Glacier FarmMedia – The recent Manitoba budget includes investments to support the province’s agricultural producers in the face of U.S. and Chinese-imposed tariffs, provincial finance minister Adrien Sala announced last week.
The new budget lays out a tariff contingency plan with hundreds of millions of dollars in support to help businesses and agricultural producers pivot to new markets, help workers skill up and find good jobs and support Manitoba’s canola farmers and pork producers facing tariff threats from the United States and China, he said.
Follow all our coverage of the tariffs situation here
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Last year, more than 70 per cent of international exports from Manitoba went to the U.S. and 7.7 per cent went to China, according to the provincial government. Likewise, almost 74 per cent of the province’s international imports come from the U.S. and 5.4 per cent from China, the next largest source, according to a presentation by the province’s Treasury Board Secretariat prior to Sala’s comments.
Looking just at agri-food, Manitoba Agriculture reports that $4.29 billion of Manitoba’s overall $9.28 billion in exports went to the U.S., and that Manitoba agri-food exports to our southern neighbour have grown an average of 4.5 per cent annually every year for the last decade.
The province’s tariff response includes a $3.7 billion strategic infrastructure plan, with more than $140 million set aside for business risk management programming for producers.
Loans will be increased and provisions guaranteed by $380 million. The revenue contingency will be doubled to $200 million, while $50 million will go to the Strategic Economic Initiatives Fund. More than $36 million in funding over two years is earmarked to ease access to international markets from the Port of Churchill.
Tax deferrals will be provided to businesses facing uncertainty about keeping staff. The government will also promote the “Support Manitoba – Buy Local” campaign and help businesses diversify their sales beyond the U.S., they said.
Should tariffs remain long term, the province plans to seek $500 million of supplemental expenditure authority and $125 million of loan authority from the legislature. That adjusted 2025 budget would also include $100 million for targeted business support programs for Manitoba businesses and $100 million in support for Manitoba’s agricultural sector. The response plan would total more than $1 billion.
“We’re a government that’s focused on ensuring that rural Manitobans, folks living in northern Manitoba, and its producers and farmers get the support they need during this challenging time,” Sala said, calling the Trump-imposed tariffs a significant risk to the province’s economy.
The minister also mentioned a continued freeze on crown land lease rates, AgriInsurance changes, a now permanent gas tax relief and increased Young Farmer Rebate (up to $40,000). The budget also covers the opening of two Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. offices in Virden and Shoal Lake, which were announced earlier this year.
The Manitoba Pork Council was encouraged by the government’s attention to the trade trouble facing its industry.
“It is crucial that the 22,000 Manitobans who rely on our sector know that the provincial government recognizes what they do for our provincial economy, which we saw in today’s budget announcement,” general manager Cam Dahl said in a statement.
“Going forward, it is critical that we continue to work with key individual states, while at the same time working with other provinces like Saskatchewan and Alberta to mitigate the impact of any tariffs to come, be they from China or the United States.”
Colin Hornby, general manager of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said U.S. and Chinese tariffs are the largest threat facing producers right now.
“We are encouraged to see a commitment in Budget 2025 to $100 million in future appropriations for support to mitigate financial losses for Manitoba farm operations,” he said.
“KAP will continue working with the provincial government advocating to ensure Manitoba farmers get the support they need during these challenging times.”
KAP president Jill Verwey further pointed to $500,000 slated for Sustainable Agriculture Manitoba and the increased Young Farmer Rebate, plus the “accompanying loan limit to $400,000, the MASC direct loan limit increasing from $5.25 million to $5.75 million and the stocker loan limit from $1 million to $1.4 million.”
The farm group would still like to see action on farmland school tax, which it argues unfairly weighs on farmers due to their land base.
“Additional actions we recommend the government take in 2025 include Right to Repair legislation, program changes and funding increases for the Disaster Financial Assistance … program, and further action involving the trade office in Washington, D.C., in collaboration with agricultural stakeholders.”
