Ottawa, ON – Wine Growers Canada (WGC) and wineries from coast to coast applaud the federal government and welcomes the Wine Sector Support Program announced by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. This program writes a new chapter for Canada’s wine industry. It will have a positive impact on every winery in Canada, drive investment and innovation, grow grape demand, and allow our communities and economies to thrive.
Today, the Government of Canada provided the certainty that Canadian wineries need to keep on growing. “These last two years have been a challenge for Canada‘s wine industry: climate issues, restaurant and estate winery closures, record inflation, and continued competition from internationally subsidized wineries,” said Kelly Brown, Chair of Wine Growers Canada. “Thanks to the leadership of the Government of Canada, Canada’s wine industry is ready to grow back better.”
Wine Growers Canada worked diligently with officials and policy makers to develop a sufficiently funded, trade-compliant program that recognizes the economic potential of every grape grown on Canadian soil. Today, the Government of Canada announced up to $166 million over two years to support the grape-growing communities in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and PEI.
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau, and Minister of International Trade Mary Ng understand that our wineries, small and large, are a domestic industry we need to champion,” continued Dan Paszkowski, President and CEO, Wine Growers Canada. “Our members work so hard in the field and in their cellars to build a modern, robust, and sustainable wine industry because every dollar we put into our land and grapes spurs a real return on government investment through tax revenues.”
Wine Growers Canada would like to thank the departmental officials at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Finance Canada, and Global Affairs Canada for working diligently on a trade-compliant, fully funded program. The industry at large would like to recognize the leadership of Members of Parliament Dan Albas (Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola), Dean Allison (Niagara West), Tony Baldinelli (Niagara Falls), John Barlow (Foothills), Chris Bittle (St. Catharines), Kody Blois (King-Hants), Richard Cannings (South Okanagan—West Kootenay), Stephen Ellis (Cumberland-Colchester), Sean Fraser (Central Nova), Tracy Gray (Kelowna-Lake Country), Francesco Sorbara (Vaughan-Woodbridge), and Ryan Williams (Bay of Quinte) for their continued support.
For more information, please contact Rob Taylor at [email protected].