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Backlash Grows Over Plan to Close Seven Federal Agriculture Research Sites

AAFC says scientific operations could wind down over up to a year with 17 centres continuing nationwide.

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Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Headquarters in Ottawa on June 26, 2019. The organization confirmed that it would be shuttering seven federal research sites across Canada.
Officials in Lacombe County say the closure of an Agriculture Canada research facility will throw more than 100 people out of work.

Overview

  • The closures target centres in Guelph, Quebec City and Lacombe along with four satellite farms in Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
  • AAFC says about 665 department positions are being reduced and nearly 1,050 employees received notices, while the Agriculture Union reports roughly 500 affected members.
  • The union and farm organizations condemn the move as abrupt and harmful to research capacity, saying they were not consulted in advance.
  • A University of Guelph food-safety expert warns that losing the Guelph centre and its biosecure facility weakens outbreak prevention and raises risks of food-borne illness.
  • SaskOrganics reports the end of long-term organic and regenerative field trials in Swift Current, and the union notes two shuttered satellite farms date back to 1887.