Protect farmers’ privilege in PBR
Petitioners ask the Government of Canada to abandon proposed amendments to the Plant Breeders’ Rights regulations that would remove farmers’ privilege for new fruit, vegetable and ornamental varieties, including vegetatively propagated and hybrid varieties. The government responds that it proposed narrowing the farmers’ privilege to align with international standards and spur plant-breeding investment.
Why we would sign this petition
- Preserves traditional farm-saved seed rights and avoids annual seed purchases and royalties that would raise farmers’ production costs.
- Maintains farmers’ ability to reuse and adapt seeds on-farm, supporting local adaptation to climate change and food security.
- Keeps access to varieties not commercially sold and supports public breeding systems that benefit farmers and the public.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Clarifying or limiting farmers’ privilege protects breeders’ intellectual property, making breeding more commercially viable and encouraging private investment.
- Aligning regulations with international standards may increase investment and development of new varieties, potentially improving crop performance and availability.
- Farmers can still choose unprotected public-domain varieties; narrowing the privilege targets PBR-protected commercial varieties while leaving non-protected options available.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the Government of Canada Canada’s Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR) Act gives exclusive rights to plant breeders to produce and reproduce propagating material (seed, cuttings, tubers, plants or parts of plants) of new varieties for 20 years and charge royalties for their use; The PBR Act’s Farmers’ Privilege clause allows farmers who purchased a new variety to use harvested propagating material to grow future crops on their own holdings; The CFIA’s proposed regulatory amendment removes Farmers’ Privilege for fruit, vegetable, ornamental, and hybrid varieties, forcing farmers to annually purchase and pay royalties; Forcing farmers to buy annually will increase production costs, allow plant breeders to raise prices, prevent access to new varieties that are not available commercially and prevent farmers from adapting their crops to changing climatic conditions on their farms; Removing Farmers’ Privilege for new fruit, vegetable, and ornamental varieties unfairly encroaches upon farmers’ age-old practice of using farm-saved seed; The CFIA wants private investment in plant breeding to become more profitable by taking more revenue from farmers; Canada should provide more support to our public plant breeding system which benefits farmers and the public; and Farmers’ Privilege is key to food security and Canada’s sovereignty, ensuring farmers can reproduce crops on their own farms even if supply chain or climate impacts restrict the supply of propagating material. We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to abandon its proposed changes to the Plant Breeders’ Rights regulations that would remove Farmers’ Privilege for new varieties of fruit, ornamental and vegetable plants, plants reproduced through vegetative propagation and hybrid varieties.
Government response
Response by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Signed by The Honourable Heath MacDonald, PC, MP The Canadian Food Inspection Agency recently conducted a Canada Gazette, Part I, consultation on proposed amendments to the Plant Breeders’ Rights Regulations. These proposed changes are designed to modernize Canada’s intellectual property framework for plant varieties, with the goal of fostering innovation and investment in plant breeding, particularly within the horticulture and ornamental sectors, by aligning Canada’s system more closely with international standards. All comments received during the consultation will be carefully reviewed and made publicly available. These submissions will play a critical role in shaping the final regulatory outcome. One of the proposed amendments involves narrowing the scope of the “farmers’ privilege” exemption. The current exemption allows farmers who legally acquire a Plant Breeders’ Rights-protected variety to save and reuse seed, typically for self-pollinating crops like cereals and pulses. This aims to balance intellectual property rights with traditional farming practices. However, without clarifying what falls under the farmer’s privilege, the practice can be used unfairly. Unrestricted propagation of a protected plant variety fundamentally undermines the breeder’s intellectual property rights. As such, the proposed regulatory amendments seek to clarify that hybrids, fruit, vegetable, and ornamental varieties should not be subject to the farmers’ privilege. It is important to note, the proposed changes would not impact farmers' ability to save and reuse propagating material from non-Plant Breeders’ Rights protected varieties, otherwise known as “public domain” varieties, which still make up the majority of plant varieties available in the market. Farmers ultimately have a choice in the plants they wish to grow, either Plant Breeders’ Rights -protected or unprotected varieties. The Government of Canada remains committed to fostering a dynamic and open plant innovation ecosystem, one that supports both public and private breeding efforts. Public institutions such as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and our Canadian agricultural universities are among the most active users of the Plant Breeders’ Rights framework. By protecting new varieties, the Plant Breeders’ Rights system enables these institutions to generate sustainable funding streams that support ongoing research and development. This collaborative model ensures that Canadian farmers benefit from a steady pipeline of innovative, resilient, and locally adapted plant varieties, whether developed by public institutions or private breeding programs. Modernizing Canada’s Plant Breeders’ Rights framework aligns with international standards and encourages domestic and international investment in plant breeding. This will enhance farmers' access to resilient, high-performing crops, supporting food security and sustainable agriculture in Canada.