Share your support during the Health Canada consultation
Right now, Canada's farmers have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape the future of agriculture innovation. Our country has long been a leader in crop innovation — take canola, for example — but our current regulations around plant breeding innovations lag behind countries like Japan, Australia, and the U.S. The future competitiveness and sustainability of our grain farms relies on a regulatory system that supports new plant breeding techniques, like gene editing.
You can help advance plant breeding innovation in Canada by taking one minute to share your voice with the Government of Canada. Go to Advancing Agriculture to take action and send your email today.
Health Canada is currently holding a consultation on new regulatory guidance around plant breeding innovation, like gene editing. The new guidance will have a huge impact on the type of investment, research, and commercialization that will be made in Canada:
- The outcome of these consultations will directly impact which new seed varieties are introduced in Canada for the foreseeable future. It's an opportunity to gain access to new, better, and more innovative seed varieties.
- Farmers could have more seed varieties to choose from, from more companies. Flexible and transparent regulations could allow small and medium-sized plant breeding companies to innovate and compete in a space that was cost-prohibitive before gene editing technologies came to market.
- Our competitors, some of which are listed above, have already adopted risk-based regulatory frameworks and their farmers are starting to see access to new varieties not available in Canada. A regulatory system that encourages innovation is critical for farm competitiveness and enabling growth in a global market.
Learn more about the economic, environmental, and consumer benefits of agricultural innovations like gene editing at
Nature Nurtured.
Read more about
Health Canada's Consultation: Proposed new guidance for Novel Food Regulations focused on plant breeding.