In accordance with the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals, a detailed level Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) was conducted for the Canadian Agricultural Partnership policy framework. The assessment concluded there is expected to be a number of positive environmental effects associated with implementation of the Partnership. A wide range of Canadian stakeholders, including producers, processors, industry associations, academia, and federal, provincial and territorial research organizations will benefit from participating in available federal, provincial and territorial programming. The Partnership also targets groups such as women, youth, Indigenous peoples and people with disabilities to support further participation in the Canadian agriculture sector.
The SEA assessed the following priority areas:
- Science, Research and Innovation
- Environment and Climate Change
- Markets and Trade
- Public Trust
- Value Added Agriculture and Agri-Food Processing
- Results and Client Service
- Clean Technology
Previous agricultural policy frameworks, for example Growing Forward 2 (GF2), have resulted in improvements to the environmental performance of the agriculture sector. Under the Partnership, there is a renewed emphasis on climate change mitigation and adaptation, environmental sustainability, and science and innovation. This is expected to further enhance environmental performance of the sector, resulting in positive environmental effects. For example, programming will aim to accelerate the agriculture sector's ability to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission sources such as nitrous oxide from crop production and methane from ruminants and manure storage. Some activities could also result in a decrease in production costs, potentially improving socio-economic conditions at the producer level.
The Partnership will be key to implementing goals and targets in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS). For example, activities in Clean Technology contribute to the FSDS goal of Sustainable Food, allowing producers to provide food with reduced negative environmental impact. Programming in the area of Environment and Climate Change contributes to the FSDS goals of Effective Action on Climate Change, and Sustainable Food. Work in the area of Public Trust could also contribute to FSDS goals and targets related to Sustainable Food by, for example, facilitating more research on, and adoption of, integrated pest management approaches to reduce reliance on chemical pesticides.
Increased adoption of newly developed tools and innovations could enhance the agriculture sector's ability to make measurable progress on some of the most significant and persistent environmental issues. The Partnership supports regional flexibility as well as collaboration, allowing provinces and territories to prioritize and collaborate on regional agri-environmental issues. These collaborations could enhance positive environmental effects through, for example, research and information sharing.
Some Partnership initiatives, such as investments into food processing, could potentially increase productivity and demand for inputs, resulting in some negative environmental effects such as introducing additional pressures on soil and water. These negative effects can be mitigated by existing control measures such as standard municipal, provincial, and federal regulations and permitting requirements, and incenting the adoption of beneficial management practices, as some provinces and territories are doing through cost-shared programming. There are also potential positive effects associated with these investments, such as processing efficiencies resulting in water or energy conservation and reduced waste.
The agricultural sector is committed to realizing positive effects on the environment, while managing and mitigating any potential negative environmental impacts. The positive environmental effects resulting from the Partnership depend on the extent to which the programs are utilized by the sector, which could vary by region and commodity. The Partnership identifies short, medium, and longer term outcomes and indicators for each of the six the priority areas, including Environment and Climate Change. The Partnership's commitment to results-based performance measurement will help governments and industry track progress and adjust program decisions as needed over the course of the Partnership. This is expected to improve the long-term environmental sustainability of agriculture in Canada.