Programs
Funded Programs
The Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off provides industry funding for the Canadian beef industry through research, market development and promotion, including the public and stakeholder engagement program.
The Agency contracts the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) to deliver research programming, and the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) to administer the Public and Stakeholder Engagement Program.
To deliver the marketing programs, the Agency has an internal committee, the Market Development and Promotion Committee (Marketing Committee). This Committee oversees the operations of Canada Beef, an organization which is legally part of the Agency itself, but operates separately, with its own management, reporting and oversight. Canada Beef also invests the import levy funds into generic beef programing that focuses around culinary skills, recipe development, and health and wellness in food.
These three service provider organizations, BCRC, CCA and Canada Beef, work to deliver strong returns on producer and import investments, and to leverage those dollars to attract additional government funding for programs and activities to benefit the industry.
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Research
The Beef Cattle Research Council provides the national research programming to which check-off dollars are allocated. The BCRC’s mandate is to determine research and development priorities for the Canadian beef cattle industry and to administer Canadian Beef Cattle Check-off funds allocated to research.
The BCRC funds research that work towards the achievement of three core objectives:
- To enhance industry competitiveness and reduce production costs
- To improve beef demand and quality
- To improve public confidence in Canadian beef
Within these core research objectives are specific priority areas:
- Beef Quality
- Food Safety
- Animal Health and Welfare
- Antimicrobial Use, Resistance and Alternatives
- Feed Grains and Feed Efficiency
- Forage and Grassland Productivity
- Environmental Sustainability
- Knowledge and Technology Transfer
As the national beef cattle industry research agency, the BCRC plays an important role in identifying the industry’s research and development priorities and subsequently influencing public sector investment in beef, cattle and forage research.
As a leader in the development of the Canadian Beef Research and Technology Transfer Strategy, the BCRC facilitates and encourages collaboration and coordination among researchers, other funding agencies and industry in order to maximize the benefits obtained from all investments in beef research.
In addition to funding research and technology transfer in support of the Canadian beef industry, the BCRC supports the Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+) program.
Market Development and Promotion
As the Agency’s internal marketing committee, Canada Beef works to promote the Canadian Beef brand on a global scale.
Canada Beef works together with generations of Canadian farmers, ranchers, industry champions and brand partners to drive, enhance and sustain loyalty to Canadian beef. Canada Beef is harnessing the powerful Canadian beef brand story to build consumer and customer loyalty for Canadian beef globally. These efforts increase demand for Canadian beef and the value producers receive for their cattle.
Canada Beef receives a large percentage of its funding through the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off. The remainder of Canada Beef’s funding is received through programs from government development funds and leveraged dollars with brand partner investment both domestically and around the world.
Generic Beef Marketing
Generic beef marketing is the promotion of unbranded beef, which is supported by import levy dollars. These activities focus on keeping beef on the plate of Canadian consumers by promoting the healthfulness of beef, growing consumer culinary skills, and reinforcing food safety practices. Generic beef marketing reources and programming can be found on the ThinkBeef.ca website.
These generic beef programs are facilitated by Canada Beef.
Public and Stakeholder Engagement
An increasing emphasis toward building public trust and confidence in how cattle are raised and where they come from led to the creation of the Public and Stakeholder Engagement Program in 2016.
The Public and Stakeholder Engagement Program (formerly Issues Management) is funded by the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off and administered by the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) in partnership with Canada Beef and under the oversight of the Canadian Beef Advisors. The Public and Stakeholder Engagement team works with national and provincial beef organizations to address consumer questions and issues that could erode consumer and public confidence in the beef industry. The Beef Advocacy Canada program is an additional platform under the Public and Stakeholder Engagement program to share resources and information, training and opportunities, and give producers across the country the tools to positively and consistently speak about beef production in Canada to the public.