Growing, harvesting, packing and marketing fruits and vegetables come with high overhead and capital costs – and Canada’s fruit and vegetable growers and sellers face additional financial risk due to a lack of financial protection from losses from bankrupt buyers.
Due to the high perishability of produce and the industry’s longer payment terms, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act does not provide a workable mechanism for when buyers of fresh produce become bankrupt. To make matters worse, the lack
of protection for produce sellers in Canada also means they can’t access this protection in the United States without incurring significant financial costs.
The Canadian fresh fruit and vegetable industry has advocated for a financial protection mechanism for many years. On June 8, 2022, CPMA enthusiastically welcomed the introduction of Bill C-280, the Financial Protection for Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Farmers Act, by Member of Parliament Scot Davidson (York–Simcoe). Read our press release here.
If passed, Bill C-280 would establish a deemed trust mechanism for fresh produce growers and sellers in Canada, ensuring payment in the case of buyer bankruptcy.
CPMA
and our partners have been working to advocate for all-party support of this
important legislation. It
is anticipated that Bill C-280 will be brought for final debate in the House of
Commons in fall 2023, before moving to the Senate.
To learn more about how you can get involved, contact Shannon Sommerauer, Director of Government Relations, at
ssommerauer@cpma.ca
Learn more about Bill c-280 and why financial protection legislation is needed in Canada