As per the federal government’s announcement of August 16, 2019, dairy farmers across Canada will be paid $1.75B over eight years as compensation for the losses to Canadian dairy farmers due to the impact of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) trade agreements. For the first year of the direct payment program, $345M will be paid out directly to producers. 

Here’s a summary of the process, which is only for the first year of the program: 

What is the total funding for the first year? 

  • The $345M payment will be allocated by province based on each province’s share of the total P10 quota. The government will not withhold any funds for administration, the entire $345M will be paid to producers. 
  • BC’s estimated share will be just over $30M. The payments will be distributed directly to producers based on their share of the province’s issued quota; this calculation will be managed by the Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC). 

How will compensation payments be calculated? 

  • The compensation payments will be based on Continuous Daily Quota (CDQ) or Specialty Continuous Daily Quota (SCDQ) that is producer-owned and/or was issued by the Board. 
  • Compensation is not applicable to Dairy Innovation Program (DIP) quota. 
  • Compensation is not applicable to organic sleeve quota. 
  • The payments will be taxable income. 

How will I get paid? 

  • The BCMMB will share producer contact information with the CDC, as well as quota holdings for each producer, as at August 31, 2019. 
  • The CDC will develop an online application for producers to login personally and register for the payment and provide their banking information. However, there will be options for those who do not have internet access. 
  • Producers will be able to choose a payment in 2019 or by March 31, 2020 (the end of the government fiscal year). There will be one single payment for year one. Payments will be made to the applicable quota-holder only. 
  • We will communicate more details as soon as they are made available. The Board will continue to work with the CDC to ensure that the payments are rolled out as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

For more information, please see the Government of Canada’s Q and A document. 

Please also see Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) website: AAFC FAQs 

If you have questions about this notice, please contact vcrites@bcmilk.com

Category: Producer Notices (Conv. & Org.)