The new National Food Security Strategy is a genuine milestone, and I don't say that lightly. For years, those of us in this industry have argued that food security and economic security are the same conversation, and that Canada needs to make far more of what it grows. The strategy says that out loud, and it puts real money behind it. That deserves to be recognized.

At its core, the strategy gets one big idea right: Canada should make more of what it grows. We are one of the world's great agricultural nations, and for too long we've shipped raw commodities out the door only to buy them back as finished products made somewhere else. A new billion-dollar processing fund through Farm Credit Canada, real investment in domestic processing capacity, and a clear goal of putting more Canadian food on Canadian shelves are exactly the kinds of commitments this moment called for.

I want to build on that, because there's a part of this conversation that doesn't get enough attention. When most people picture food, they think of the perimeter of the grocery store: the produce, the meat counter, the dairy case. A lot of the strategy lives there too, and that matters. But walk a few steps further in. The aisles in the middle, what we call centre store, are where families actually fill most of their carts. The pantry staples, the canned and frozen goods, the sauces, the cereals, the snacks, the baked goods, the everyday packaged products that get a household through the week. That's not a side category. It's the core of the grocery basket, and it's the core of what Canadian food manufacturers make.

Centre store is also where a surprising amount of our economic opportunity sits. Take one example the government itself raised. Canada exports more than $700 million worth of fresh tomatoes a year, and then turns around and imports over $500 million in processed tomato products. Those cans, jars, and sauces are centre store. We grow the tomato here and import the value back. Now multiply that across dozens of categories, and you start to see the size of the prize. Every one of those products we make here instead of importing means a more resilient supply chain, a more affordable option on the shelf, and a job in a Canadian community.

This matters because food manufacturing is the largest manufacturing sector in the country. It employs more than 350,000 Canadians, it's the biggest customer our farmers have, and it's where what we grow becomes something with real economic value. So if we're serious about "more Canada on the shelf," centre store capacity has to be part of the plan, not an afterthought to the fresh aisle.

So what does it actually take to get those investments built here?

I keep coming back to a few things. None of them are flashy, and all of them are decisive. First, capital that works at the speed and scale of business, for everyone. The new financing is welcome, and the real test will be whether a mid-sized Canadian processor can access it on a timeline that matches an actual investment decision, not just whether a global multinational can. Some of the largest food companies in the world are already choosing to invest in Canadian production, and Canadian-owned manufacturers are quietly putting money into their own plants and adding capacity too. That's a genuine shift, and it's worth building on. The goal has to be a system where our small and mid-sized makers can grow right alongside the biggest players.

Second, treat Canada like one market. We tell ourselves we have a single national market, but for a manufacturer it can still feel like ten. Different provincial rules for things like packaging and recycling mean more product variations, more compliance, and more cost, and that overhead lands hardest on the companies with the least room to absorb it. Fixing it is one of the most powerful affordability levers we have, and it doesn't cost a dollar of new spending.

Third, modern and predictable regulation. Faster approvals, fewer backlogs, and enough consistency that companies aren't re-engineering their plans every time a rule shifts. I'd add one idea worth adopting outright: assess major new regulations for what they do to the cost of food, the same way we weigh fiscal and environmental impacts. Protecting Canada's high safety standards and improving affordability are not in conflict, and we shouldn't act as though they are.

None of this takes away from what was announced. The strategy is a strong foundation, and more than that, it's a signal that Canada is finally treating its food sector as the strategic asset it is. I'm genuinely optimistic about that.

But foundations are meant to be built on. If we want this momentum to show up where it matters most, on the shelf and at the checkout, then the centre of the store, and the Canadian companies that stock it, need to be right at the heart of the plan.