EU-Canada Dialogue

Why is there dialogue?

Farmers are on the front lines of climate change, facing increased risk of wildfires and extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts. They are also a key part of the solution, able to sequester carbon, ensure healthy soils, and help protect our natural environments.

Under the Farm to Fork strategy and relative initiatives, the European Union aims at ensuring that agriculture contributes to combatting climate change and is sustainable for future generations. Those challenges transcend European borders and have to be addressed on an international level.

On 15 June 2021, at the EU-Canada Summit, EU and Canada leaders remarked that “under CETA, Canada and the EU cooperate to address climate change and other global environmental challenges”.

They officially launched “a series of joint events to promote sustainability, environmental stewardship and climate action in agriculture”, within the framework of the Agriculture Dialogue under the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

Through these joint events, the EU and Canada will exchange ideas and best practices on a number of topics, such as soil health, greenhouse gas reduction in livestock, organic farming, better use of fertilisers and sustainable crop protection.

Workshops dedicated to each topic will centre around the policy context (outlining problems, challenges, ambitions, actions) and showcase current best practices as well as research and innovation efforts on both sides aimed at finding solutions to address these topics.

Policymakers, farmers, researchers and representatives of EU Member States and Canadian provinces and territories will take part in events extending over two years, with a final report from each workshop feeding into a wrap-up event for the project.

The results of each workshop will be available, below:

Workshops

EU Canada Dialogue on Sustainable Agriculture – Young Farmers’ Perspectives - 3 December 2025

On 3 December 2025, EU and Canadian young farmers met in Ottawa and online to share their experiences and perspectives on the future of sustainable agriculture on both sides of the Atlantic.

Declining numbers of young people in rural areas remains a major challenge in both Europe and Canada. While rural areas are home to around 25% of the EU population, only 12% of EU farm holdings are managed by farmers under the age of 40. In Canada, the average age of farm operators has reached 56. Young farmers face significant barriers, notably in accessing land and establishing their own farms, despite playing a crucial role in addressing climate change, rural depopulation and the economic sustainability of agriculture.

This hybrid event, moderated by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), brought together young farmers from the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA) and Canadian Agricultural Youth Council (CAYC). Participants shared concrete examples of sustainable on-farm practices, followed by brief thematic discussions and breakout sessions focusing on agroecology, livestock farming, sustainable use of inputs, and the role of new agricultural technologies in supporting environmentally friendly farming practices.

The workshop highlighted testimonies and best practices led by young farmers from both sides of the Atlantic, illustrating how innovation and sustainability can go hand in hand at farm level. It also featured presentations by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development about the EU Strategy for Generational Renewal, followed by the Canadian perspective on generational renewal and new entrants, delivered by the AAFC. The topic of generational renewal sparked a discussion with interested farm youth leaders.

With the help of this initiative, the EU and Canada continue to exchange ideas and best practices on key issues such as soil health, greenhouse gas reduction in livestock farming, organic agriculture, improved fertiliser use and sustainable crop protection. By fostering exchanges between young farmers, the EU-Canada Dialogue on Sustainable Agriculture reinforces the importance of generational renewal and international cooperation in building a more sustainable and resilient agricultural sector.

Highlights from EU Agriculture Stakeholders Visit to Canada (2-6 June, 2025)

From 2-6 June 2025, a delegation of sixteen EU agricultural stakeholders (composed of industry representatives, researchers and EU officials) visited Canada for a study tour and policy dialogue organised jointly by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) as well as the European Commission's Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI). The visit included site tours in Alberta and Ontario, as well as the Ottawa stakeholder conference “Harvesting Opportunity: Sustainable Growth in the Canada–EU Agri-Food Partnership.” The purpose of the program was to exchange knowledge on sustainable agricultural practices, showcase innovation, and reinforce cooperation under the EU-Canada dialogue on sustainability, environmental stewardship and climate action in agriculture.

The study program began in Alberta at AAFC's Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, where participants saw how regionally grounded research supports climate resilience, including work on methane reduction in beef cattle and soil carbon sequestration. Visits to grain and cattle farms in southern Alberta highlighted practical applications of conservation tillage, rotational grazing, and biodiversity management. The delegation also engaged with the Blood Tribe/Kainai Nation, where Indigenous-led timothy hay production illustrated the integration of cultural values and export-oriented agribusiness.

In Ontario, the program continued with visits to dairy and grain farms, as well as a grain, crop input and feed supplier. These stops provided insights into methane monitoring in dairy systems, soil health practices such as cover cropping and no-till, as well as feed and fertiliser production in Eastern Canada. During the visits, Canada's producer-led innovation approach to sustainability and the role of Living Labs in testing and scaling beneficial management practices through farmer–scientist collaboration, were showcased.

The Ottawa conference on June 5 brought together Canadian and EU officials, farm representatives, researchers, and industry. Opening remarks by AAFC's Assistant Deputy Minister and the EU's Ambassador to Canada emphasised the value of bilateral cooperation. Keynotes and panel discussions underscored shared priorities such as integrating sustainability into trade, ensuring generational renewal in farming, and strengthening resilience against global uncertainty, with speakers highlighting the importance of predictable trade conditions, aligned standards, and innovation as drivers of sustainable growth. Both Canadian and European participants stressed the need for practical, locally relevant solutions, while recognising common challenges such as farm succession, climate adaptation, and consumer expectations.

Overall, the mission demonstrated the value of direct exchanges between policymakers, producers, and researchers. It showcased Canada's regionally adapted approaches to sustainable farming and underlined the complementarity with EU priorities on innovation, generational renewal, and trade fairness. Notably, the emphasis on peer-to-peer learning, mentorship networks, and producer-driven design in the Canadian Living Labs mirrors key priorities in the EU's own agroecological transition. The visit also reinforced the role of Horizon Europe as frameworks for advancing joint work on sustainable agriculture, with Living Labs identified as a key area for future cooperation.

Workshop on Food Loss and Waste 14 November 2024

The EU and Canada held a joint government-to-government workshop on identifying possible solutions, including harnessing innovation, to reduce Food Loss and Waste (FLW) across the agri-food supply chain. Both sides agreed on the urgent need to address the problem of food waste from an ethical, social, environmental and economic viewpoint.

View the report

See more information on International cooperation and agreements in EU agriculture

Stakeholders Conference EU-Canada Dialogue on sustainable agriculture - 5 December 2023

On 5th December 2023 around 90 participants from the EU and Canada came together in Brussels for a Conference, to take stock of what was achieved during the series of five workshops held between 2021 and 2023. Participants included researchers, academics, farmers, industry stakeholders, government officials, and not-for-profit representatives. The Conference noted that the workshops had contributed to establishing a better understanding of the policy context, ambitions and avenues the EU and Canada are taking on pressing sustainability challenges in agriculture and agri-food value chains. Participants called for continued collaboration between both sides in the future.

Outcomes report

Workshop on Sustainable Crop Protection - 25 April 2023

On 25 April 2023, 95 agricultural industry stakeholders from the EU and Canada came together in the Sustainable Crop Protection Workshop. Participants explored how farmers can get the most out of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan and mitigate the risks of sustainable pesticide use while balancing the costs in a changing climate.

Outcomes report

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