On Thursday, Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, highlighted new investments in Budget 2022.

"We are improving the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to better meet the urgent need for workers while also ensuring greater protections for workers. We are also making investments to help entrepreneurs innovate and adopt new technologies to accelerate the green shift," said Bibeau.

With an investment of over $1 billion, Budget 2022 provides new funding for carbon sequestration, the adoption of clean technologies, science and research and climate mitigation practices.

Budget 2022 also improves access to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The budget proposes a number of measures to increase protections for workers, reduce administrative burdens for trusted repeated employers, and to ensure employers can quickly bring in the workers needed to fill short-term labour market gaps. This includes $29.3 million to introduce the Trusted Employer Model that will cut red tape for repeat employers who meet the highest standards for working and living conditions, protections, and wages in high-demand fields, allowing these businesses to respond quickly to fill short-term labour market gaps.

The government is also investing $15 billion to launch the new Canada Growth Fund that will attract tens of billions of dollars in private investment in Canadian industries and jobs. The Fund will support agriculture and all sectors of Canada's industrial base in reducing emissions, diversifying the economy, and bolstering Canada's exports by investing in the growth of low-carbon industries and new technologies. It will also support the restructuring of critical supply chains.

To improve the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, the Government will invest:

- $48.2 million to implement a new streamlined foreign worker program for agricultural and fish processing employers;
- $29.3 million to create a Trusted Employer model;
- $64.6 million to increase capacity to process employer applications within established service standards; and
- $14.6 million to make improvements to the quality of employer inspections and hold employers accountable for the treatment of workers.

Measures in Budget 2022 to fight climate change include:

- $330 million to triple the size of the Agricultural Clean Technology Program;
- $470 million to expand the Agricultural Climate Solutions program's On-Farm Climate Action Fund;
- $150 million for a resilient agricultural landscape program to support carbon sequestration, adaptation, and address other environmental co-benefits; and
- $100 million to support research in developing technologies and crop varieties that will allow for net-zero emission agriculture.

Further significant measures in Budget 2022 include:

- $1 billion to create and support the initial operations of an independent federal innovation and investment agency.
- $603.2 million to help build more resilient and efficient supply chains improve the ability of Canadian businesses to export their goods abroad; and deliver essential goods to our communities.
- $43.5 million to create the Canada Water Agency to work with provinces, territories, Indigenous communities, and other stakeholders to find the best ways to keep Canada's water safe, clean, and well-managed.
- $19.6 million in 2022-23 to sustain the Freshwater Action Plan.