Canada Unveils $3.2 Billion National Food Security Strategy to Tackle Rising Grocery Bills
The federal government has announced a sweeping $3.2 billion national food security strategy designed to reduce grocery bills, strengthen domestic production, and loosen the grip of a highly concentrated retail market that officials say has contributed to rising food inflation across the country.
Unveiled on Thursday by Prime Minister Mark Carney in Toronto, the multi-year plan — titled “More Choice. More Control. More Canada” — aims to reduce Canada’s reliance on international imports and give consumers and local producers more alternatives in how food is grown, processed, and sold.
“A country that cannot feed itself, provide for itself or defend itself is not truly sovereign. It is vulnerable to global shocks, it is vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, vulnerable to tariffs,” Carney said during the announcement. “To protect our sovereignty and truly take control of our future, we must take control of our food system.”
Breaking Up Retail Concentration With New Food Hubs
A central pillar of the strategy is the creation of a $1 billion Food Link Fund, spread over 10 years, to expand the Ontario Food Terminal and build new regional “food hubs” across the country. These hubs are intended to give independent grocers and local farmers direct access to consumers, allowing them to bypass the so-called “Big Five” retail chains, which currently control approximately 75 per cent of the Canadian grocery market.
“We are trying to create some competition and alternatives,” a government official told reporters during a technical briefing. “We are really looking at the structural gaps and pressures that independent grocery stores, various outlets where food can be purchased, restaurants and institutions that need to procure food are under.”
Why the Strategy Matters Now
The announcement comes as Canadians continue to grapple with food prices that have risen 31 per cent since 2020. The government attributes this inflation to a combination of domestic and global pressures, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East, which have driven up the cost of fuel and fertilizer. While the government says Canada’s food inflation is similar to that of other G7 countries, opposition Conservatives have pushed back, noting that at 6.2 per cent earlier this year, Canada’s rate outpaced most of the G7. Statistics Canada later reported the figure fell to 3.5 per cent in April — still the second highest in the G7 behind the United Kingdom.
Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman criticized the plan, arguing that “Liberal hidden taxes, including the industrial carbon tax and inflationary spending, are driving up the cost of growing, transporting and buying food, while the weak dollar makes imports more expensive.” She called on the government to reverse spending and tax policies she said were depressing paychecks and making food unaffordable for many Canadians.
A Goal to Grow More at Home
To address long-term vulnerabilities, the government has set a target of increasing the domestically produced share of healthy foods available to Canadians from 75 per cent to 85 per cent by 2032. Carney emphasized Canada’s potential as an “agricultural superpower,” but acknowledged that many Canadians do not feel that reality when they reach the checkout counter.
“We will grow more at home, process more at home and feed more Canadians with Canadian food,” Carney said.
Controlled Environmental Agriculture
A significant portion of the strategy’s funding — $750 million over seven years — is earmarked for “controlled environmental agriculture,” including the expansion of greenhouses and vertical farms. These facilities would enable year-round production of fresh produce such as strawberries, lettuce, and other vegetables that Canada currently imports in large quantities. At present, Canadians rely on imports for 88 per cent of fresh fruit and 72 per cent of vegetables consumed domestically.
Boosting Domestic Food Processing
The plan also targets what officials describe as a long-standing gap in Canada’s agri-food sector: the tendency to export raw materials only to re-import them as processed goods. In 2025, for example, Canada exported $724 million worth of fresh tomatoes while simultaneously importing $511 million worth of processed tomato products. To reverse this trend, the government will provide $1 billion through Farm Credit Canada to fund capital-intensive processing projects within the country.
Strengthening Competition and Supporting Farmers
In the retail sector, the government is bolstering the Competition Bureau with an additional $12.9 million in annual funding to investigate anti-competitive practices. One target is “ownership controls,” where large grocers use lease agreements to prevent competitors from opening stores nearby.
The strategy also introduces temporary exemptions for inter-provincial trade in fresh meat, allowing meat processed in provincial slaughterhouses to be sold across provincial borders. Officials say this will reduce transportation costs and increase local supply in regions that currently lack sufficient slaughter capacity.
Direct Support for Farmers
Several measures are included to directly assist the agricultural sector:
- Increasing the lifetime capital gains exemption to $1.25 million to assist with farm succession planning.
- Doubling guaranteed credit limits and extending loan terms to make it easier for young and new farmers to enter the sector.
- Maintaining the prepayment program interest-free caps at $250,000 for the 2026 program year.
Regulatory Changes to Speed Approvals
The government also plans to amend the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act and the Pest Control Products Act to require regulators to consider food safety and cost implications in their decision-making, provided that health and safety standards are not compromised. A controversial provision within these changes would allow the temporary use of certain pesticides under specific conditions if they are deemed necessary for national food or economic security.
Industry Reaction and What Comes Next
Keith Currie, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, offered a cautiously optimistic response. “We are seeing some really positive developments with this strategy, but its success will depend on how it is implemented,” he said. “To achieve the best results, farmers and the entire agricultural sector must be meaningfully engaged. Producers are at the forefront of food security and must be active partners in providing solutions that strengthen domestic production, improve affordability and increase supply chain resilience.”
The CFA urged the government to continue addressing rising input costs and labor shortages, saying additional clarity and action would be critical to ensuring that farmers and agri-food businesses can meet the strategy’s objectives.
Alongside the long-term strategy, Ottawa has pursued short-term relief measures, including a one-time GST rebate increase introduced last week for some Canadians. That program is set to transition next month into the higher Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, which was announced in January in parallel with the development of the food security strategy.
