Seeds of Control
Ottawa’s groundwork for future restrictions on our land, water, bodies, and food... and why saving seed must be a right, not a privilege
Editor’s note: Within, at the end, is steps to be heard… If we do not act before October 3 and October 18, 2025, Ottawa will hear only from the industry-funded lobbyists and NGOs who profit when sovereignty is stripped from the people who actually grow food and raise cattle… We cannot allow silence to be mistaken for consent.
The groundwork is unmistakable
Every farmer and rancher knows that saving seed is more than thrift… it’s survival.
A seed that thrives in my soil, in my valley, in my season of drought, becomes stronger with every generation. That’s how communities have built resilience for centuries. It’s not just about growing food. It’s about passing down sovereignty.
And yet, today in Canada, that foundation is being chipped away.
Two federal initiatives are moving at once:
Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR) Regulations Draft… August 9, 2025
Ottawa has proposed amendments that strip away the farmers’ privilege (the ability to save and replant seed of PBR-protected varieties) for entire categories: fruits, vegetables, ornamentals, vegetatively-propagated plants, and hybrids/parental lines.The official line is that cereals and pulses aren’t covered… “yet”. But the precedent is set, the pattern unmistakable.
Seed Regulatory Modernisation (SRM) — CFIA policy paper, July 2025
At the same time, the CFIA is rewriting the Seeds Regulations. They speak of “future-proofing” and “efficiency.”hidden in the details are new grading, licensing, origin labelling rules, and incorporation-by-reference clauses
Together the pattern is set which allow changes later without Parliament’s approval… The draft text is expected in 2026.
We are told this is not a “ban”… and technically it isn’t…”not yet”. But sovereignty isn’t lost in a single stroke… It’s lost in a series of narrow carve-outs, each dressed up as “technical updates” until one day “your right to save seed” has disappeared altogether.
This is the groundwork. And unless we stand against it now, the foundation of Canadian food security will be recast from a right into a revocable privilege.
The architecture of control
When governments want control, they don’t seize it all at once. They build architecture… the laws, definitions, and procedures that make future restrictions easy, legal, and enforceable.
That is exactly what’s happening now with the Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR) amendments and the Seed Regulatory Modernisation (SRM) package.
The language trick: from “Right” to “privilege”
Under Canada’s adoption of UPOV ’91 in 2015, saving seed of a protected variety stopped being a right and became a “farmers’ privilege”… That word is the tell.
A privilege is conditional. It can be narrowed, suspended, or revoked. And in the August 2025 draft, that’s precisely what Ottawa is doing—removing the privilege entirely for whole categories: fruits, vegetables, ornamentals, vegetatively-propagated plants, and hybrids/parental lines.
Today it’s horticulture. Tomorrow it could be forage, cereals, or pulses. Once the legal principle is established, extending it is simply a matter of political will.
The regulatory trapdoor
The SRM package goes further by setting up incorporation-by-reference rules… meaning technical requirements can be changed later without a full legislative process. On paper, it looks like efficiency… In practice, it’s a trapdoor. Ottawa will be able to update seed rules quietly, bypassing Parliament, with little public debate.
What begins as “origin labelling” or “grading clarity” can, through a simple regulatory update, become a full mandate: no unregistered seed, no heritage seed, no farmer-saved seed.
Control disguised as quality
The public narrative is that these changes ensure “quality” and “market access”, but control is often sold as safety... Food is no different.
Once saving seed is officially recast as a conditional privilege, there is no barrier to narrowing it further… and every incentive for lobbyists and industry-linked NGOs to push exactly that.
This is not speculation. It’s the pattern we’ve already seen in our land policy, our water policy, and our bodily autonomy in recent years… Sovereignty erodes not through blunt force, but through administrative narrowing… where each technical change feels small, but the net effect is enormous. Your silence in these changes = Consent.
Ottawa is not just regulating seed. It is building the legal scaffolding for control.
Who benefits?
Every Canadian farmer and rancher knows the answer instinctively: “not us and not regular Canadians”.
We don’t save seed to get rich. We do it to survive harsh seasons, adapt to local soils, and keep our families fed. The ones who benefit from these new frameworks are not the people sowing the ground, but the people writing the rules.
The NGO… government carousel
Look closely at the advisory boards and consultation panels. You’ll see the same names repeat: “NGO executives”, “industry lobbyists”, “conglomerate controlled farmers”, and “corporate lawyers”… Many of these “experts” have sat in government posts, shuffled into subsidised NGOs, then circled back as “independent experts”… It’s a carousel of influence, funded by taxpayer money, masked as neutral consultation.
Meanwhile, small farmers, ranchers, Indigenous seed stewards, and local co-ops are tokenised… “invited for optics”, “not real decision-making power”. Their voices are small and don’t shape policy; they decorate it. The needle moves, in comparison to, for NGO Foundations, Institutions, and Government Lobbyists.
Subsidies and capture
Ottawa talks about “investment” in innovation, but much of that money flows back to the same concentrated players. Large seed companies and their industry associations receive grants, then turn around and lobby for tighter intellectual property and narrower farmer privileges. It’s not about food safety… it’s about securing streams of rent through licensing, royalties, restrictions, and contracts.
This is how sovereignty is siphoned: not only through laws, but through funding capture, where the very institutions meant to regulate become dependent on the industries they claim to oversee.
Who loses
Farmers lose the ability to select the best seed from their own fields. Ranchers lose control over the forages and feed that make their herds resilient. Consumers lose choice and pay more for food. Communities lose the diversity that has always buffered them against drought, flood, and disease.
The winners are the same circle of NGOs, corporate boards, and industry-funded “stakeholder groups” that claim to speak for agriculture while working to license life itself.
This isn’t about safety. It isn’t about quality. It’s about turning every seed into a contract, every farm into a client, and every ranch into a renter.
What we demand
It is not enough to resist. We must declare clearly what sovereignty looks like, and insist that Ottawa enshrine it in law.
Here is what farmers, ranchers, and communities must demand:
Enshrine the Right. Saving, replanting, exchanging, and improving seed must be a Right, not a privilege. Farmers and ranchers must have a statutory guarantee to steward seed and forage for their own operations… subject only to biosafety and truthful labelling.
Protect heritage and heirloom. Canada’s regulations must create a low-friction pathway for heritage, heirloom, and public-domain seed and forage. No costly licensing. No endless, or costly, paperwork. Resilience should not be buried under bureaucracy.
Preserve on-farm autonomy. On-farm seed cleaning and forage conditioning are essential practices, not loopholes. They must be recognised, protected, and shielded from regulatory harassment.
Void contract traps. Any agreement that strips away the right to save seed or maintain forage for non-restricted kinds should be legally void. Conglomerates cannot be allowed to hollow out sovereignty with fine print.
Transparent remuneration. Where breeders are owed return on PBR-protected varieties, it must be done with larger onus of proof on the conglomerate and not the farmer/rancher, through transparent, capped, collective mechanisms… not private enforcement or trailing royalties that bleed producers dry… It is too easy for crops to be seeded by insurgents and wind drift, by neighbouring plantings, etc… that the Farmer should be given the benefit of the doubt without being litigated into financial loss. Conglomerates must pay for the Farmer’s field’s seed loss which has been contaminated by GMO or licensed seeds and better containment must be provided at the expense of the conglomerate licensor and their licessee.
Support truly independent breeding. Canada must fund public and participatory breeding led by farmers, ranchers, communities, and public institutions.. not projects directed, funded, or captured by conglomerates. Local and regional trials should strengthen crops and forages against droughts, pests, and climate shocks. Breeding capacity must remain free from multinational licensing streams and contractual capture.
Narrow exclusions precisely. If hybrids or proprietary parental lines are excluded, those exclusions must be defined surgically. Open-pollinated varieties, public-domain seed, and regionally adapted forage must be explicitly protected.
Independent oversight. Any seed advisory body must be independent, with equal seats for farmers, ranchers, public breeders, small seed companies, and Indigenous stewards. All conflicts of interest must be declared and published.
Quality without capture. Yes, truth-in-labelling, grading, and origin disclosure matter. But these measures must not be twisted into barriers that criminalise independence. Quality and sovereignty can coexist.
These are not radical demands. They are the minimum standard for a sovereign food system.
What is radical is the idea that a rancher could be told he cannot replant the forage that feeds his cattle, or that a farmer must pay for permission to sow the grain his own field produced.
Canada does not need a system that licenses dependency. We need a system that protects resilience. And that resilience begins with the right to save seed and steward forage.
Act Now
This is the moment to draw the line. If we do not act before October 3 and October 18, 2025, Ottawa will hear only from the industry-funded lobbyists and NGOs who profit when sovereignty is stripped from the people who actually grow food and raise cattle.
We cannot allow silence to be mistaken for consent.
Here is the letter you can copy, paste, and send today. Adjust it in your own words if you wish… but send it.
Letter Template
Subject: Protect Canadian Seed Sovereignty: Make Saving Seed and Forage a Right, Not a Privilege
To whom it may concern,
I am writing as a Canadian farmer/rancher/consumer to insist that food security and sovereignty remain protected, not eroded. Saving and replanting seed and forage is not a privilege to be granted or revoked. It is a right that has sustained our farms, ranches, and communities for generations.
Regarding the Plant Breeders’ Rights draft amendments (Canada Gazette, August 9, 2025), I ask that you:
Enshrine a Farmer’s and Rancher’s Right to Save, Use, Exchange, and Replant seed and forage for on-farm use, notwithstanding PBR.
Confine exclusions narrowly to truly proprietary parental lines, while explicitly protecting open-pollinated varieties, heritage seed, and public-domain forage.
Where remuneration is owed, ensure it is transparent, capped, and collective… not enforced through private contracts or trailing royalties. The Farmer/Rancher must be given broad protections, and rights, against their fields being contaminated by licensed seeds; they should also be rightly compensated by Licensor if proven their field has been contaminated.
Regarding Seed Regulatory Modernisation, I support truth-in-labelling and origin disclosure, but I oppose any pathway that blocks or burdens heritage seed or farmer- and rancher-saved forage. Please:
Create a low-friction heritage pathway with minimal fees.
Preserve on-farm seed cleaning and forage conditioning.
Prohibit contracts that override statutory rights for non-restricted kinds.
Finally, ensure all advisory bodies are independent, with equal seats for farmers, ranchers, public breeders, small seed companies, and Indigenous stewards… and require all conflicts of interest to be disclosed.
Canada must balance innovation with sovereignty. We can have both… but only if the right to save seed and forage is protected in law, not left as a privilege that can be stripped away.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your town/province]
[Role: farmer / rancher / consumer]
Where to Send It
Federal consultations:
PBR draft comments (deadline ~Oct 18, 2025): pbr.pov@inspection.gc.ca
Mailing: Plant Breeders’ Rights Office, CFIA, 1400 Merivale Rd, Ottawa, ON K1A 0Y9SRM consultation (deadline Oct 3, 2025): cfia.seedregmod-modregsem.acia@inspection.gc.ca
CFIA portal: https://inspection.canada.ca/en/about-cfia/transparency/consultations-and-engagement/share-your-thoughts-seed-proposals
Minister responsible:
Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food: aafc.minister-ministre.aac@agr.gc.ca
Office: 1341 Baseline Rd, Ottawa, ON K1A 0C5
Parliament:
Find your MP: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/search
House Agriculture Committee (AGRI): clerk contacts appear on notices, e.g. https://www.ourcommons.ca/documentviewer/en/44-1/AGRI/meeting-1/notice
Senate Agriculture & Forestry Committee (AGFO): agfo@sen.parl.gc.ca
Provincial (example BC):
Find your MLA: https://www.leg.bc.ca
BC Minister of Agriculture & Food: AF.Minister@gov.bc.ca
Optional cc:
Office of the Prime Minister: https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/connect/contact
Share and Sources
This movement will only succeed if it spreads. Some people will write long submissions. Others may only have time for a single sentence on social media or in an email. Every action counts. Silence is surrender.
Shareable Lines
Saving seed is food security. It is how farmers and ranchers build resilience into crops and forage for droughts, pests, and climate shocks.
This is not a blanket ban yet—but it’s the groundwork. Ottawa is carving out categories now, and the precedent is unmistakable.
A right, not a privilege. Food security cannot rest on permission slips from bureaucrats or corporate licensors.
Act before October 3 and October 18, 2025. Email pbr.pov@inspection.gc.ca and cfia.seedregmod-modregsem.acia@inspection.gc.ca. Tell them: Protect heritage seed and forage, protect farmer and rancher rights, stop turning sovereignty into dependency.
Sources
Core documents
[S1] Canada Gazette, Part I (HTML, 9 Aug 2025) — PBR draft overview
https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2025/2025-08-09/html/reg1-eng.html
[S2] Canada Gazette, Part I (PDF, 9 Aug 2025) — PBR draft text & 70-day comment window
https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2025/2025-08-09/pdf/g1-15932.pdf
[S3] CFIA consultation hub — “Share your thoughts: Future-proofing Canada’s Seeds Regulations” (Jul 29–Oct 3, 2025)
https://inspection.canada.ca/en/about-cfia/transparency/consultations-and-engagement/share-your-thoughts-seed-proposals
[S4] CFIA SRM overview page
https://inspection.canada.ca/en/plant-health/seeds/seed-regulatory-modernization
[S5] Justice Laws — Seeds Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1400)
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/c.r.c.%2C_c._1400/index.html
[S6] National Farmers Union — “Right to Farm-Saved Seed”
https://www.nfu.ca/learn/save-our-seed/right-to-farm-saved-seed
[S7] BLG legal explainer on the Aug 9, 2025 PBR draft
https://www.blg.com/en/insights/2025/08/draft-regulations-aim-to-strengthen-clarify-and-simplify-canadas-plant-breeders-rights-system
[S8] IPPractice note — “Plant Breeders’ Rights”
https://www.ippractice.ca/2025/08/plant-breeders-rights-2/
[S9] Seeds Canada statement on SRM (industry lens)
https://seeds-canada.ca/seeds-canada-statement-on-srm
[S10] AAFC — “Assessing impacts of the 2015 legislative amendments to Canada’s Plant Breeders’ Rights Act and UPOV ’91” (17 Jul 2025)
https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/sector/crops/assessing-impacts-2015-legislative-amendments-canadas-plant-breeders-rights-act-and-upov91
Contacts for action
[S0] AAFC “Contact us” (general enquiries)
https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/contact
[S13] Minister of Agriculture & Agri-Food (Heath MacDonald) — office details
https://www.canada.ca/en/government/ministers/heath-macdonald.html
[S3a] Find your Member of Parliament (search by postal code)
https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/search
[S3b] House AGRI committee notice (example with clerk contact format)
https://www.ourcommons.ca/documentviewer/en/44-1/AGRI/meeting-1/notice
[S3c] House AGRI committee notice (another example)
https://www.ourcommons.ca/documentviewer/en/44-1/AGRI/meeting-46/notice
[S12] Senate Agriculture & Forestry committee — contacts & email
https://sencanada.ca/en/committees/AGFO/45-1
[S12a] Office of the Prime Minister — contact
https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/connect/contact
[S19] Legislative Assembly of British Columbia — Find My MLA
https://www.leg.bc.ca/
[N1] UPOV 1991 Convention (primary text)
https://www.upov.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/upov_pub_221.pdf