Policy Areas

Canadian Farms Hammered by Heat and Drought; Climate Change Will Make Such Events More Frequent and Damaging

Le français suit Saskatoon, SK—Across BC, the Prairies, and western Ontario, intense heat and lack of rain are withering crops, pastures, livestock feed, orchards, and vegetable fields and drying up water supplies.  The results are devastating.  More than three-quarters of Canadian farmland has been impacted by drought. Arzeena Hamir and her husband farm in the Read more

Submission to PMRA on Glyphosate Proposed Maximum Residue Limit

NFU members are increasingly concerned about the health and environmental impacts of glyphosate. Via our democratic policy development process, we adopted our position opposed to the pre-harvest spraying of glyphosate in 2014. This stance informs our position against the proposed MRL increases. Read more

Union Farmer Newsletter: June – July 2021

In this issue NFU Priorities for the Next Policy Framework NFU comments to Health Canada on regulating gene-edited products – By Cathy Holtslander Maintaining public trust in food system requires public regulation – By Lucy Sharratt Greyhound’s exit paves the way for a national public transit system, says NFU Should Canada trade away Supply Management? Read more

Priorities for the Next Agricultural Policy Framework

The National Farmers Union sent the following letter to each federal and provincial Agriculture Minister in the lead-up to their annual conference, which will be held virtually in July. At this meeting they will develop the set of priorities, principles and measuring sticks that will guide the successor to the Canadian Agricultural Partnership programs, called Read more

Take Action: Save Supply Management – Support Bill C-216

Bill C-216 is a Private Member’s Bill that will be voted on in Canada’s Parliament. If it is passed into law, this short, simple bill will make it illegal for future trade agreements to give away any more access to our supply managed markets. Read more

NFU Submission on Bill C-216 Supply Management

The NFU supports Bill C-216, which would ensure that in all future trade agreement negotiations, the government of Canada would not commit to any further foreign access to Canadian supply-managed markets and would not lower or eliminate tariffs on supply-managed goods that are imported over and above existing Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) levels. Read more

Mourning the 215 Children Found in Unmarked Graves at Residential School Site, We Commit to Decolonization

Le français suit   The National Farmers Union expresses our grief in solidarity with the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc community and all Indigenous nations and survivors of residential schools. The events unfolding in the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc territory, where the bodies of 215 children were found in unmarked graves, deeply horrify and anger us. As an organization Read more

Solidarity With Palestine, Now!

La Via Campesina calls for a United Nations fact-finding mission to investigate human rights violations in occupied Palestine and for the entire movement and committed allies to join the Global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israeli apartheid in our beloved occupied Palestine! Apartheid is a crime!  AGAINST ISRAELI APARTHEID: BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS Read more

NFU comments on Draft Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System Regulations

Submission to the Public Comment Period for the Federal Government’s Draft Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System Regulations This brief technical submission to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) should be read in conjunction with the NFU’s longer document, A Critical Analysis of Greenhouse Gas Offset Schemes and Draft Offset Credit System Regulations, which provides background, Read more

Strengthening the Canada Grain Act and the CGC is critical to farmers’ future

"Changes in the grain handling system since the last major review of the Act have resulted in gaps where CGC lacks the authority to fully safeguard farmers’ interests. The need for a strong regulator has not gone away,” said NFU 2nd VP Stewart Wells. The Act is the solid foundation of our grain economy, our farmers’ livelihoods and our domestic and international customers’ confidence. The NFU is pleased to offer recommendations for making the CGA and the CGC even stronger Read more