The agriculture and agri-food sector is a main pillar of Canada’s economy. By balancing environmental stewardship, economic viability, advanced technology, and social benefits, the sector can play a vital role in addressing climate change challenges and advancing data-driven production practices to help ensure Canadians have access to safe and nutritious food.

With extensive experience in developing world-class standards and codes in areas such as environment and natural resources, alternative energy technologies, circularity, bioeconomy, and sustainability, CSA Group can help strengthen Canada’s position as a global leader in sustainable agriculture and food production. Through research and standards development, CSA Group brings together the relevant perspectives and expertise to build consensus and create solutions that respond to the needs and objectives of Canada’s agriculture and agri-food sector. CSA Group’s standards help establish common definitions of terms, processes, and their outcomes to build consistency and transparency among the industry participants, from farmers and manufacturers to regulators and governments.

CSA Group’s standards also provide guidance and best practices to help enhance the efficiency, sustainability, and circularity of agricultural and agri-food practices. By specifying minimum requirements for performance and safety, standards also help accelerate the adoption of new technologies and data-driven approaches. Furthermore, CSA Group collaborates with other standards development organizations on regional and international levels to harmonize requirements, which supports global supply chains and markets.

Currently, CSA Group’s activities in the agriculture and agri-food sector include research and the development of standards that aim to provide comprehensive guidance and best practices for:

• facilitating the use of data to inform and enhance sustainable practices across the value chain, including data generation, privacy, and security
• establishing common terminology and definitions to enhance the interoperability of data in the sector
• removing barriers to the adoption of automation and robotics technologies by informing technology validation and classification practices
• minimizing biosecurity risks related to the use of emerging technologies
• embracing the principles of circularity and continuous improvement to reduce food loss and waste
• providing consistent terminology, principles, and best practices for regenerative agriculture, including sampling and analysis of soil health

CSA Group has established advisory groups to help guide standards activities centered around agriculture and agri-food data, robotics, and automation. CSA Group has also taken an active role on the international scene, managing the Canadian Mirror Committees to ISO Technical Committees TC 347 on Data-driven agri-food systems and TC 34/Subcommittee 20 on Food loss and waste. This allows CSA Group to support Canadian subject matter experts in voicing Canada’s perspective and expertise and contributing to global standardization.