Voices from the Field: The 2025 Federal Elections Project

As part of our Voices from the Field project, we are proud to share two newly published policy briefing notes based on a national survey of 979 Canadian farmers, conducted in collaboration with Stratus Ag Research.

The first briefing explores political alignment and policy preferences among farmers, while the second examines key ballot box issues such as trade, taxation, labor, and sustainability. Together, these insights reveal how federal party platforms align or miss the mark with the priorities of Canadian producers.

Farmers play a critical role in Canada’s economy and food security, yet their voices are often underrepresented in policymaking. These briefing notes aim to bridge that gap, providing timely information for voters, stakeholders, and policymakers ahead of the 2025 federal election and beyond.

Explore the briefs and learn why integrating farmers’ perspectives is essential for shaping stronger, more resilient policies.

 

 

Understanding Farmer Priorities: Political Alignment and Policy References in the Lead-up to the 2025 Federal Election

 

As Canada approaches the 2025 federal election, the voices of farmers, who work at the intersection of economic productivity, food security, and public policy, are more critical than ever. The agriculture and the agri-food sector employ almost one out of every nine people in Canada and contributed nearly 7% to the 2023 GDP (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2024). Farmers are vital for maintaining Canadian food systems and ensuring food security. Despite having such a profound impact on the lives of Canadians, farmers, constituting almost 1.6% of the total population in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2023), feel that agricultural issues, needs and demands are forgotten, as other issues seem to engulf Canadian public life and election campaigns (Cummings, 2025). This makes examining the collective interests of the farming community, addressing their concerns, and communicating their aspirations and priorities to lawmakers, advocacy organizations, and the public a necessity. 

With farmers’ voices getting drowned out amidst contemporary issues shaping our political reality and policy landscape, the Simpson Centre recognized that there is a pressing need to highlight farmers’ opinions about key topics, such as taxation, trade, Labour, sustainability, and environmental regulations and how it influences their political inclinations in the lead-up to the 2025 federal election. This matters because agriculture is a cornerstone of Canada’s economy and food system and a sector where policy misalignment can have far-reaching impacts on rural livelihoods, national food security, and political representation. 

 

 

Farmers’ Priorities at the Ballot Box: Assessing Political Alignment on Trade, Taxation, Labour, and Sustainability Ahead of the 2025 Federal Election

 

 

As Canada prepares for the 2025 federal election, agricultural producers face a rapidly evolving political and policy landscape shaped by shifting economic conditions, climate challenges, and labor market pressures. With agriculture occupying a unique space at the intersection of economic productivity and environmental responsibility, understanding how political parties address farmer priorities on trade, taxation, labor, climate adaptation, and water management is essential. Given the centrality of these issues to farm operations and rural livelihoods, they are poised to become key determinants of electoral decisions within the agricultural community. This Policy Trends Briefing explores the critical policy areas that farmers identify as central to their decision-making in the upcoming election. 

Simpson Centre Policy Trends

2025 Pre-Election Farmer Survey

Ahead of the 2025 federal election, the Simpson Centre surveyed 979 Canadian farmers to better understand their political alignment and top policy concerns. The findings shed light on which federal party farmers believe represents them best, and reveal how farm income, region, and sector shape voting tendencies and policy priorities.

Simpson Centre Policy Trends

2025 Farmer Survey: Confidence Levels and Environment Policies

The Simpson Centre’s national farmer survey ahead of the 2025 federal election reveals a mixed landscape of institutional trust and environmental policy perceptions across Canada. While farmers place higher confidence in provincial ministries and service-oriented agencies, many express scepticism toward federal regulators and call for more balanced, innovation-driven approaches to environmental and water management.

Simpson Centre Policy Trends

2025 Farmer Survey: Business and Taxation

Canadian farmers are calling for tax and trade policies that support long-term business stability, farm succession, and export diversification. The Simpson Centre’s survey also reveals nuanced views on labour and immigration.