'Great opportunity': Alberta's agri-food industry to kickstart economic recovery: report
While many of Alberta's major industries slowed down during the pandemic, there's one big outlier: Agri-food.
A new report from the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy says the province's agri-food producers will play a major part in Alberta's economic recovery. The province has the talent, land and climate to do so, the report says.
"There's great opportunity to use those resources and really kickstart back into a growing economy in 2021...and into the future," said Karen Spencer with the U of C's Simpson Centre for Agricultural and Food Innovation.
The report said Alberta's agri-food producers brought in $56 billion in 2020, higher than the $39 billion in crude oil sales last year.
Alberta's biggest agri-food products include cattle, canola, wheat, pork and dairy. More than 40 per cent of Canada's cattle inventory is in Alberta and about a third of the country's canola and wheat production is in this province.
"I have to admit that there's times when we in agriculture feel like that forgotten step child. We have been an integral part in building this province into what it is," said Cherie Copithorne-Barnes with CL Ranches.
She's a fourth-generation Alberta rancher and has seen the industry grow, especially during the pandemic.
"We are an integral part of every supermarket you go to buy your food," she said.
"Alberta is especially positioned to be able to provide as much food as needed for this province."
A new report from the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy says the province's agri-food producers will play a major part in Alberta's economic recovery. The province has the talent, land and climate to do so, the report says.
PROVINCE'S LARGEST EMPLOYER
The agri-food industry is Alberta's largest employer with about 49,000 people working in primary agriculture alone. Tens of thousands more people work in producing, processing, transporting and retail related to agri-food.
But access to labour and rural connectivity problems could be barriers that could slow the potential growth, the report says.
"The larger the farm, the more critical it is that they have access to a labour force," said Tom Steve with the Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions.
Still, Steve said, the sector is showing promise and resiliency, even with a pandemic and global economic downturn.
"It's a big sector. It's often been not fully appreciated, I think, because of the size and scope of the oil industry. Now we're seeing this other industry has a lot of potential," he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.