Today, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, announced that 5,054 Canadian dairy farmers have already received their payments, totalling $267.1 million, under the second year of the Dairy Direct Payments Program. This represents roughly 51 % of the more than 10,000 dairy farmers across the country. Minister Bibeau made the announcement as part of a keynote speech to the Dairy Farmers of Canada at their Annual General Meeting.

With these direct payments the Government of Canada is delivering on its commitment to provide full and fair compensation to supply-managed sectors for market access concessions made under the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Dairy farmers will receive $1.75 billion in direct payments over the course of four years, with $345 million made available in year one (2019-20) and $468 million currently available under year two of the program. Another $469 million will be available in 2021-22, and $468 million in 2022-23. The owner of a farm with 80 dairy cows will be awarded compensation in the form of a direct payment of approximately $38,000 for each of these remaining years. 

These amounts also build on the $250 million CETA on-farm investment program, and provide certainty on the schedule and form of remaining payments in the $2 billion total compensation package for dairy farmers.

The Government of Canada remains committed to engaging the sector on full and fair compensation for the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), and to providing compensation to processors of supply-managed products.

Canada’s supply managed farmers are the backbone of rural communities across the country, and help ensure a strong Canadian economy and agriculture sector. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, these farmers have consistently demonstrated their outstanding commitment to providing high-quality products to the Canadians who rely on them.