Commissioned by Ontario Pork, the study suggests that the Ontario industry would need to shrink anywhere from 43 – 58 per cent and overcome significant hurdles including international trade issues and development of a tariff system; reduction in production to meet domestic consumption; production allocation among provinces and whether a quota system would be used to set production volumes.

Supply management attempts to match domestic production with estimated domestic consumption. It would also have to be national in scope and have the support of all provinces with a stake in it. Author of the study, College Professor and Research Co-ordinator, Ken McEwan says: "The movement to a supply management system would involve considerable downsizing of the existing Canadian swine herd. The implications of this downsizing to industry business partners would be far-reaching and in some cases could mean closure."

"This topic has been brought up several times over the years," said Chair Wilma Jeffray. "With pork producers looking for alternatives and options in this depressed market, Ontario Pork felt it was time to investigate the supply management concept and its feasibility. From the numbers presented I think there is clear evidence that Ontario’s hog sector would be severely impacted by adopting this system."

Further Reading

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You can view the study by clicking here.