If there’s one phrase I’d eliminate from our collective vocabulary for a year, it would be status quo.
The seed sector has spent too long circling around the same debates, the same structural issues, and the same inertia. The truth is simple: status quo is not an option if we want a competitive future.
We’re living in an era where innovation is moving faster than ever before. Farmers around the world are gaining access to new varieties, digital tools, and on-seed technologies that change how food is grown, marketed, and consumed. Meanwhile, Canada risks tying its own hands with outdated regulatory approaches and hesitation on the value creation question. Standing still in this environment isn’t neutral — it’s falling behind.
Innovation Doesn’t Happen for Free
The biggest threat to innovation in seed isn’t a lack of ideas or talent. It’s the failure to recognize that breeders must be compensated for their work. Breeding is a long, expensive, and risky endeavour. Without fair and predictable returns, investment dries up. And when investment dries up, the pipeline of new varieties slows to a trickle.
Other countries have figured this out. They’ve built systems that reward breeders and channel resources back into research. Canada is still trying to have the conversation. Until we stop treating this as optional, we will continue to limit the very innovation farmers are demanding.
Stop Pretending What’s Broken is Working
There’s another uncomfortable truth we need to face: our regulatory system isn’t agile enough to get innovation to farmers quickly.
Seed regulatory modernization has been simmering for five years. The industry has been clear in its feedback: make the system nimble, make it responsive, make it work. Canadian growers deserve access to innovation at the same pace as their global competitors. Anything less is unacceptable.
A Golden Microphone to Farmers
If I had the chance to broadcast one message across every Canadian farm, it would be this: be optimistic — because change is coming, and it’s coming fast.
Innovation isn’t only about the seed itself anymore. The genetics in and technologies applied to the seed matters, but equally transformative are the digital tools and artificial intelligence systems that will define the next decade of agriculture.
Artificial intelligence is the true inflection point for our sector. We are at the beginning of a revolution in how breeding is done, how testing is analyzed, and how innovations reach the market.
In 10 years, we’ll look back on this moment as the start of a transformation. Breeders will be able to model traits with accuracy we can’t imagine today. Farmers will see products arrive in the marketplace faster, backed by data-driven insights that strip away uncertainty. The Canadian seed sector has a chance to lead — but only if we stop dragging our feet.
It’s Time to Reward Investment and Ingenuity
Seed regulatory modernization is entering its decisive stage. After a five-year consultation, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has released its Seed Regulatory Modernization (SRM) Policy paper, and Seeds Canada responded in kind.
While we’re encouraged that CFIA has embraced our seed advisory body concept that we have united with the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association on, we’re also concerned that the document’s proposed changes fall short of meaningfully improving farmers’ access to seed or reducing seed costs through regulatory streamlining.
We need structural, meaningful change that creates an environment where innovation can thrive. That means streamlining approvals, reducing barriers, and ensuring that the rules of the game reward investment and ingenuity.
Farmers can’t afford to wait another five years for clarity. Neither can the companies and public breeders investing their time and capital into Canada’s future. The global marketplace won’t pause while we debate — it’s moving forward every day.
The Canadian seed sector has everything it needs to succeed: world-class science, dedicated farmers, innovative companies, and an industry that believes in the value of progress. What we lack is urgency.
Status quo is the enemy of progress. It’s the anchor holding us back when we should be sprinting forward. The question isn’t whether change is needed — it’s whether we’ll be bold enough to make it.
