It is expected that over the next decade, Canada’s population will grow to 50 million people, and the world’s population will reach to 9 billion. With this surge in population, Canada’s agriculture sector will need to significantly increase production to meet both domestic and international demand. That demand comes at a time of economic uncertainty, considerable supply chain disruption, and with arable land continuing to disappear. The agriculture industry is experiencing increased input costs, changing climate conditions, shifting policies and regulations, new consumer trends, and a structural labour shortage. These factors create complexities for the industry’s major business operators.
Scotiabank has been supporting Canadian producers in the agriculture industry for over 190 years, and we understand that our clients know their industry best. Our role is to support our clients in their desired approaches to problems, at the right pace, with the right products and solutions to achieve their goals. We recognize that each agribusiness has a unique set of challenges, opportunities and limitations, including environmental and sustainability challenges.
While the Government of Canada has yet to set emission reduction targets for the agriculture sector, we expect targets will be established soon. In anticipation of this, Scotiabank has committed to several activities to support decarbonization:
- Sharing best practices relating to sustainability with our clients to support emissions reductions on farm operations.
- Promoting awareness and access to government incentives that enable improved energy efficiency and fuel switching.
- Showcasing activities of some of our producers to drive awareness and support for environmentally responsible farming.
- Providing support where needed to producers focused on making investments that improve the sustainability of their operations.
To further support our clients in their sustainability journeys, Scotiabank hosted a series of roundtable discussions in the spring of 2023 with a number of agriculture clients across Canada. The purpose of these discussions was to gain insights into the state of the agriculture industry today, including the challenges these clients face and the role the banking sector may play in confronting these challenges.
This publication, Cultivating Resilience: Supporting Canada’s Agriculture Industry to Achieve Sustainable Growth summarizes the key insights and takeaways from these discussions and explores new ways to help build resiliency and sustainability at the individual producer level, while supporting the profitable growth of Canada’s agriculture industry throughout the fast-changing decade ahead.
To learn more about Scotiabank’s Climate Commitments, visit our Climate Centre of Excellence.
To learn more about our Agricultural Banking solutions or to find an Agriculture Banking Specialist near you, click here.