Ministry funding will increase slightly over the next few years
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
British Columbia’s provincial government will invest in agriculture in the coming years.
Finance Minister Selina Robinson (pictured) presented the government’s 2022 budget on Feb. 22, which includes mentions of ag.
The government will spend $15 million over three years to support increased intakes under the Beneficial Management Practices program.
This program, which launched in June 2018, supports on-farm upgrades to adopt sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture practices. These include water quality, waste management and emissions control projects.
Another $77 million will help support the ag sector access and accommodate temporary foreign workers.
In 2019, British Columbia had the most temporary foreign workers (23,000) only behind Ontario (33,000).
From a rural B.C. perspective, the provincial government plans to invest in high-speed internet.
The budget commits $289 million to more than 280 rural remote and Indigenous communities.
The budget for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries will increase over the next few years.
Minister Lana Popham had a ministerial budget of $95.4 million in 2020-21.
That amount will increase to $99.83 million in 2021-22. The government plans to further increase her budget to about $99.85 million in 2022-23 and about $99.86 million in 2023-24.
Minister Popham will use those funds to carry out her ministry’s priorities.
One objective is to improve the living and working conditions for farm workers.
“The Ministry will work towards ensuring and enforcing safe, healthy and comfortable living standards (particularly for inter-provincial and international workers residing in on-farm accommodations or workcamps) and ensure improved working conditions for all agricultural workers,” the ag ministry’s plan says.
In addition, Minister Popham’s department will work to ensure the provincial food system has the capacity to increase the availability of local food.
To do this, she will work to enhance the Grow BC, Feed BC and Buy BC programming.
In 2019, there were 103 facilities that committed to a minimum of 30 per cent of B.C. food expenditures within the year. The government hopes that number will increase to 195 by 2023-24.
The government also promises to support the development of the agri-tech sector and promote regenerative ag practices.
Prior to the budget’s release, Minister Popham announced vertical farming would be allowed on the Agricultural Land Reserve.