The P10 Pooling Committee and the Canadian Dairy Commission have been leading the development of the Market Growth Program (MGP), an initiative to support investments in Canada’s dairy processing sector. The program intends to align the program with implementation of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Dairy Innovation and Investment Fund. The MGP aims to stimulate and support the development of processing projects that reduce Canada’s “structural surplus” of solids non-fat, which is projected to reach over a billion litres of skim milk by 2035 if current growth in butterfat demand continues, and to support market growth for dairy products. The MGP includes three support streams: the pre-production stream, the milk supply stream and the excess capacity stream.
Industry consultation took place this spring and the program was presented at the July 20, 2023 Canadian Milk Supply Management Committee (CMSMC) meeting in Ottawa. However, it was agreed that the details of the program need further discussion, especially concerning the milk supply and the excess capacity streams. CMSMC members agreed to revisit the pending elements at the CMSMC meeting in October 2023 for a decision.