Mar. 26, 2012, Toronto — Canadian flower growers can look forward to
expanding into new markets with financial support from the Government of
Canada.
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| Flowers Canada Growers executive director Dean Shoemaker presented MP John Carmichael with a bouquet following the announcement on Mar. 23. |
Mar. 26, 2012, Toronto — Canadian flower growers can look forward to
expanding into new markets with financial support from the Government of
Canada.
At the Canada Blooms Flower and Garden Festival on Mar. 23, Member of
Parliament John Carmichael (Don Valley West), on behalf of Agriculture
Minister Gerry Ritz, announced an investment of almost $380,000 for
Flowers Canada Growers (FCG) to cultivate new international market
opportunities.
"Our government's top priority remains the economy, and Canada's flower
growers play an important role in keeping our economy strong," said
Carmichael. "This investment will help increase awareness of the value
and quality of Canadian-grown flowers to help connect exporters with new
buyers, leading to increased profits for our growers."
An investment of more than $145,000 delivered to FCG through the
Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP), will go towards
improving access to new chrysanthemum genetics and developing an
economic impact study of the sector in Canada. An additional $95,000 is
being delivered to create a biosecurity and traceability strategy for
the floriculture sector in Ontario. This will provide flower growers
with tools to respond quickly to new and emerging quarantine threats, as
well as pathfind and pilot the solutions to these threats.
Nearly $140,000 will be invested through the AgriMarketing Program to
help FCG facilitate market exports and boost sales internationally, in
particular in the United States, Germany and the Netherlands. The
investment will help Canadian growers differentiate the high quality of
their products from others on the market, and promote them abroad.
"This funding will allow Canadian flower growers to better understand
their export market, share information with international buyers through
the directory of greenhouse growers and facilitate flower exports,"
said Dean Shoemaker, FCG executive director. "These projects will go a
long way in helping FCG enhance the profitability and competitiveness of
the floriculture industry as a whole and will contribute to the
economic sustainability of the sector by assisting floriculture
producers in maintaining their strong relationships in trade."
FCG represents greenhouse growers across Canada, as well as distributors
and importers/exporters dealing with cut flowers, potted plants,
bedding plants, cut greens and specialty supplies and services.
The industry brings in approximately $1.5 billion in farm-gate sales and
helps to sustain more than 20,000 full and part-time jobs across
Canada.
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