CFIA receives $163-million investment

The federal government is investing in Canada's food safety system.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)--the government agency responsible for "safeguarding food safety and plant and animal health, as well as facilitating international market access for Canadian products"-- will receive $162.6 million in federal funding over the next five years.

CFIA will also receive $40 million per year on an ongoing basis to "maintain the integrity of Canada's food safety system," according to a press release issued by the government last week.

The investment will support CFIA in four key areas: export certification to support market access, oversight of imports, domestic oversight and surveillance, and digitization.

"Our government is investing in the CFIA so that Canada continues to have the best food safety system in the world, with the best science to protect our natural resources and tools that help businesses keep up with the pace of trade," said Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau.

"It will help CFIA digitize their services and issue export certificates in a timely manner," Bibeau added. "It also means CFIA will have the tools necessary to guard our natural resources and agriculture sector from the threat of foreign pests and diseases."