Last week I authored an op-ed that spoke to the difficulties felt by Canada’s food, health, and consumer product manufacturers in light of recent announcements by well-known household brands to leave the Canadian marketplace. You can find it here for reference, https://bit.ly/485PuOP

Faced with mounting costs, overregulation, labour shortages, and a host of other challenges, it’s no surprise manufacturers are frustrated, uncertain about their future, and looking for answers. The good news is things can get better; however, it’s going to take some work and cooperation from government and retailers.

Strengthen Manufacturing Competitiveness

Chronic labour shortages are a significant challenge to our industry. This issue requires the expansion of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, however, that solves only part of the problem and misses the existing 45,000 vacant full-time positions in our sector.  We need to establish pathways to permanent residency for manufacturing workers, targeted immigration to fill these skills, and the establishment of tax credits for employer-led training. We must emphasize the importance of recognizing foreign credentials and investing in affordable housing, language support, public transit, and broadband services to integrate newcomers effectively. Furthermore, we need incentives to boost manufacturing investment and automation, including a national investment tax credit, (similar to the US) and streamlined technology adoption processes as outlined in the recommendations made by the National Supply Chain Task Force. Our industry thrives on seamless supply chains – now is the time to invest in transportation infrastructure. Tomorrow is simply too late.

Fewer Regulations/Smarter Choices

Regulations are a double-edged sword. While necessary for quality and safety, overregulation can choke innovation and growth. Our companies are constantly adjusting to new regulations on how to make, label, package, and sell their products.  It’s hard to keep up.  Cumulative and sometimes even contradictory changes in labelling requirements, packaging restrictions, and sustainability mandates increase frustration and costs for businesses. Thankfully, alternatives to traditional labels exist such as QR codes and SmartLabelTM . Government needs to embrace electronic labelling options that offer the promise of cost-effective and time-sensitive flexibility, enabling businesses to adapt to changing government demands. Government must also take clear and decisive steps aimed at enhanced regulatory coordination with other countries to ensure the quick and easy movement of essential goods like infant formula and pain medication. Given Canada’s relatively small market size, it is becoming increasingly difficult for global companies to justify Canada-specific product lines in a worldwide marketplace.

Implement a Comprehensive Grocery Code of Conduct

Over the past two years, FHCP and a wide variety of industry, retail, and government stakeholders have worked hard to get us where we are today – on the verge of implementing a code. It’s critical that we take it across the finish line, bringing fairness and equality to negotiations between manufacturers and retailers. The code is not designed to make large retailers less profitable or less successful, rather it creates a win-win-win environment for all stakeholders.  We can draw inspiration from the United Kingdom’s successful Grocery Supply Code of Practice, Through the code,  UK manufacturers improved economic certainty and profitability resulting in capital investment in manufacturing and product development.  The retailers’ margins improved allowing them to reinvest in operational competitiveness. Consumers won through a broader choice of products, product and packaging innovation, and better promotional pricing. Make no mistake, a Canadian code will demand a cultural change in the long-held dynamic between retailers and suppliers and a broad-based approach that includes the full range of products sold in a typical grocery store -- food, consumer goods, beauty, and health products, etc. Our shared efforts represent an opportunity for retailers to show commitment and leadership through their support and engagement in a mandatory, enforceable, and inclusive code, that reflects the integrated nature of Canada’s grocery channel. The continued reinforcement from federal, provincial, and territorial agriculture ministers and parliamentary committees underlines the urgency of our efforts.

Advance Circular Economy Principles

Canada must lead in sustainability. FHCP is deeply engaged in discussions with Environment and Climate Change Canada to work toward the adoption of circular economy principles, including the incorporation of recycled content standards and labeling for recyclability and compostability of plastic packaging. However, these measures must be well-coordinated to avoid conflicting with provincial efforts and should reflect the operational realities of the companies producing products as well as align to rules set internationally. I believe targets should be ambitious yet feasible falling within timelines that take into account outside factors like recycling capacity. A $100 million recycling infrastructure fund to build necessary capacity and promote recycling initiatives in alignment with the government’s environmental goals would help immensely.

Champion Self-Care

A national self-care strategy is not just about well-being; it’s about economic sense too. By implementing a consistent, risk-based framework for over-the-counter products, natural health products, and cosmetics with health claims, Canada can harness substantial savings, increase labour productivity, better manage medication shortages and alleviate pressures on the healthcare system. Government knows this and needs to align the Self-Care framework with cost recovery efforts to ensure a resilient health products sector, successful product developments, and innovation in the sector.

Strengthening Canada’s food, health, and consumer product industries is a long game built upon the promise of more capital investment, more jobs, and the necessary security of our food, health, and consumer products. With the measures listed above applied, we have a fighting chance of keeping the brands and manufacturing we have today and building into the future. If not, we will become a distribution nation for products made elsewhere. It is worth the effort to make these changes and ensure a robust food, health, and consumer goods manufacturing sector in Canada for generations to come.

This op-ed was originally published on LinkedIn.