Feds Move Ahead On ‘Buy Canadian’ Advertising Campaign For Food
OTTAWA — The federal government is looking for a marketing firm to help launch a “Buy Canadian” campaign to educate more people about where their food comes from.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada will oversee a new multimillion-dollar campaign to “instill pride” in the country’s food system, according to a government tender published Monday. It’s the latest movement in the government’s national food policy announced in last year’s budget.
The campaign is intended to “promote Canadian products on the domestic market” by addressing the sentiment that people feel “increasingly disconnected” from food production.
“Canadians generally prefer to buy Canadian food products when they are available, believing that food produced in Canada is of good or excellent quality,” the notice reads, citing research that concludes Canadians have trouble identifying domestic food products in stores.
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The proposed statement of work notes positive opinions about the country’s food and agriculture industry are “largely based on perception or very limited actual knowledge.”
The ultimate goal of the “Buy Canadian Promotion Campaign” is to get Canadians to “seek and identify” more Canadian-made products to a domestic audience. The notice states the campaign should “tell the story of Canada’s agri-food sector and reach audiences on an emotional level.”
The digital-first campaign will have an advertising budget between $1.5 million to $4 million in each year over five years. Bidding for the contract closes next month.
The federal government has earmarked $25 million for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to develop a strategy to increase awareness about the county’s food system. The “Buy Canadian Promotion Campaign” was promised to be one pillar of the new food policy.
Nearly a year after that announcement, some agriculture sector advocates are...
