Text below authored by our partners at the National Farmers Union.
Canada’s Plant Breeders Rights Act (PBR) gives plant breeders exclusive rights to produce and reproduce new varieties for 20 years. When farmers buy these varieties, they pay for the seed itself and a royalty to the breeder for the right to use the variety. The PBR Act has a clause called “Farmers’ Privilege” which permits farmers to grow future crops on their own holdings with saved seed, cuttings, tubers etc from a new plant variety in future years without paying further royalties.
The government is proposing a regulatory change that would narrow the Farmers’ Privilege clause by eliminating its application to new varieties of fruits, vegetables, ornamentals, and hybrids. Farmers using these varieties would be forced to buy and pay royalties every single year, and will not be allowed to save their own seed.
This means:
- Higher annual production costs due to increased seed and royalty expenses
- No access to PBR protected varieties that may be discontinued before their 20 year protection period expires
- No access to PBR protected varieties that are not available from licensed nurseries or seed sellers
- No opportunity for farmers to adapt new varieties to local conditions or to climate change by using farm-saved propagating material harvested from plants grown on the farm
- No ability to replace fruit trees/bushes lost due to winter-kill, drought, etc., from the farmer’s own stock of the variety
- Further entrenchment of largely foreign private plant breeding in the fruit, vegetable, and ornamental sectors which formerly were served by vibrant, well-funded public plant breeding institutions that bred for the needs of Canadian farmers, our food supply and our growing conditions. Multinationals focus on their largest markets and most profitable crop kinds, leading to Canadian farmers being offered only varieties that fit corporate priorities.
This is a direct threat to food security, seed sovereignty and farmer autonomy.
We MUST stop this restriction of Farmers’ Privilege.
The ultimate goal of the corporate seed sector is to require annual purchase and royalty payments for all crop kinds. As one farmer said during the 2014-15 debate on the bill that became the current Plant Breeders Rights Act: “Bill C‐18 is like moving livestock. You start by herding them into a large corral, and then close the gates behind them one by one until they cannot turn around. Eventually, there will be little choice but to buy seed and pay royalties every year.”
You can do something about it. Tell the Government of Canada to keep the Farmers’ Privilege intact – sign the Parliamentary e-petition today!
The last day to sign is Oct. 5th, 2025.
Once you’ve signed the petition, don’t forget to verify your signature via email so that your signature will be counted.
And please share these links with your networks (Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook) to get as many people to sign the petition as possible!
Together, we can stop this regulation change and protect seed sovereignty!