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Agri-food marketing program gets $5.5M to promote Canadian products abroad

The federal government announced it will provide up to $5.5 million in an effort to promote Canada’s agri-food products across the globe.

Francis Drouin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, made the announcement recently and said that the funds, to be allocated over three years to Group Export Agri-Food Québec-Canada through the AgriMarketing Program, an initiative under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP).

“It’s a pleasure to announce this significant investment our government is making so Group Export can support businesses that are joining international markets for the first time and bolster the success of existing cross-border operations,” Drouin said in a press release.

“This will stimulate the economy and drive profits to hardworking, deserving producers.”

This investment is expected to support Group Export’s efforts to help companies entering a foreign market for the first time as well as those currently trading in foreign markets.

The objectives of the project, the release says, are to enable Canadian companies to promote their agri-food products abroad, to secure concrete sales and contracts in their target markets, and to increase the value of international agri-food exports in all categories of agri-food products.

“Thanks to the hard work of Canadian producers, processors, and exporters, our agriculture and food exports reached nearly $100 billion last year,” said Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

“I want to keep that momentum going and make Canada the supplier of choice for customers around the world. I have no doubt that this important investment will give Canadian agri-food exporters the support they need to get their top-quality products on even more kitchen tables.”

According to the release, Group Export plans to focus their promotional efforts in the following markets: Canada, the U.S, Germany, Spain, China, Mexico, France, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Australia, and India. The markets covered by the project were selected based on sales growth for agri-food products.

“The exports of Canadian agri-food businesses in Quebec amounted to no less than $11.3 billion in 2023, and this funding will certainly support growth in the coming years,” said Martin Lavoie, President and CEO of Group Export Agri-Food.

“I would like to thank Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for its continued trust in our organization.”

(Source: Agriculture & Agri-food Canada)