The Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers represents 170 greenhouse growers overseeing about 4,500 acres in the province. Richard Lee, executive director of OGVG, joined “The Packer Podcast” to discuss Canada’s recent National Food Security Strategy and the importance of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, known as CUSMA in Canada and USMCA in the U.S.
Lee says the Canadian government’s focus on agriculture and controlled environment agriculture is a positive development for the industry.
“It’s important to recognize that food security and exports are not competing priorities,” he says. “In fact, they’re closely connected.”
Lee estimates that Ontario greenhouse vegetable growers export about 85% of the sector’s production to the U.S., equivalent to about 300 truckloads crossing the border daily.
“A strong, profitable greenhouse sector is what allows us to ultimately invest, grow and continue supplying fresh vegetables to both Canadians and U.S. consumers,” Lee says.
Lee says OGVG members have built strong, integrated businesses that serve the North American market.
“While we’re proud to be a significant supplier of fresh greenhouse vegetables to the United States, we’re equally committed to strengthening Canada’s food security,” he says. “We feed Canada first, but the amount of produce that we grow, Canada just could not eat itself out of. We have competitors located here in Canada, both East Coast, West Coast, as well as Quebec. The reality is every acre of greenhouse production added in Ontario increases our capacity to serve both markets.”
Lee says Canada’s National Food Security Strategy helps bolster domestic production, reduce reliance on imported vegetables and build greater resilience in the Canadian food supply system.
“Maintaining access to export markets is essential because those markets provide the scale and economic stability that support ongoing investment in greenhouse infrastructure, technology and jobs that we contribute to the economy,” he says. “From our perspective, the goal isn’t choosing between Canada and the U.S. The goal is to grow the size of that pie by creating the right conditions for greenhouse expansion.”
Lee says CUSMA and the National Food Security Strategy are complementary efforts, as the strategy strengthens Canadian domestic production and CUSMA provides the framework to move agricultural products efficiently and swiftly across North America. He points to how the Ontario greenhouse vegetable industry accesses about 58% of the U.S. population within a day’s drive, which means consistent and fresh greenhouse-grown produce.
“Talk about having consistency in that produce with a greenhouse-grown product, and then ultimately within one day’s drive, you’re reducing those food miles while continuing to be a trusted partner with the broader North American market,” he says. “[CUSMA is] very complementary to the opportunities that the National Food Security Strategy will present for greenhouse vegetable growers. The reality is that we operate within a highly integrated North American food system.”
He also says the global pandemic highlighted the critical role of bilateral trade. While some trade policies have been a challenge, “we really continue to advocate that food goes unharmed in any future trade negotiations,” he says.
Food security is a national issue, as well as a regional and continental issue, Lee says. It needs a symbiotic relationship that maintains the bilateral trade while addressing cost-effective measures to manage trade, he adds. The food security strategy will reinforce Canada’s position as a trusted trading partner with the U.S. and Mexico.
“The goal should be to promote fair, predictable, science-based trade rules while allowing each country to strengthen its domestic production capacity for our sector,” he says. “The priority remains in maintaining open markets and preserving the integrated supply chains that have been benefiting growers and consumers for decades. Food security and trade security go hand in hand when Canada, the U.S. and Mexico each have strong agricultural sectors and predictable trading relationships that will benefit everyone.”
