GUELPH, Ont. — Food and Beverage Ontario (FBO) and Conseil de la transformation alimentaire du Quebec (CTAQ) have signed an agreement to strengthen food-and-beverage processor representation nationally and provincially and raise the profile of Canada’s processing industry.
The agreement allows the two organizations to address policy, regulatory and program issues for food-and-beverage processors — businesses that generate more than $60 billion in sales.
“Recent international trade agreements such as CETA and TPP demand that we present a unified Canadian industry position to negotiating governments,” said Norm Beal, CEO, Food and Beverage Ontario. “This agreement between FBO and CTAQ will drive more effective use of resources between our two organizations.”
The multi-year agreement between FBO and CTAQ will:
- Pursue strategic partnerships and collaboration with stakeholders to support a competitive position for the food-and-beverage processing industry.
- Increase the profile of the food-and-beverage processing industry with governments, industry stakeholders and Canadians.
- Identify and work with partners on the development of programs that will increase industry innovation, productivity and competitiveness.
- Establish specific job and revenue targets for the industry collaboratively with governments.
Ontario and Quebec account for most of the processing production in Canada with 66 per cent of sales from more than 5,700 businesses with 50 per cent of all national exports coming from these two provinces.
