Canada has unveiled its first National Food Security Strategy, aiming to strengthen the country’s resilience by addressing key aspects of food production and distribution. The plan, backed by more than C$3 billion over a decade, seeks to reduce the dominance of five major grocery chains controlling 75% of the market, enhance food terminals and hubs, increase domestic processing capacity, and expand year-round production through greenhouses and vertical farming.

While the strategy has been praised for acknowledging the structural challenges within Canada’s food system, experts have noted a significant omission: the limited focus on soil health and its role in agricultural productivity. Although the plan dedicates substantial resources to infrastructure and supply chain improvements, it largely overlooks investment in the underlying agricultural land—the living topsoil essential for growing the country’s crops.

According to the strategy, farmers receive about 11 cents of every dollar Canadians spend on food, compared with 23 cents for processors and 16 cents for retailers. This disparity has encouraged an emphasis on downstream investments to improve market control and food accessibility. However, critics argue that the 11 cents representing farmers’ share is tied fundamentally to soil productivity, which cannot be sustained without protecting and enhancing soil health.

The strategy acknowledges climate-related risks, citing Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) projections of a potential 16% global reduction in corn yields by mid-century and recalling the 2021 drought that cut Prairie wheat production by 37%. In response, the government has earmarked C$750 million for greenhouses and vertical farms, which are effective for vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers but do not replace staple field crops like wheat, canola, and pulses that form the core of Canadian agriculture and exports.

Experts highlight soil’s role in climate resilience, noting that healthy soil retains more water and stores carbon, providing a buffer against drought and supporting sustainable crop production. The strategy also points out Canada’s reliance on imported fertilizer—about 35% of supply comes from abroad, with a quarter of global traded nitrogen passing through the Strait of Hormuz—underscoring vulnerabilities in the food supply chain. Reducing fertilizer dependency through improved soil health could enhance agricultural sovereignty by lowering input needs without sacrificing yields.

In March, Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald introduced a separate National Agricultural Soil Health Strategy in collaboration with the Soil Conservation Council of Canada, reinforced by Senator Robert Black’s Bill S-230, the National Strategy for Soil Health Act. This legislation, which has passed the Senate and awaits consideration in the House of Commons, aims to recognize soil as a national asset critical to food security. However, the food security strategy makes scant reference to this parallel initiative, revealing a disconnect between two programs within the same department that share the goal of securing Canada’s food future.

One of the key proposals to strengthen coordination lies in data improvement. The soil health strategy prioritizes enhanced data collection, yet the food security plan lacks concrete commitments to measure soil carbon, monitor degradation, or identify vulnerable areas. Without accurate and detailed soil information, farmers and policymakers cannot effectively manage or protect this critical resource.

Experts call for integrating these efforts by linking the food security strategy more closely with soil health initiatives, supported by investments that treat soil conservation as both a climate action and productivity measure. While infrastructure and processing facilities serve important functions, Canada's capacity to feed itself ultimately depends on nurturing the thin, often overlooked layer of soil beneath its agricultural lands.