Safety Nets and Business Risk Management Programs

Ontario Pork leverages partnerships in order to maximize the impact on government programs to support agriculture and to ensure that programs are responsive to our sector. At the federal level we fund the Canadian Pork Council (CPC) to advance national priorities. We also work alongside the CPC at the federal provincial territorial (FPT) meetings that are used to review and adjust Business Risk Management programs. Federal programs are cost shared between the Federal and Provincial governments with the Federal government paying 60% of program costs and the provincial governments paying 40% of program costs. 

Ontario Pork participates in an OMAFRA Reference Committee for the provincial Risk Management Program. This committee meets several times per year to review program attributes and quarterly payment levels. In summer 2020, the government of Ontario announced an additional $50 million per year to fund RMP. Ontario Pork advocated for this arrangement alongside other Ontario commodity groups.

Ontario Pork is presently advocating alongside other provincial agriculture groups for an increase in the AgriStability payment trigger from 70% of reference margins to 85% of reference margins. This change would make the program more responsive to downturns and increase the likelihood that diversified farms would receive support under the program.

Governments have incurred massive debt and deficits in response to the COVID-19 related lockdowns. In 2020, the federal government had its credit downgraded from a AAA rating to AA+ by Fitch Ratings Inc. It is expected that soon the government will be under significant pressure to cut spending. Ontario Pork will continue to underline the importance of agriculture to the provincial economy and advocate for responsive government support programs to ensure food security and the long-term viability of Ontario’s hog sector.