With a CSGA reception, a forward-looking sustainability discussion, and real engagement with federal decision-makers, this week is all about momentum — and making it count.
This week, Seed World Canada is in Ottawa for the Interprovincial Seed Growers Meeting hosted by the Ontario Seed Growers Association (OSGA), and the timing couldn’t be more significant. The nation’s capital isn’t just where policy gets made — it’s where momentum builds, narratives shift, and industries that show up get heard. And right now, the seed industry needs to be heard loud and clear.
For years, growers, developers, and seed companies across the country have warned that the groundwork we lay today will determine Canada’s agricultural competitiveness for decades to come. Ottawa is where these ideas gain traction — or stall. That’s why being here is more than an obligation. It’s strategic.
A Sector at the Crossroads
The seed sector sits at a pivotal moment. With regulatory modernization continuing to evolve, plant breeding innovation accelerating, and global competitors moving quickly, Canada’s leadership hinges on engagement. We can’t influence from a distance.
Interprovincial meetings bring together the people who understand that reality best: the provincial seed grower associations that form the backbone of certified seed production and grassroots policy direction. But bringing that discussion to Ottawa gives it weight. It ensures federal ears hear provincial voices — and that those voices are aligned.
As the sector navigates updates to seed regulations, variety registration reform, and intellectual property frameworks, the need for unified national understanding has never been greater.
Going to Question Period: Why It Matters
Part of this week’s agenda includes attending Question Period tomorrow, an experience that is equal parts political theatre and a masterclass in how federal power dynamics shape agricultural priorities. I’m really looking forward to it, as it will be a first for me.
It’s an opportunity to see firsthand how MPs frame issues that matter. Engagement is not a spectator sport. The future of seed regulations, research investment, rural economic development, and sustainability programs will be shaped by the people in those seats. If we want strong, modern, science-based policy, we need to keep showing up.
The Industry-Government Reception: Building the Relationships That Make Policy Possible
Tomorrow’s Canadian Seed Growers’ Association (CSGA) Industry & Government Reception, attended by senators, MPs, and seed industry stakeholders, is another crucial part of the week.
These receptions aren’t just social gatherings. They are strategically designed spaces where the industry can humanize its message, share real-world pressures and opportunities, and build rapport with policymakers.
This is where conversations become commitments, where priorities become political, and where the people shaping legislation gain a better understanding of the sector they’re shaping it for.
Policy doesn’t move on its own — it moves on relationships. And this reception is where many of those relationships begin or deepen.
Moderating a Sustainability Panel: Why It Fits Into the Ottawa Agenda
On Wednesday, I’ll be moderating a panel discussion on a topic that is becoming impossible to ignore: how seed sector stakeholders — and agriculture more broadly — can really make sustainability pay off for itself.
Discussing sustainability in Ottawa, in a week full of political engagement, reinforces that the seed industry is not only here to talk regulations and production — we’re here to talk about the future of agricultural economics. It shows that our sector understands the stakes and is carving out a proactive role in shaping what comes next.
Seed might start in the soil, but its governance starts in Ottawa. When we bring provincial voices to the national stage, we demonstrate what our industry has always known: unity drives progress.
This week in Ottawa represents precisely the kind of engagement the future demands.
Seed World Canada is here because these conversations matter. Because visibility matters. Because if we aren’t in the room, someone else will define the trajectory of what we do.
