The Manitoba government has officially signed onto the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP).

The new five-year agricultural policy is a multilateral agreement with the Government of Canada. A bilateral agreement is also in the works.

“The Canadian Agricultural Partnership will help the agriculture and agri-food sector to continue to innovate, grow and prosper,” said Federal Ag Minister Lawrence MacAulay. “The Government of Canada is proud to support this partnership with the provincial and territorial governments, which will help create opportunities for our farmers, ranchers and processors, while providing good paying jobs for Canadians.”

The agreement includes government commitments to continue business risk-management programs such as AgriInsurance, AgriStability and AgriInvest.

“I am pleased with our shared progress on implementing the Canadian Agricultural Partnership in Manitoba and signing the multilateral agreement is an important milestone,” said Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler. “This framework will provide even greater opportunities for Manitoba’s ag sector. Our government’s goal is to ensure a seamless transition to the partnership’s programs when it comes into effect this spring.”

In Manitoba, CAP will invest a total of $176 million. The $3-billion federal-provincial-territorial investment will come into effect on April 1, 2018 replacing Growing Forward 2.

It focuses on six priority areas including:

-science, research and innovation
-markets and trade
-environmental sustainability and climate change
-value-added agriculture and agri-food processing
-public trust
-risk management