Appearance before the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry (AGFO): Report on the role of the agriculture and agri-food sector with regard to food security in Canada, April 16, 2026

1. Summary Note

Tracking ID #: Senate AGFO Standing Committee – Food Security Study (April 2026)

Study Title: Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry report on the role of the agriculture and agri-food sector with regard to food security in Canada

Lead Dept: Agriculture and Agrifood Canada (AAFC)

Issue:

• The standing committee has invited CanNor President Jimi Onalik to attend, accompanied by CanNor vice-presidents Stephen Traynor and Torrine Johnson, for the committee's ninth meeting collecting testimony for its upcoming report.

Summary:

• The motion establishing the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry report on the role of agriculture and agri-food sector with regard to food security in Canada was passed in the Senate on October 22, 2025, with the report is due no later than December 31, 2026.
• The report is being informed by testimony collected across multiple levels of government, including experts in the food sector, sectors adjacent to the food economy, academics, and community services. Eight meetings have occurred since November 2025.
• The standing committee is asked to specifically report on the current status of food security as it relates to the Food Policy for Canada created by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, but also on improvements to food security, particularly in Indigenous, Black and Northern communities, or in other rural and urban communities facing challenges with access to food.
• The committee will also report on the factors that influence food security, such as agricultural production systems, climate change, and corporate concentrations in the sector. This includes measures already in place to address food security issues, especially related to farmers, local food production and food sovereignty, and the potential areas of improvement of federal measures to enhance food security.

Questioning:

• The first meeting (November 20, 2025) included representatives of Northern Affairs and Indigenous Services Canada. Subsequent meetings have largely focused on NGOs, sectoral experts and academics, and southern-based food associations and suppliers.
• CanNor's appearance will follow witnesses appearing from the Government of Yukon and Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation on April 14, 2026.
• Questions to Northern Affairs and Indigenous Services Canada witnesses included criteria for communities to be included under Nutrition North Canada (NNC), the upcoming report on NNC by the Ministerial Special Representative, energy costs and the viability of renewable energy in northern communities, and the state of community infrastructure in the North and federal supports to improve it.
• Subsequent meetings with various sectoral experts and associations have focused on successes and challenges for food systems at the community level, but also the impact of adjacent sectors on food security, such as logistics, supply chains, aviation costs for fly-in communities, and knock-down impacts on consumers from raising supplier and wholesale costs. 

CanNor Considerations:

• CanNor representatives can expect to be asked about their lived experience in the North, and any personal insights they may have regarding the state of food systems and food security in the North; such as the role of local hunters in the community, country food availability, demographic considerations, and challenges to food sovereignty by residents of isolated or fly-in communities.
• Senators during questioning have consistently demonstrated an interest in community-level realities as it related to food security, the local impacts of federal food policy, and the relationship adjacent sectors can have on food costs and availability.
• Projects funded by CanNor through the Northern Isolated Community Initiative (NICI) program, as well as upcoming funding adjustments to NICI can be expected to be of interest to the committee.
• Participants from the Northern Food Innovation Challenge (NFIC) program could also be highlighted as they align with the committees interest in local realities and solutions to food security.

Recommendations:

• CanNor has an opportunity through the Agency's mandate and working relationships in the North to provide the committee with insightful and expert analysis on Northern food systems and community impacts to food sovereignty across the territories.

Next Steps:

• Appearance on April 16, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. EDT.
• CanNor will be joined by VP, Operations for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CEDQ), and Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency's (ACOA) VP and DG, Regional Operations for Newfoundland and Labrador.
• There will be an earlier panel on April 16, 2026 from 8 a.m. – 9 a.m. with representatives from Fertilizer Canada and CropLife Canada.

Annex:

Previous Witnesses

Analysis Completed by:

Steve Ducharme, Senior ATIP and Corporate Secretariat Advisor
 

Previous Witnesses:

AGFO – Examine and report on the role of the agriculture and agri-food sector with regard to food security in Canada

2. Speaking Notes

Bonjour. Good morning, everyone.

My name is Jimi Onalik, and I am the President of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, or CanNor.

I am joined here today by Stephen Traynor, Vice-President of Policy, Planning, Communications and Northern Projects Management Office, along with Torrine Johnson, Acting Vice-President of Pan-Territorial Operations.

First, I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg [Ah-nish-ih-NAH-behg] and the people of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation.

Thank you for inviting me. I'll begin with a brief overview of CanNor's mandate and its role in the North.

Like other Regional Development Agencies, CanNor is responsible for promoting economic development within a distinct region—in our case, Canada's territories.

We work to strengthen territorial economies by supporting sustainable growth, economic diversification, and increased participation of northern and Indigenous communities.

Through targeted funding, CanNor enhances economic development across key sectors such as critical minerals, tourism, fisheries, clean energy, community and business development, food systems, and Indigenous economic development.

With a portfolio of nearly $100 million in 2026-27, CanNor delivers several funding programs, including our flagship IDEANorth program, which supports business sector development and scale-up, including in agriculture and agri‑food, helping northern businesses grow and compete.

Canada's northern food sector has significant economic potential, spanning fisheries, conventional and community‑driven agriculture, greenhouse production, harvesting, and country food markets.  

Advances in food innovation technologies, combined with the blending of traditional knowledge and modern approaches, are strengthening economic diversification, food security, and food sovereignty across the territories.

Since 2019, CanNor's Northern Isolated Community Initiatives Fund, or NICI, has supported community‑driven projects that strengthen local and Indigenous food production systems. These projects emphasize practical and innovative solutions rooted in local knowledge and resources.

For example, in the NWT, CanNor is investing up to $1.2 million in Black Spruce Education to support a youth‑led initiative. The project will establish a training and small‑business hub featuring a commercial teaching kitchen, greenhouse and agricultural space, and a café, creating new opportunities for young people while strengthening local food and cultural systems.

In the Yukon, a $305,000 CanNor investment supported the operation of a hydroponic unit through the Arctic Institute of North America. This initiative became a successful proof‑of‑concept for low‑impact, off‑grid, community‑level food production.

In 2024, NICI expanded to include Nunavik and Nunatsiavut, delivered through CEDQ and ACOA respectively. This ensured the program reached all regions of Inuit Nunangat and marked an early step in advancing federal commitments under the Inuit Nunangat Policy.

NICI has also supported food innovation through initiatives such as the Northern Food Innovation Challenge, including $1 million to the Ittaq Heritage and Research Centre in Clyde River, Nunavut, to strengthen harvesting, skills development, and access to country food.

In 2026–27, an additional $6.3 million through NICI is supporting food initiatives, with priority given to projects addressing food security in Indigenous and vulnerable communities.

While CanNor is an economic development agency, we recognize that success in the northern food sector extends beyond traditional economic measures to include improved access, sustainability, and long‑term community resilience.

CanNor is proud to support northern communities as they build a more diverse, resilient, and secure northern economy.

I am happy to address any questions you may have.

Thank you, merci, qujannamiik.

3. CanNor Support to Northern Food Systems

4. Success Stories List

Northern Isolated Community Initiatives (NICI)