An Act respecting soil conservation and soil health
Bill C-203 was a Conservative Private Member's Bill respecting soil conservation and soil health, establishing a federal framework for monitoring and protecting Canadian agricultural soil quality. Canadian farms experienced approximately 50 percent loss of soil organic carbon in the 20th century due to intensive tillage; Statistics Canada reports approximately 64 million hectares of Canadian agricultural land. The bill called for federal-provincial coordination on Soil Conservation Council frameworks, federal funding for cover-crop and no-till farming under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP) 2023-2028, and binding federal annual reporting on soil-organic-carbon levels.
Status
Quick learn
Would set up a federal framework to monitor and protect farmland soil, with annual reporting on soil organic carbon and support for cover crops and no-till farming, after Canadian farms lost about half their soil carbon last century. A Conservative private member's bill; it did not pass.
Issues this bill touches
- Agriculture & Food Security
Soil Conservation Act PMB.
Legislative history
- First reading
First reading in the House of Commons.
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Official source
Read full text on Parliament of Canada