Fair Farm Income and Rural Economic Justice
Our party was founded by everyday farmers, we must uphold that tradition. Canada’s agricultural system is increasingly shaped by corporate consolidation, restrictive regulations, and rising costs that push out small and mid-sized farmers. Processing bottlenecks, speculative land prices, expensive insurance, designed as assets rather than tools have made it harder than ever to enter or remain in farming. Meanwhile, rural communities struggle and food prices rise.
For too long, federal policy has favoured large agribusiness while independent producers carry the risk. Farmers are asking for fair systems, public infrastructure, and the ability to earn a dignified living producing food for their communities.
A Tanille led-NDP will treat the revitalization of our agricultural sector as a nation building project. We will strengthen regional processing, protect farmland, implement a strategy for soil health, and ensure climate and trade policy support independent producers rather than corporate concentration.
There are five key parts to accomplishing this:
Stop Corporate Control over Farmers & Inputs
Wheat Board 2.0 — Democratize our Food Markets
Support Small, New & Cooperative Farmers
Build Local Food Infrastructure & Remove Internal Trade Barriers
Soil Health, Climate & Long-Term Sustainability
Stop Corporate Control over Farmers & Inputs
Land should feed people.
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Establish a federal framework, with provinces, to restrict speculators from buying up farmland and pricing out the next generation of farmers.
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Tax idle farmland, restrict rezoning of prime agricultural land, and require land to remain in active agricultural use so that we can continue our agricultural sector.
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Rather than forcing our farmers to pay corporations to fix the machinery they own, we must ban software locks and guarantee farmers the right to fix their own machinery as a right.
Wheat Board 2.0: Democratize our Food Markets
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Stephen Harper got rid of the wheat board which gave farmers more power to collectively negotiate food prices. It is time we reinstate the foodboard by re-establishing the Canadian Wheat Board and guaranteeing floor prices which can act as a bulk seller to give farmers real bargaining power.
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Grocery stories increase the prices for our agricultural products without fair compensation to our farmers. It is time for small farmers to be able to negotiate fair supply contracts in a grocery sector dominated by a handful of big corporations.
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Restore stability to farm incomes without forcing a full single-desk system from day one.
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Rising insurance premiums and unaffordable coverage are forcing farmers to absorb unsustainable risk, with some closing operations due to liability costs.
Support Small, New & Cooperative Farmers
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Offer long-term leases and low-interest financing to help new farmers, small scale and co-ops, producers get started, this would provide low-interest public financing and long-term leasing options to reduce barriers to entering agriculture.
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Provide support for succession planning and end the unfair tax treatment of family farm transfers.
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Support shared land, equipment, and intergenerational transfers to keep farms in community hands.
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Eliminate tuition for agriculture and food systems programs and provide support for training and apprenticeships to ensure the next generation of farmers can enter the sector without debt.
Build Local Food Infrastructure & Remove Internal Trade Barriers
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Break down provincial barriers so that our farmers can sell across Canada and feed our Canadians without unnecessary red tape.
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Build publicly owned or co-operative processing, storage, and distribution infrastructure—including cold storage, grain milling, dairy processing, and value-added facilities—to support local producers and strengthen regional food systems.
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Use the power of public purchasing to support Canadian farmers—ensuring schools, hospitals, and long-term care buy local food instead of relying on corporate supply chains.
Soil Health, Climate & Long-Term Sustainability
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Work in collaboration with provinces, territories, Indigenous bodies, various stakeholders and with to develop a national strategy to support and promote efforts to protect, conserve and enhance the health of soil across Canada.
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Fund public research into soil health, seed resilience, and sustainable farming practice.
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Offer upfront, non-repayable grants for small and mid-sized farms to deploy renewable energy systems, electrify operations, and improve energy efficiency.
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Provide affordable, public insurance so farmers aren’t one disaster away from losing everything.
