Cuts to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Harm Workers, Farms and the Planet
Public sectors workers in agriculture sector participate in action outside Liberal Party convention,
April 11, 2026
On January 26, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) announced the closure of seven federal research sites across the country. The cuts to AAFC include the shutting down of seven research farms and centres: the Nappan Research Farm in Nova Scotia, the Quebec Research and Development Centre in Quebec City, the Guelph Research and Development Centre in Ontario, the Portage la Prairie Research Farm in Manitoba, the Scott Research Farm and Indian Head Research Farm in Saskatchewan, and the Lacombe Research and Development Centre in Alberta. The government gave no advance notice to the Agriculture Union, a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (AU-PSAC), or the workers and gave no explanation.
The
AU-PSAC responded with a press release titled "Cuts to Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canada Harm Workers, Farms and the Planet." It reads in
part: "The
Agriculture Union unequivocally denounces the recent job cuts at
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), impacting roughly 1,043 people
across the country. Our union represents 2,500 employees at AAFC, all
of whom are essential
to the health and resilience of our agricultural sector. 494 of our
members are affected by this round of cuts. Our AAFC members are the
backbone of Canadian agriculture research. They assist farmers by
mitigating the impacts of climate change and drought, performing
groundbreaking research, and
keeping our food production industries competitive on a global scale."
The press release quotes Milton Dyck, National President of the union, who said: "These cuts will sabotage important gains we've made in agricultural research and set research on Canadian food products back by decades. ... We have been warning the federal government for months about cutting an already-decimated department. There is simply no more room to cut." Staffing numbers at AAFC have already decreased by 14 per cent between 2012 and 2025.
The union points out that: "Indian Head and Nappan were two of the five original research farms established by the Canadian government in 1887. Shutting down these centres represents the loss of over a century of knowledge and expertise. The research centres slated for closure were responsible for breakthrough discoveries in sustainable beef production, crop sustainability, food safety and nutrition, and no-till farming. ... These cuts at AAFC damage research into the fast-changing needs of the agriculture sector, whether it be changing environmental conditions, development of new varieties of agriculture products safe from disease, or food safety. While our partner nation to the south is slashing research, we should not be."
Lawrence Goodridge, director of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety at the University of Guelph, commented: "The closure of this centre signals the retreat of the federal government from a critical domain of public health, food security and food production. ... What we're essentially doing is increasing the likelihood of outbreaks at a time when other agencies – whether in Canada or the U.S. – are being reduced. So the long and short of it is that, from my point of view, we can expect to see more incidences of contaminated food, illnesses and deaths in Canada."
In April, in response to vigorous opposition by AU-PSAC, the government reversed its plan to close the national reference and research centre for food allergens at the Longueuil laboratory at the end of the month. The workers had been notified of the pending closure at the end of January. Meanwhile there has been no reversal of other cuts.
Besides the government's utter contempt for the workers by giving
them no notice, there is also its contempt for Canadians, Quebeckers
and farmers, who rely on the work done by the research farms into
crops, soil degradation, food security and other essential work. Far
from the "nation-building" the Carney government claims as its mantra,
this is nation-wrecking.
Nation-wrecking on a similar scale was carried out by the Harper
government, which in 2011 announced cuts of 19,200 federal public
service jobs, resulting closures of important longstanding facilities
conducting key research in agriculture, lakes and rivers, fisheries and
oceans, climate change and other areas, as well as destruction of
research libraries, all of which have yet to be restored.
Montreal, April 11, 2026
This article was published in
Volume 56 Number 28 - May 2, 2026
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/TML2026/Articles/T560283.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca