A year ago, the B.C. government embarked on an ambitious plan to increase overall agrifood and seafood sector revenues to $15 billion per year by 2020. The momentum is building as British Columbia celebrated record revenues of $13 billion for B.C. agrifood and seafood producers in 2015, and record exports of $3.5 billion.

Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick is providing an update today on the first anniversary of launching the B.C. Agrifood and Seafood Strategic Growth Plan and congratulating the sector on the progress that has been made.

Released in December 2015, the B.C. Agrifood and Seafood Strategic Growth Plan built on the success of the 2012 BC Agrifoods – a strategy for growth. Work is well underway on all 51 actions and sub-actions in the new strategic growth plan with the goal of driving the future of the sector in three priority areas of: increasing production, driving competitiveness and building markets.

Today, 11 commitments have already been completed including three actions and eight sub-actions while progress continues on the remaining 40 items.

Actions completed:

• Implemented the changes outlined in Moving Forward to 2020 ALR and ALC
• Completed a Multi-Year International Market Development Strategy
• Implemented a 25% tax credit on the value of farmed food donated to non-profit organizations

Sub-actions completed:

• Seafood Secretariat established
• Implemented the new Fish and Seafood Act
• Minister of Agriculture’s Advisory Council on Finfish Aquaculture established
• Completed six regional adaptation strategies
• Supported industry led e-commerce website opportunities
• Provided the sector with information, market data and market intelligence reports to identify market opportunities
• Participated in two annual government-led and industry supported trade missions to priority markets
• Developed BC Agrifood and Seafood Export Ready Business Catalogue

Through the BC Jobs Plan, British Columbia is growing its agrifoods sector by providing stable jobs and revenue, and supports strong and diversified communities. The BC Jobs Plan builds on the strengths of our key sectors and our educated and skilled workforce, keeping the province diverse, strong and growing.

Quotes:

Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick –

“The B.C. government is always looking at ways to build our worldwide reputation for producing innovative and great-tasting foods and by working closely with our sector, we are seeing strong results. We will build on the momentum over the past year and the progress that has been made on the strategic growth plan and work towards the goal of a $15 billion a year agrifoods industry in B.C. by 2020.”

B.C. Agriculture Council board chair and participant on the Minister’s Agrifood Advisory Committee Stan Vander Waal –

“We congratulate the minister and the ministry on the actions completed to date, especially those around the ALR and ALC; access to productive land is critical for B.C. agriculture. We also applaud B.C.’s farm and ranch families who grow and raise some of the highest quality food and agricultural products in the world. It is through their hard work, innovation and shared trust that B.C. will achieve $15B in revenue by 2020.”

Quick Facts:

• The net cash income for primary agricultural production increased 21.5% in 2015 to $440 million, up from $362 million in 2014.
• The strategic growth plan was developed in collaboration with the Minister’s Agrifood Advisory Committee comprised of leaders from the agrifood and seafood sector, business community, local food movement, and agriculture post-secondary institutions.

Learn More:

The B.C. Agrifood and Seafood Strategic Growth Plan: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/agriculture-and-seafood/strategic-growth-plan.pdf