A Departmental Results Report provides an account of actual accomplishments against plans, priorities and expected results set out in the associated Departmental Plan.
Key priorities
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's (AAFC's) top priorities for 2023–24 were as follows:
- Launching the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP), the federal, provincial, and territorial agricultural policy framework for 2023 to 2028. In its first year, Sustainable CAP invested $36.4 million in federal programs to benefit the sector, with funding applications far exceeding available allocations. In addition, federal, provincial and territorial governments invested close to $423 million in cost-shared programming.
- Supporting the conditions needed for Canadian agriculture and agri-food businesses to meet the evolving and increasingly complex challenges of the domestic and global marketplace, now and into the future. Across its core responsibilities, the Department worked to strengthen sector competitiveness through enhanced market access, scientific advancements, the adoption of innovation, and effective risk management tools, ensuring sustainable growth and resilience in agricultural operations.
- Advancing outcomes related to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility across policies, services and programming. The Department has focused ongoing efforts on addressing barriers to participation of underrepresented and marginalized groups in the sector, such as Indigenous Peoples, women, youth, persons with disabilities, racialized persons, 2SLGBTQI+ communities and official language minority communities.
Highlights
In 2023–24, total actual spending (including internal services) for AAFC was $4,163,441,399 and there was a total of 5,073 full-time equivalent staff (including internal services). For complete information on AAFC's total spending and human resources, read the Spending and human resources section of the full report.
The following provides a summary of the Department's achievements in 2023–24 according to its approved Departmental Results Framework. A Departmental Results Framework consists of a department's core responsibilities, the results it plans to achieve and the performance indicators that measure progress toward these results.
Core responsibility : Domestic and International Markets
Actual spending: $775,574,824
Actual human resources: 551
Departmental results achieved
- Departmental efforts in 2023–24 served to: mitigate risks caused by trade disruptions; maintain and increase access to international markets, including through the negotiation and implementation of trade agreements; advocate for a predictable and science-based trade environment; and build sector capacity through collaborative approaches to market development, targeting key international markets.
- Results were delivered through trade policy and market access initiatives and market development services, including the official opening of the new Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food Office, as well as the ongoing work of the Agriculture and Food Trade Commissioner Service, the Sector Engagement Tables, regional stakeholder engagement and partnerships through AAFC's regional offices, and the AgriMarketing and AgriCompetitiveness programs.
- Efforts supported Government of Canada trade diversification goals, and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food's mandate letter commitments related to supply management, supply chains, and the Food Policy for Canada.
More information about Domestic and International Markets can be found in the "Results – what we achieved" section of the full Departmental Results Report.
Core responsibility 2: Science and Innovation
Actual spending: $829,601,909
Actual human resources: 2,601
Departmental results achieved
- Departmental efforts in 2023–24 served to: increase the sector's knowledge base through collaborative research; accelerate the development and adoption of innovative on-farm solutions and technologies; support the Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector in tackling the climate crisis, addressing current and emerging challenges, and seizing opportunities; and contribute to the overall sustainability, resiliency, and competitiveness of the agriculture and agri-food sector.
- Results were delivered through programs and services to the sector including the AgriScience, AgriInnovate, Agricultural Climate Solutions, and Agricultural Clean Technology programs, and the new Agricultural Methane Reduction Challenge, as well as through ongoing science research activities (including the Foundational Science and Research initiative), which are guided by AAFC's Strategic Plan for Science.
- Efforts supported the Government of Canada commitments related to clean growth and climate resiliency, and advanced the Minister's mandate letter commitment to develop a Sustainable Agriculture Strategy, and contributed to the objectives of the Natural Climate Solutions Fund.
More information about Science and Innovation can be found in the "Results – what we achieved" section of the full Departmental Results Report.
Core responsibility 3: Sector Risk
Actual spending: $2,300,585,983
Actual human resources: 414
Departmental results achieved
- Departmental efforts in 2023–24 served to help the sector: anticipate, mitigate and respond to risks that threaten the viability of producers operations, in collaboration with federal, provincial and territorial governments; adopt beneficial management practices; tackle ongoing labour and skills shortages; and maintain confidence in Canada's food supply by supporting the development and adoption of assurance systems, and integrated disease prevention, surveillance, and management plans.
- Results were delivered through a comprehensive suite of business risk management (BRM) programs, ongoing efforts to make targeted improvements to the suite to ensure efficacy and responsiveness to sector needs, and a new multi-year review to examine the impacts of climate change on BRM tools. Programming such as AgriAssurance and African Swine Fever Industry Preparedness Program also played a pivotal role in enhancing overall sector resilience and public trust.
- Efforts in these areas align with the Minister's mandate letter commitment to the sector to enhance risk management, both human and environmental, along with promoting sustainable economic growth.
More information about Sector Risk can be found in the "Results – what we achieved" section of the full Departmental Results Report.