The Canadian Agri-Food Sustainability Initiative

Client: Canadian Federation of Agriculture

Expertise Applied:

  • Stakeholder engagement

  • Qualitative research and analysis

  • Agriculture and agri-food sector sustainability insights

  • Knowledge, translation and transfer (KTT)

From 2020-2023, our team supported the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) with the first iteration of the Canadian Agri-food Sustainability Initiative (CASI). This initiative seeks to facilitate continuous improvement in sustainability across the Canadian agricultural industry. CASI also seeks to ensure confidence and trust in the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of Canadian agricultural products.

“Wilton Consulting Group played a crucial role in ensuring the success of the first iteration of CASI. The team provided reliable and high-quality support for this project, including research, engagement, and knowledge translation and transfer. They also used their sustainability programming expertise and extensive knowledge of agriculture in the development of the CASI questionnaire.”

- Scott Ross, Executive Director, Canadian Federation of Agriculture

Our work began in 2019 with collaboration on a funding application through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s AgriAssurance Program, a federal initiative. We supported the CFA with conducting the necessary research for the application, drafting the content, and developing the project budget. The project was awarded and our team supported CASI by providing strategic research, engagement, and communication expertise from 2020-2023.

We led the CASI strategic research, engagement and communication activities by:

  • Facilitating regular CASI Governance Committee and subcommittee meetings

  • Conducting more than 120 interviews with agri-food sector stakeholders across Canada

  • Organizing and facilitating 5 CASI workshops

  • Coordinating stakeholders to support two pilot projects with Canadian farmers

  • Developing plain-language resources to support knowledge transfer about sustainability in the sector

  • Managing the CASI website and communications with external stakeholders via CASI’s quarterly newsletter

Ultimately, our work helps to streamline opportunities for the Canadian agricultural industry to provide evidence of sustainable production practices.

The final CASI Report, and other supporting materials in both official languages can be viewed here:

Are you looking for strategic insights into sustainability and Canadian agriculture? If your organization is interested in working with our team of professionals, reach out to us today.