Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Jim Bagnall announced today that his department will defer the collection of overpayments under the Canadian Agriculture Income Stabilization program effective immediately. The announcement is a result of changes in the program introduced in the federal budget with respect to inventory valuations and expanded negative margin coverage.
“As a result of changes to the CAIS program announced in the federal budget on inventory valuations and expanded negative margin coverage, many producers will be eligible for increased payments,” said Mr. Bagnall. “We will be recalculating the payments to determine if some producers are entitled to receive more, and in the meantime, we will not be pursuing the collection of overpayments under the old formula.”
Mr. Bagnall said he expects to see further changes in the CAIS program in the coming months. “I have been advocating changes in the CAIS program that take into account the special circumstance of beef producers and others for whom the program was not working,” said Mr. Bagnall. “I am pleased to see that the federal government has agreed that changes in the program are needed, and look forward to discussing the kinds of changes that can make safety net programs more effective, equitable and affordable.”
Mr. Bagnall said that producers will be notified in the near future about the recalculation of their payments. “This will be welcome news for producers who continue to face financial difficulties,” he said.