(Viktorcvetkovic/E+/Getty Images)

On-farm cybersecurity campaign gets backing

Glacier FarmMedia to link up with federally-funded project

A campaign to assess, reinforce and promote cybersecurity across Canada’s ag sector — partly through this website and its sister publications and events — has been tapped to receive multi-year federal funding. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair on March 25 announced over $500,000 over four years through the federal Cyber Security Co-operation Program for the […] Read more

File photo of Diefenbaker Lake in southern Saskatchewan. (IanChrisGraham/iStock/Getty Images)

Federal irrigation pledge seen flowing mainly to Prairies

Infrastructure plan also includes promised broadband support

Prairie provinces will receive the bulk of Ottawa’s $1.5 billion commitment to support irrigation projects, according to federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday launched a three-year, $10 billion infrastructure plan aimed at five different sectors, including agriculture. The $1.5 billion is expected to result in 700,000 acres of irrigated land. […] Read more


Gov. Gen. Julie Payette looks on with Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance (l) and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the Usher of the Black Rod Greg Peters leaves to summon the House of Commons to come listen to the throne speech in the Senate chamber in Ottawa on Sept. 23, 2020. (Adrian Wyld pool photo via Reuters)

Throne speech commits to rural broadband improvement

Rural health care, water management also on deck

The federal minority Liberal government is promising job creation, better rural internet access and a commitment to combating climate change in its newly revealed legislative plans. In an ambitious throne speech delivered Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s party committed itself to implementing universal child care and extending or enhancing many of the economic measures put […] Read more

University of Guelph PhD student Abdul-Rahim Abdulai explained ways in which the pandemic has served as a disruptor in the dynamic of rural communities. (Arrell Food Institute video screengrab via YouTube)

Pandemic may strain rural community resources, panel warns

Enthusiasm for telecommuting could later benefit rural areas, if 'digital divide' can be bridged

The COVID-19 pandemic, and Canada’s response to it, have highlighted how rural communities need different strategies than their urban counterparts to provide social services on which the public relies. The Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph hosted a virtual panel in May to discuss COVID-19’s social impacts, in which researchers from a variety […] Read more


A YourLink tower outside Weyburn, Sask. (YourLink.ca)

NYC equity firm to buy Xplornet

New investment expected to speed up rural broadband rollouts

A Manhattan private equity firm deep in “middle-market infrastructure” has committed to buy, and help improve service from, Canada’s single biggest rural broadband provider. New Brunswick-based, privately held Xplornet Communications announced Thursday it has signed a deal to sell majority control itself to Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners. The two companies’ announcement didn’t put a dollar figure […] Read more



Tax return storage at the Canada Revenue Agency. (Canada.ca)

New rules on passive investment arrive in budget

It’s got no new nuggets specifically for crop or livestock producers, but Tuesday’s federal budget includes the end results of last year’s consultations — and backlash — on corporate taxation. Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s 2018 budget proposes a couple of new limits on Canadian-controlled private corporations’ (CCPC) ability to benefit from a lower tax rate […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

CRTC makes broadband a basic service

Gatineau | Reuters — Broadband internet access will be considered a basic service in Canada, the country’s telecom regulator said Wednesday, setting a higher target for download speeds and creating a fund that could see providers paying more to help meet those goals. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said it was establishing a […] Read more


(John Deere photo)

Precision ag tech’s link to broadband under study

Crop growers in southwestern Ontario are being asked how their access to high-speed internet, or lack thereof, has helped or hindered their adoption of precision ag tools. Researchers at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Agricultural College (OAC), as part of the Regional and Rural Broadband (R2B2) project, are studying how “current and future connectivity” influences […] Read more