46.5% of Canadians prioritize affordability when buying food and only 2.3% prioritize environmental impact, according to a Dalhousie University survey. Despite this, the CANZA alliance aims to bring climate-smart practices to 14% of Canada's farmland by 2050.
Affordability is the main concern for Canadians when buying food, far above environmental impact. According to a survey conducted earlier this year by the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, 46.5% of people mention it as their top consideration when buying food, while barely 2.3% prioritize "environmental impact".
Cutting emissions in agriculture and the goal of net zero agriculture took center stage when Justin Trudeau was prime minister and Joe Biden was president. Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Agriculture Canada are focused on production, exports and economic growth in the sector.
The United States abandoned emission reductions in agriculture after Donald Trump took the presidency in 2025. In April of that year, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins called climate-smart agriculture a "green scam" and cancelled the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative. "The Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative was largely built to advance the 'green scam' for the benefit of NGOs, not American farmers," Rollins said.
Canada's Agriculture Minister, Health MacDonald, has not used that kind of hostile language, but so far in 2026, cutting emissions on farms is barely mentioned at Agriculture Canada.
Even so, many groups and companies remain dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Canadian agriculture. Among them is the Canadian Alliance for Net Zero Agriculture (CANZA), based in Toronto, which aims to expand climate-smart agriculture to 14% of Canada's farmland by 2050. That would represent one in every six acres in the country, with farmers following regenerative or climate-smart practices.
"Our focus is on developing and scaling solutions that can reduce emissions, improve environmental outcomes and create new value across the agri-food system," said Ashley Honsberger, CANZA's interim executive director.
The alliance, which includes corporate heavyweights such as RBC, Maple Leaf Foods, McCain and Loblaws, is pressing on with its work despite the shift in government policy priorities toward agricultural productivity and agri-food exports. "Reducing agricultural emissions requires action on farms, supported by collaboration among industry, government and other partners," Honsberger said. "It remains to be seen how the new policy framework (for Canadian agriculture) will translate into programs and investments, but the importance of collaboration among farmers, industry, government and philanthropy has not changed."
