By Faridat Salifu
Canada’s agricultural sector is facing a growing competitiveness challenge as structural weaknesses, policy barriers and market exposure leave farmers vulnerable, despite strong production performance and global trust in Canadian food.
Speaking in Regina, food economist and Dalhousie University professor Sylvain Charlebois said the core problem facing Canadian agriculture is no longer how food is produced, but how the wider system around farmers operates.
Charlebois, who leads Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab, said Canada’s heavy reliance on exporting raw commodities exposes farmers to global shocks they cannot control, including trade disputes, currency volatility and geopolitical tensions.
He said recent trade disruptions, including tensions with China, show how quickly farmers can lose market access, leaving them exposed to forces far beyond farm-level productivity.
According to Charlebois, the absence of strong domestic processing capacity and large-scale value-added industries means Canadian farmers remain trapped in low-value commodity markets that fluctuate with global prices.
He argued that while globalization has benefited Canada economically, the country is losing competitiveness internally due to policy failures, weak industrial scaling and fragmented markets.
Charlebois blamed rising food costs on structural inefficiencies rather than farmers or retailers, pointing to Canada’s inability to scale food companies and remove interprovincial trade barriers as major contributors to higher system-wide costs.
He said Canada performs well at creating new businesses but fails to grow them into large, competitive agri-food companies capable of stabilising markets and absorbing shocks.
Policy pressures, including carbon pricing and regulatory costs, were also identified as factors adding financial strain to farmers and processors, pushing costs through the supply chain and weakening sector resilience.
Despite these challenges, Charlebois said Canada holds a major untapped strategic asset in global agriculture: international trust.
He noted that Canadian food products consistently rank among the safest in the world and carry a strong reputation for quality, reliability and safety in international markets.
According to him, that reputation has significant economic value but remains underutilised because Canada has failed to turn trust into a competitive market advantage through branding, processing and value addition.
Charlebois warned that without stronger engagement from farmers and agricultural organisations in policy and public communication, the sector risks losing control of its narrative.
He urged farmers to take a more active role beyond production, engaging in public discourse, policy advocacy and storytelling to protect the sector’s image, influence policy direction and strengthen Canada’s agricultural competitiveness.
