Policy Areas

Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Canada: Second Edition

NFU releases Second Edition of Canada’s most complete and detailed report on agricultural GHG emissions Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Canada: A New, Comprehensive Assessment. Click here to read the first assessment. Read more

Op Ed – Health Minister must ensure new gene edited foods are properly and democratically regulated

 On May 18, Health Canada announced how it will regulate foods from gene-edited plants. The new “regulatory guidance” turns its back on science and transparency by actually exempting many new gene-edited foods from regulation. Our health minister, Jean-Yves Duclos, has decided to allow Health Canada to open the door for product developers to sell gene-edited organisms without any government oversight. He has abandoned his responsibility to Canadians who rely on the government to ensure our food system is safe. Without proper regulation, there is no assurance for Canadians or our export customers, that our products are safe. Read more

Take Action: Stop the CFIA from abandoning GM seed regulation!

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) wants to make gene-edited genetically engineered (genetically modified or GM) plants and seed exempt from regulation. Instead, it would let private companies decide if their own products are safe for the environment — and put them on the market without revealing they are gene-edited. Tell the Minister you want Read more

International Workers’ Day: NFU Speaks Out Against the Expansion of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and Calls for Justice for Migrant Workers

On International Workers’ Day, the National Farmers Union is in solidarity with all who contribute their labour to feeding our communities and who collectively struggle for labour justice.   This May Day the NFU’s Migrant Worker Solidarity Working Group highlights our concerns regarding the federal government’s recent expansion of the low-wage migrant worker program, and Read more

NFU Briefing Note on proposed gene editing regulatory guidance

National Farmers Union BRIEFING NOTE regarding proposed regulatory guidances for plants and seeds produced using new biotechnologies (gene editing) Recommendations to Health Canada: • All gene-edited products, including those with no foreign DNA, should be regulated as novel and therefore subject to government safety assessment and pre-market notification. • We recommend that all retransformants continue Read more

April 17th International Day of Peasant Struggle: The National Farmers Union of Canada Celebrates 30 Years of La Via Campesina

We begin this statement of solidarity and celebration by giving thanks to the people of La Via Campesina for our collective struggle and leadership over the past 30 years. Today we raise up our hands and honour the sacrifices of those who have given their lives to defend the rights of others to continue to Read more

From Fragile Supply Chains to Resilient Interdependent Networks

National Farmers Union submission to The House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food study on Canada’s agricultural and agri-food supply chain   Canada’s ongoing supply chain issues have become even more severe since this study was initiated on January 25, 2022. Then, pandemic-related disruptions were top of mind. On January 31 the “freedom Read more

Canada should reject compromise proposal on TRIPS waiver in its present form: civil society groups

Canadian organizations concerned with vaccine equity and the TRIPS waiver negotiations at the World Trade Organization are urging the Canadian government to not accept a compromise counterproposal negotiated by the United States, European Union, India and South Africa, but to work with WTO members to fix its deficiencies. For more on the TRIPS waiver, see https://policyalternatives.ca/newsroom/updates/trips-covid-19-waiver. Read more

Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Canada: A New, Comprehensive Assessment

Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Canada: A New, Comprehensive Assessment provides, for the first time, a complete and detailed look at nearly 40 different sources of agricultural GHGs. Translation of the summary document of Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Canada: A New, Comprehensive Assessment is funded in part by heritage Canada. Read more

Flexible Support— Consistent Income Needed for Farmers to Continue Their Essential Work

The interconnectedness of Canadian farmers’ income security and the climate crisis cannot be denied; yet, neither issue is being addressed with the urgency it warrants. As two young people in agriculture, a farmer and farm worker, we are deeply concerned for farmers, who feel the dual pressure of declining income and increasingly extreme climate conditions. Read more