Devin Dreeshen, Alberta's Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, has announced the creation of Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR), a non-profit, arm’s-length agriculture research organization. The creation of RDAR is the result of consultation with farmers, industry, and key partners in the agricultural sector, the province says. It was established so that farmers, in collaboration with... Read More

Olymel has temporarily closed one of its pork processing plants in Quebec after multiple employees at the facility tested positive for COVID-19. The large pork production company has decided to close its facility at Yamachiche, Que. for 14 days as of March 29 after nine employees were confirmed to have the virus. All employees who... Read More

The Harmony Beef slaughter plant at Balzac, Alta. halted processing on Friday after an employee who works at the facility tested positive for COVID-19. According to Harmony spokesperson Crosbie Cotton, the company was informed by Alberta Health Services on Thursday that an employee who had not been at work for several days had tested positive.... Read More

On Friday (March 27), the Bank of Canada initiated an emergency key rate cut of 50 bps to 0.25% in an attempt to defend the economy against the impacts of COVID-19. Additionally, the Bank of Canada will expand its balance sheet through purchases of Government of Canada securities to the tune of $5 billion per... Read More

Canada has a new ambassador to the United States. Kirsten Hillman, who has been serving as acting ambassador to the U.S. since August 2019, has been appointed to the key diplomatic post, announced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday. "Today, we are announcing Kirsten Hillman as our country’s next ambassador to the United States. When... Read More

Some of Canada's largest meat processing companies are publicly announcing their COVID-19 response measures in an effort to offer reassurance and transparency to the public and others in the food supply chain. While minimizing the human health risk associated with having a large number of employees working at a single facility is the primary concern,... Read More

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced additional support for farmers and farm businesses, following last week's announcement of $82 billion in various spending measures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Parliament will reconvene March 24, 2020, to pass emergency legislation for these previously announced measures, and to release $5 billion in additional lending capacity through... Read More