Citation
  • Lopez Ivich, K., Daigle, E., Richardson, O., Tougas-Cooke, R., Twigg, M., Kamba, G., (2025). Regenerative Agriculture in Canada: Considerations for Standardization. Canadian Standards Association, Toronto, ON.

Executive Summary

Regenerative agriculture has the potential to drive economic growth in Canada’s agri-food sector while delivering substantial environmental, economic, and social benefits. However, regenerative agriculture remains ill-defined in Canada, and has limited adoption and impact compared to other jurisdictions. Without a clear definition, it is difficult to develop a transition agenda for regenerative agriculture that includes the right set of financial, knowledge, and social supports. To respect the diversity in management practices and production systems, regenerative agriculture is best defined through a set of principles that help guide its implementation and objectives.

Through a literature review and focus groups with farmers, government, academia, farm groups, and other relevant parties, this report found agreement on the following five key principles of regenerative agriculture in the Canadian context:

  1. Minimize soil disturbance;
  2. Keep soil covered year-round;
  3. Keep live plants and living roots in the soil;
  4. Enhance biodiversity above and below ground; and
  5. Incorporate farm animals.

The research conducted for this report also identified the following emerging principles and concepts of regenerative agriculture, which are growing in popularity but have yet to reach the same level of agreement as the five key principles:

  • Efficient input use and reduce synthetic inputs;
  • Conserve and protect water;
  • Understand the farm context;
  • Enhance and restore natural landscapes; and
  • Respect for human and non-human life and for the environment.

The research also revealed an ongoing debate around the inclusion of the following social principles and concepts as determinants of regenerative agriculture:

  • Supporting farm livelihoods and food system resilience;
  • Community revitalization, health, and empowerment;
  • Capacity building and knowledge transfer; and
  • Advancing equality, safe work, and fair business practices.

These socially oriented principles were identified as nascent in the Canadian context, and more common in the international landscape. However, supporting farm livelihoods and food system resilience was mentioned more frequently in both domestic and international regenerative agriculture programs. Those in favour of including social principles and concepts identified them as an integral part of regenerative agriculture and recognized their value in a food system transition. Others viewed these principles as belonging to agroecology and noted that focusing on soil health principles was essential to catalyze action to support producers in building dynamic, regenerative production systems. Because socially oriented principles are present in international regenerative agriculture frameworks, it is important to consider their role and impact from an alignment perspective, given the export-driven nature of Canada’s agriculture sector and the need to navigate competing international sustainable agriculture terminologies, standards, certifications, and frameworks.

This report presents five recommendations for diverse organizations seeking to advance a regenerative agri-food system in Canada:

  1. Invest in knowledge sharing networks to ease transitions: Establish diverse and regional peer farming networks that share resources.
  2. Expand access to education and resources: Increase access to regenerative agriculture extension services and develop demonstration projects or other practical knowledge resources.
  3. Explore innovative funding mechanisms: Mitigate financial risks and revise existing risk management programs to remove barriers in transitioning to regenerative practices.
  4. Implement outcome-based programs: Develop programs, with appropriate and streamlined measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) processes, that compensate farmers for the ecosystem services they generate when using regenerative practices.
  5. Advance standards that are flexible and inclusive: Continue advancing agreement around regenerative principles through extensive consultations, including farmers, Indigenous communities, and value chains, that explore regional or production system differences and continuous improvement processes.