The interactive program prioritizes the challenges and opportunities that are key to unlocking a more resilient, competitive future for the agriculture and food sector in Canada. Featuring dynamic formats such as keynotes, roundtables, workshops and a range of networking opportunities, the Food Leadership Summit will provide numerous opportunities to address challenges, drive collaboration, and deliver great outcomes no matter where you are in the value chain.
Food Leadership Summit Welcome and Opening
Join us as we officially open the 2025 Food Leadership Summit in Calgary. The ceremony will begin with a host welcome and Land Acknowledgement, followed by opening remarks from Indigenous leadership of the local nations whose traditional territory we are honoured to gather upon.
This powerful moment sets the tone for two days of bold collaboration—bringing together leaders from across Canada’s food and agriculture system to build a more competitive, resilient, and secure future. Your voice belongs at the table.
What Does a Competitive, Resilient, Secure Agriculture and Food Future Look Like?
At the Food Leadership Summit, we’re bringing together the full food value chain to shape a competitive, resilient, and secure future for Canada’s agriculture and food sector. But what do these words really mean in action?
In this spark talk style mainstage session, leaders from across and beyond the agriculture and food ecosystem will share their perspectives on what these terms look like in practice.
Before stepping into the full summit experience, pause here. Consider the voices shared, reflect on your own lens, and carry these insights forward to shape deeper dialogues and connections throughout the summit.
Feeding the Future: A Food Security Simulation
The year is 2035. Droughts and extreme heat ravage major agricultural regions globally. Staple food crops fail. Supply chains falter, resulting in empty grocery store shelves and never-before-seen food price volatility. Food insecurity has hit an all-time high in Canada, more than 50% of Canadians are food insecure.
You’ve been selected to serve on the national agriculture and food security task force. Now what?
Join us for an immersive, hands-on session where you’ll step into the shoes of a national agriculture and food security task force member navigating this food security crisis. Together, we’ll explore how to lead through uncertainty, proactively prepare for complex disruptions before they arise and learn what it takes to foster a more resilient, inclusive, and innovative agriculture and food future for all.
All are welcome. This session may be especially insightful if you’re interested in agriculture and food systems resilience and navigating volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous futures.
Removing Obstacles to Domestic Trade
Canada’s agriculture and food system still faces trade barriers between provinces, often making it harder to do business at home than abroad. While some progress has been made, many regulatory and infrastructure hurdles remain. Accelerating this momentum and expanding solutions across the system are key to reducing costs and boosting growth.
In this roundtable, industry leaders, policymakers, and experts will explore how to scale up efforts and build a more connected, competitive domestic market.
Conflict and Crisis: Learning from Disruption to Build a Stronger Agriculture and Food Future
Unprecedented is the new precedented. From COVID-19 to climate-driven disasters to shifting trade dynamics, recent disruptions have tested Canada’s agriculture and food system in unprecedented ways. The agriculture and food sector has persevered, continuing to feed communities at home and abroad, but this external volatility is likely to remain constant.
This roundtable will explore recent events that have tested the resilience of the Canadian economy and identify key lessons we can apply to the agriculture and food system. Participants will also look beyond the agriculture and food sector, drawing insights from other industries that have faced similar disruptions, to identify cross-sector strategies that can help shape a more responsive and resilient Canadian agriculture and food system.
Critical Links: Modernizing Canada’s Agriculture and Food Transportation Infrastructure
Canada excels in primary agriculture, but much of its food processing and distribution infrastructure, including ports, rail, trucking and food terminals, dates back to the 1950s and is in urgent need of modernization. These gaps are holding back economic growth, increasing our reliance on imports, creating major inefficiencies, and reducing resilience to the ever-increasing number of global disruptions. Improving agriculture and food transportation across the country and to export markets is key to boosting competitiveness and sustainability of Canada’s agriculture and food systems.
This roundtable conversation will examine practical ways Canada can update its transportation infrastructure critical to the agriculture and food sector and create solutions for a more efficient and future-ready agriculture and food system.
Fueling the Future: Lessons from the Energy Sector
The energy and agriculture and food sectors may seem worlds apart, but they share striking similarities: both are central to national security, critical drivers of Canada’s economy, and undergoing profound change. Each faces mounting pressures, including decarbonization, infrastructure renewal, supply chain resilience, and the growing need for sectoral collaboration. As the energy sector navigates its transition, it offers a valuable blueprint for how agriculture and food systems might evolve.
At this mainstage session, hear from energy leaders as they explore transferable lessons that can help agriculture and food leaders chart their own strategic transition.
Investing in What’s on Our Plates
To grow our agriculture and food systems, we must finance them. Capital is beginning to move, but accelerating this transition will take forward-thinking collaboration: connecting finance and agriculture and food in new ways, designing innovative investment pathways, and building the foundations for long-term resilience and growth.
This roundtable conversation with finance sector actors and agriculture and food system leaders will look to shape the future of agriculture and food finance as we explore how to scale investment to not only meet today’s needs, but to finance the transition ahead.
Smarter Systems: Accelerating AI in Agriculture and Food
Industries across the board are adopting AI to boost efficiency, reduce waste, and adapt to a rapidly changing world—and the agriculture and food sector must keep pace. With growing pressure from climate risks, shifting trade dynamics, and rising costs, technology adoption is essential to staying competitive. AI is already delivering measurable value across the agriculture and food system, from production to processing to retail, but these efforts need dedicated efforts from those across the value chain to grow and accelerate.
Join us for an interactive session with live demos and discussions on how to accelerate AI adoption and apply it across your organization to improve efficiencies and drive impact across the value chain.
Canada’s Unsung Powerhouse: Agriculture and Food on our National Agenda
As global agriculture and food systems face mounting pressure and competition intensifies, Canada stands at a pivotal moment to turn its agriculture and food strengths into a core pillar of its national economic strategy. The sector already employs 1 in 9 Canadians and contributes over $150 billion to GDP—surpassing the auto and steel sectors combined—yet it often goes unsung in conversations about the country’s economic identity. In the face of rising protectionism, productivity challenges, and shifting trade dynamics, Canada must act now to position its agriculture and food sector as a catalyst for economic growth, investment attraction, trade diversification, and job creation.
This is a unique moment to craft a compelling, made-in-Canada narrative that not only highlights our natural and technological advantages in agriculture and food but also responds directly to the global demand for reliable, sustainable supply chains. In this roundtable, we’ll work to define that vision and build an actionable path forward to ensure Canada’s long-term relevance, resilience, and leadership in the global agriculture and food economy.
Pathways to Collaboration: Strengthening Collective Action Across Canada’s Agriculture and Food System
Canada’s agriculture and food system is made up of many individual efforts to create a more resilient agriculture and food system, but without coordination, our impact remains limited. Moving from isolated action to collective impact is essential to build a truly resilient and reliable agriculture and food system.
Join us for this interactive workshop where participants will explore the barriers that limit collaboration and identify the opportunities within them for shared action. Through shared visioning, cross-sector dialogue, and practical solution-building, participants will discover new entry points for cooperation and co-create pathways toward aligned, system-wide action.
Growing Canada’s Global Agriculture and Food Leadership: Reflections from the Summit
Canada has the potential to lead the world in sustainable agriculture and food production, innovation, and exports—but how do we turn that potential into global influence?
Discover key takeaways from conversations held throughout the Food Leadership Summit, offering timely insights and fresh perspectives on Canada’s role in the global agriculture and food system. Hear from leaders shaping the future of Canadian agriculture and food as they explore how we can collaborate to navigate international markets, advance sustainability, lead with purpose, and deliver a bold, “Made-in-Canada” vision on the world stage.
What Canada Thinks: Public Perception of the Agriculture and Food System
What do Canadians really think about the agriculture and food system —and how is it perceived in the broader context of Canada’s future?
In this mainstage session, we’ll examine what drives trust, where disconnects exist, and how the agriculture and food system can more effectively reach and resonate with Canadians. From shifting consumer priorities to the growing politicization of agriculture and food and climate issues, This conversation will help leaders understand how to build stronger public connections, reduce polarization, and create a more informed and engaged pathway toward a competitive, secure and resilient agriculture and food future.
Putting Agriculture and Food on the Ballot: An ‘Ask Us Anything’ on Politics and Policy
Agriculture and food security are national priorities—but they often struggle for political attention. As Canada’s political landscape shifts, the opportunity to elevate agriculture and food on the national agenda is growing.
In this ‘Ask Me Anything’ session, a multipartisan group of seasoned political insiders will bring sharp insight and deep policy experience to your questions. Together, we will explore where agriculture and food fits amid fiscal pressures and partisan change, and how to elevate them on the national agenda.
This is your opportunity to engage directly and explore what it takes to drive agriculture and food leadership across governments.
Bringing Aquaculture into Focus: Growing Visibility and Investment in Canadian Seafood
Seafood production, through both wild capture fisheries and aquaculture, is critical to Canada’s economy, food security, and sustainable development, yet it is often left out of national food and agriculture system conversations. Implementing innovative new practices, rebuilding wild fish stocks over the long term, and investing in science to better understand marine ecosystems will help Canada realize its potential as a global leader in sustainable seafood farming and generate significant economic gains.
This roundtable will explore strategies to position Canada’s seafood industry as a central part of the national agriculture and food system by increasing its visibility, attracting investment, and integrating it more fully into our agricultural and food policies.
Seed to Spoon: A Farmer-to-Chef Conversation
At Day Two’s Lunch and Learn engage in a dynamic farmer-to-chef conversation that traces the full supply chain from the food’s origins to landing on your plate, celebrating the unique culture, creativity, and collaboration that brings food to life. This dialogue between growers and culinary leaders will explore how the science of farming meets the art of cooking, demonstrating the hands-on work and innovation behind every ingredient.
Over your midday meal, witness the innate connection between those who grow our food and those who craft it, as they share how each step, rooted in both agronomy and artistry, fuels flavour, resiliency, and community.
Investing in Resilience: Funding Climate-Smart Practices
Adopting climate-smart practices is essential to building a resilient agriculture and food system—but financing these transitions remains a major barrier for farmers and the broader value chain. Despite growing interest in sustainability, many solutions fail to align incentives, de-risk innovation, or create long-term value across stakeholders.
In this interactive roundtable, farmers, financiers, food companies, policymakers, and supporting organizations will explore what “good” financing looks like from multiple perspectives. Together, participants will identify gaps, co-design scalable funding models, and develop shared principles for financing climate action in agriculture.
Activating Supply and Demand at Scale: The Final Piece of the Climate-Smart Puzzle
Climate-smart agriculture won’t scale without coordinated action across the entire agriculture and food system. As collaboration and financing continue to evolve, the last challenge is aligning supply and demand to unlock real, system-wide outcomes.
In this workshop, participants from across the agriculture and food ecosystem will build on insights from earlier sessions to co-create actionable, case-based solutions. Together, you’ll map how key actors like farmers, buyers, financiers, and policymakers, can work in sync to scale impact, overcome barriers, and take practical next steps toward a resilient, outcomes-driven agriculture and food system.
Join us as we officially open the 2025 Food Leadership Summit in Calgary. The ceremony will begin with a host welcome and Land Acknowledgement, followed by opening remarks from Indigenous leadership of the local nations whose traditional territory we are honoured to gather upon.
This powerful moment sets the tone for two days of bold collaboration—bringing together leaders from across Canada’s food and agriculture system to build a more competitive, resilient, and secure future. Your voice belongs at the table.
Carbon Café: A B2B Marketplace for Market Driven Climate Solutions
Canada’s agriculture and food system represents a largely untapped opportunity to advance climate goals through federal, provincial, and voluntary carbon market mechanisms. Yet a fragmented landscape—marked by varied rules, verification processes, and revenue models—creates uncertainty and missed opportunities. Cross-sector dialogue is urgently needed to clarify these systems and unlock both environmental and economic value.
In this dynamic networking session, participants will engage in a reverse pitch and world café format to demystify carbon markets in Canada’s agriculture and food system. Join agriculture and food leaders, technology providers, and policymakers to exchange insights, explore market opportunities, and build partnerships to unlock both climate and economic benefits.
The Farmer’s Table: Stories Behind the Food on Your Plate
Two farmers from different provinces will share how their regionally different operations are united by a common goal: transforming agriculture through innovation, sustainability, and deep collaboration across the entire supply chain. They’ll highlight how partnerships—from soil to plate—are key to building a more resilient and secure agriculture and food system.
of the Workforce: An Intergenerational Conversation
The future of agriculture and food systems depends on the people who power it. What does the next generation of talent need to thrive? How can today’s employers create the most productive performance cultures?
In this interactive session, industry leader Kim McConnell sits down with young leaders for an open conversation and “ask me anything” on the future of the workforce in food and agriculture. Together, they’ll explore shifting employer expectations, the skills and values shaping tomorrow’s leaders, and the challenges young professionals face as they step into an evolving, agriculture and food system.
Closing Mainstage: From Insight to Impact
Join us for the closing mainstage as we celebrate our shared commitment to a more competitive, secure and resilient agriculture and food system in Canada. Together, we will reflect on the outcomes from our transformative discussions at the 2025 Food Leadership Summit and translate them into actionable strategies that will create impact going forward.
