On Monday, April 19, the Government of Canada announced funding and investments as part of its 2021 budget. OFA was pleased to see many of the key asks brought forward to the federal government through our work with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) addressed and included in this year’s budget.

OFA was thrilled to see an additional $1 billion of new funding for Canada’s Universal Broadband Fund. This funding will help support broadband expansion to rural communities across the country. Access to reliable broadband has always been a top priority for the OFA and we will continue to advocate for affordable, reliable internet access as an essential service. We appreciate and applaud the federal government in its investment in our rural communities.

Key highlights from the federal budget include:

• An additional $57.6 million in funding to help producers offset the cost of mandatory isolation for temporary foreign workers for 2021-2022.
• Commitments for compensation towards sectors that were negatively impacted by trade agreements
• Funding of $1.9 billion towards the National Trade Corridors Fund over the next four years.
• New funding towards helping producers reduce their carbon footprint, including:
  • $50 million for the purchase of more efficient grain dryers
  • $200 million to launch immediate, on-farm climate action under the Agricultural Climate Solutions program.

OFA was pleased to see the investments the federal government made to the agri-food sector and to the betterment of our country’s rural communities. We applaud the government on its recognition of our sector and look forward to working with CFA to continue advocating for Ontario’s agriculture sector.