FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Canadian Organic Alliance calls for a dedicated Organic Food and Farming Strategy to help deliver the framework’s objectives
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, July 21, 2026 – The Canadian Organic Alliance (COA) welcomes the Halifax Statement, released Friday by Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial ministers of agriculture, which sets out the direction for the Next Policy Framework.
The COA is encouraged by the priorities outlined in the Halifax Statement. Its focus on competitiveness, trade, science and innovation, proactive risk management, and resilience reflects many of the challenges and opportunities facing Canadian agriculture and agri-food, including the organic sector. Together, these priorities provide a strong foundation for building a more sustainable, adaptable, and prosperous food system.
The COA is particularly encouraged to see resilience recognized as a distinct priority area. However, the Alliance continues to believe that resilience should serve as the overarching objective of the Next Policy Framework, guiding investments and program design across the framework’s priorities.
Organic agriculture and agri-food offer a strategic, cross-cutting pathway for advancing the priorities outlined in the Halifax Statement. Organic production and processing strengthen the resilience of Canada’s agri-food sector by reducing vulnerabilities to environmental, economic, and market disruptions. By enabling the continued growth of the organic sector, the Next Policy Framework can strengthen domestic production capacity, expand local and regional food systems, encourage market diversification, and maintain access to premium export markets, building on the sector’s existing contributions to a more secure, adaptable, and competitive food economy that delivers value for farmers, processors, consumers, and rural communities.
“Recognizing resilience as a priority is an important step, but it must now translate into practical support for farmers,” said Karen Murchison, Executive Director of Canadian Organic Growers. “Organic farmers are already using production systems that strengthen soil health, reduce reliance on costly external inputs, and improve long-term farm resilience. The Next Policy Framework should support more farmers in adopting these approaches.”
The COA recommends that the Next Policy Framework include a dedicated Organic Food and Farming Strategy, building on the priorities set out in the sector’s Organic Action Plan. The Strategy would provide a cross-cutting mechanism to advance all four priorities of the Halifax Statement through investments in transition support, research, extension and advisory services, business risk management modernization, market development, and sector coordination.
Canada also has a significant opportunity to expand its share of the growing domestic and international organic market. Canada’s organic market exceeds $11.88 billion, yet domestic production has not kept pace and much of the organic food consumed in Canada continues to be imported. Strategic investments would enable Canadian farmers and businesses to capture more of this growing demand while reducing reliance on imports.
“Organic is a growth strategy, a trade strategy, and an economic strategy for Canada,” said Tia Loftsgard, Executive Director of the Canada Organic Trade Association. “Building on Canada’s trusted organic regulatory system, strategic investments in domestic production, processing, market intelligence, and export development would allow Canadian businesses to meet more of the demand at home, capture new opportunities abroad, and strengthen Canada’s food system against trade and supply chain disruptions.”
“Resilience depends on farmers having access to research addressing the ecological, low-input systems they are building under Canadian climatic conditions,” said Nicole Boudreau, Executive Director of the Organic Federation of Canada. “Canada needs a strategic national approach to organic research through sustained investment in coordinated research capacity and long-term field research for organic and low-input production systems. These investments will help farmers improve profitability, manage production risks, and develop innovations that benefit farmers across the agricultural sector.”
The COA welcomes the recognition of strong assurance systems, public trust, and market confidence as key elements of a resilient agri-food sector. Canada’s established organic assurance system provides a strong foundation for advancing these priorities within the Next Policy Framework. Maintaining and strengthening this foundation requires full and permanent funding for the review and maintenance of the Canadian Organic Standards.
The COA is urging governments to ensure that the commitments contained in the Halifax Statement are reflected consistently across the design and delivery of the Next Policy Framework. A dedicated Organic Food and Farming Strategy would provide a practical mechanism for advancing the Halifax Statement’s four priorities through an existing, evidence-based platform that delivers economic, environmental, and social outcomes across the agri-food value chain.
About the Canadian Organic Alliance
The Canadian Organic Alliance brings together Canadian Organic Growers, the Organic Federation of Canada and the Canada Organic Trade Association to advance a resilient, competitive and sustainable organic agriculture and food sector. Together, the organizations represent organic farmers, researchers, processors, businesses and other sector partners across Canada.
Media contacts:
Jenna Spencer
Director of Marketing and Communications
Canadian Organic Growers
jenna.spencer@cog.ca
Tia Loftsgard
Executive Director
Canada Organic Trade Association
tloftsgard@canada-organic.ca
Nicole Boudreau
Coordinator
Organic Federation of Canada
nicole.boudreau@organicfederation.ca
Background Information:
- Canada’s organic market exceeded $11.88 billion in 2025, making Canada the fifth-largest organic market in the world within a global organic market valued at more than $230 billion.
- Domestic organic production has not kept pace with consumer demand, resulting in increased reliance on imports and missed economic opportunities for Canadian farmers, processors, and food businesses.
- Canada’s organic assurance system provides traceability and third-party verification throughout the supply chain under the Canada Organic Regime, supporting consumer confidence and domestic and international market access.
- Canada has nine organic trade equivalency arrangements, providing access to 35 countries representing more than 90 percent of the global organic market.
- Research by the Organic Task Force found that organic crop production generates average net returns per acre that are 117 percent higher than non-organic production. Tripling Canada’s organic acreage could generate an additional $173 million in net farm income annually.
- Organic production systems strengthen farm resilience by reducing reliance on costly imported inputs, improving soil health, enhancing biodiversity, supporting diversified production systems, and enabling access to value-added domestic and international markets through Canada’s internationally recognized organic assurance system.
- In fall 2025, organic sector organizations released a national Organic Action Plan for Canada, a shared roadmap for strengthening the competitiveness, resilience, and growth of the organic sector.