Last week the federal government announced it will provide $1.75 billion over eight years to the country's nearly 11,000 dairy farmers in an effort to compensate for the market access given up under the CETA and CPTPP trade deals.

This funding is in addition to the $250 million investment program that already benefits more than 3,300 dairy producers.

“There is no doubt that conceding part of our domestic dairy market has had a major impact on the livelihoods of dairy producers”, said Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) President Pierre Lampron. “Prime Minister Trudeau recognized this and committed to mitigating this impact. We welcome today’s announcement as a continuation of this commitment.”

$345 million will be paid within the first year in the form of direct payments. The government says it will further compensate dairy producers once the Canada-USA-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) comes into force.

DFC estimates that the market access granted under these agreements represents an annual loss equivalent to 8.4% of the country’s milk production. Adding these concessions to the access already granted under the WTO, it is estimated that by 2024, nearly 20% of domestic demand for dairy products will be met by imports.

“While we are grateful for today’s announcement, we would have preferred no concessions to our domestic dairy production”," added Lampron. “The Prime Minister has made another commitment: no further concessions would be made to our domestic dairy market in future trade negotiations. Our expectation is that he will keep that commitment as well."

 

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