Jean-Claude Poissant, Member of Parliament for La Prairie and Parliamentary Secretary to the federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lawrence MacAulay; and Laurent Lessard, Quebec Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, applaud the recent launch of the website “Cultive ta ville” [“cultivate your city”], an information portal on urban agriculture.

“The Government of Canada is proud to support this initiative, which is informing citizens about urban agriculture and equipping them with the tools they need. This networking project will help bring agricultural awareness to more city dwellers and educate consumers about different methods of food production in urban areas.”
- Jean-Claude Poissant, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

“Developing urban agriculture is one of the courses of action identified in our biofood policy for improving synergy between the land and the biofood sector. Such initiatives help make consumers aware of the realities of agriculture and of how the food on their plates is produced, and they certainly spark consumers’ interest in local agriculture and buying local.”
- Laurent Lessard, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

• This project is part of the 2016–2019 Stratégie de soutien de l'agriculture urbaine [urban agriculture support strategy], whose main goals include promoting and raising public awareness of local agriculture and agricultural heritage.

• The $25,000 in funding was granted through Programme Proximité under the Canada-Québec agreement Growing Forward 2, which invested over $6.6 million in 340 projects between 2013 and 2018.

• In July 2017, the federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) ministers of Agriculture reached an agreement-in-principle on the key elements of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a five-year, $3 billion FPT investment. The Partnership, which came into effect on April 1, 2018, will help strengthen the agriculture, agri-food and agricultural products sector, ensuring continued innovation, growth and prosperity.

Associated links

• Cultive ta ville (in French only)
• Agriculture urbaine (in French only)
• Programme Proximité (in French only)
• Pan-Canadian initiatives connected to Growing Forward 2
• Growing Forward 2 cost-sharing programs in Quebec (in French only)
• Canadian Agricultural Partnership

Guy Gallant
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay
613-773-1059

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Christine Harvey
Press secretary
Office of the Quebec Minister
Fisheries and Food
418-380-2525