Overview of the Promise

During his 2025 election campaign, Mark Carney promised to amend the mandates of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA). The goal was to ensure these agencies consider food security and the cost of food in all regulatory decisions, while maintaining health and safety standards. Currently, their mandates primarily focus on health and safety, without explicit requirements to weigh economic factors like food costs or security.

Actions Taken by the Carney Government

As of August 28, 2025, the Carney government has initiated steps toward fulfilling this promise. In July 2025, Prime Minister Carney announced a comprehensive cross-departmental review of all government regulations, which includes scrutiny of agencies like the CFIA and PMRA. This review aims to identify and potentially revise regulations that could impact economic factors, aligning with campaign pledges to reduce regulatory burdens while addressing affordability issues.

No specific amendments to the CFIA or PMRA mandates have been enacted yet. The review process is ongoing, with government statements indicating it will evaluate how regulations affect food security and costs without undermining health and safety protections.

Legislation Proposed or Passed

To date, no legislation has been proposed or passed specifically amending the mandates of the CFIA or PMRA. The regulatory review, ordered in July 2025, could lead to legislative proposals if changes are recommended. Any amendments would likely require updates to the agencies' governing acts, such as the Safe Food for Canadians Act for CFIA or the Pest Control Products Act for PMRA, potentially through an omnibus bill or targeted reforms in Parliament.

Progress on Key Elements of the Promise

The promise emphasizes incorporating food security considerations into regulatory decisions. The ongoing review has begun addressing this by examining how current rules impact food supply chains, but concrete mandate changes remain pending.

Regarding the cost of food, the review includes an affordability lens, with early reports suggesting evaluations of how regulations influence consumer prices. However, no binding updates have been implemented.

The commitment to not compromise health and safety is being upheld in the review's framework, as government directives stress that any changes must preserve these core priorities.

Path to Fulfillment or Failure

This promise is currently in progress, with the regulatory review serving as an initial step. To become kept, the government must complete the review, propose and pass legislation amending the CFIA and PMRA mandates to explicitly include food security and cost considerations, and implement these changes by the end of the term or a reasonable timeline. If the review leads to no action or is abandoned, the promise would be at risk of being broken. It could be considered broken if the government explicitly drops the initiative or if the parliamentary session ends without amendments, failing to deliver on the promised outcomes.

Overall Status

This promise is in progress.