Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector. Regenerative agriculture practices, such as reduced or zero tillage and the use of diverse cover crops, are already being implemented by Canadian farmers seeking to reduce costs, improve the quality of their soil, and adapt to the impacts of climate change, and are further supported by significant federal-only investments, federal-provincial-territorial cost-shared investments, and programming and partnerships with producers and industry. Given that agriculture is a shared jurisdiction, the Department works with provinces and territories to support cost-shared agri-environmental programming that improves on-farm resilience. The Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP), a 5-year agreement (April 2023 to March 2028) between federal-provincial-territorial governments allocates a notional $616 million of agri-environmental programming to support on-farm adoption of beneficial management practices, such as nutrient management and integrated pest management. This includes, the Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program, which provides $250 million in cost-shared funding and helps farmers adopt land management practices, such as restoration and improved management of wetlands, grasslands, and riparian areas, that can store more carbon in soils and maximize ecological goods and services from agricultural lands. These cost-shared programs are designed and delivered by provinces and territories so they can provide flexibility to address regional issues facing producers. The AgriScience program supports industry and farmer-led research activities, such as the Organic Science Cluster, which advances organic, regenerative and agroecological production research and knowledge transfer of practices that enhance soil, biodiversity, and climate resilience while improving farm performance and reducing reliance on inputs. Other initiatives outside the Sustainable CAP also support soil health, biodiversity, water, and climate objectives. Notably, the $704.1 million Agricultural Climate Solutions On-Farm Climate Action Fund program promotes regenerative practices, such as improved nitrogen management, cover cropping, and rotational grazing, enabling producers to implement farming practices tailored to their operational conditions while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and producing other environmental co-benefits. The Agriculture Clean Technology cost-share program allocated $429.4 million over a 7-year period to support research, development, and adoption of clean technologies to help drive the changes required to achieve a low-carbon economy and promote sustainable growth in Canada’s agriculture and agri-food sector. AAFC has played a longstanding role through scientific discovery and research in innovation to enable Canada’s agricultural sector to absorb shocks by driving transformative gains in productivity. AAFC researchers use a multidisciplinary approach to understand how environmental, biological, technological, and economic factors interact across agricultural production. The research includes increasing the resilience of agro-ecosystems by integrating landscape-level analytics to understand the interactions between soil, water, biodiversity, and cropping systems performance. In addition, AAFC supports plant health through research into sustainable alternatives to conventional pesticides. This includes biovigilance initiates to monitor emerging threats; the development of biopesticides; integrated pest management strategies; and biological control methods that reduce environmental risks while maintaining crop productivity. AAFC is also partnering with the Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCCC) to develop a National Agricultural Soil Health Strategy (NASHS), which will be a framework and plan for collective action to maintain and enhance the soils in Canada. The NASHS will build on the work already underway by the SCCC and the NASHS working group, as well as the Senate’s Critical Ground report and is supported by Bill S-230, which sets out requirements for the development of a national strategy in collaboration with key stakeholders. Consultations are unfolding across the summer and fall of 2026, and the final strategy will be completed in the fall of 2027. Further, AAFC is working with Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Canada Water Agency (CWA), and other federal departments and agencies to identify opportunities to enhance the management of water resources on the agricultural landscape, including through the CWA’s enhanced Freshwater Action Plan. These efforts build on AAFC’s long history of researching, developing, and promoting the sustainable management of water resources in the agriculture sector. This includes conducting and funding collaborative agricultural research and technology development, working with provinces and territories to accelerate adoption of practices and programming that support climate change adaptation, enabling effective business risk management for producers and providing timely data and analysis on agroclimatic conditions impacting Canada’s farmers and the agriculture sector through the Canadian Drought Monitor. The Government of Canada has also taken action to protect and promote biodiversity through the release of the 2030 Nature Strategy, which outlines a path for the Canadian Government and citizens to contribute to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s, 23 targets for achievement by 2030 to safeguard nature and halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Target 7 aims to, among other goals, reduce the overall risk from pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals by at least half (including through integrated pest management), while taking into account food security and livelihoods. Specifically, in relation to strengthening policies to reduce pesticide use, the regulation of pesticides is shared among all levels of government. Federally, pesticides are regulated under the Pest Control Products Act, which is administered by Health Canada’s Pesticides Regulatory Directorate. Their number one priority is to protect the health and safety of Canadians and the environment. At the food systems level, the Local Food Infrastructure Fund (LFIF) supports projects that strengthen community food security and increase the availability and accessibility of local, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food through food production-focused activities for equity-deserving groups. Since it launched in August 2019, the LFIF has committed up to $101 million to fund projects to improve food security across Canada such as community gardens and kitchens and greenhouses in remote and Northern communities, and more. Recent geopolitical tensions, global conflicts, trade shifts, and climate change are all putting growing pressure on Canada’s food systems. In response, on June 11, 2026, the Prime Minister of Canada launched Canada’s first-ever National Food Security Strategy, backed by more than $3 billion over ten years to break open the market for independent retailers, boost domestic food production, and build a stronger, more independent, and more affordable food system for all Canadians. AAFC took a whole-of-government approach and worked with other stakeholders in developing this strategy.