CHC Sparks Discussion on Building Capacity within the Beekeeping Industry

Author: March 2, 2026

Canada, News, Provincial, World

Canadian Honey Council

CHC Sparks Discussion on Building Capacity within the Beekeeping Industry

 

All agricultural sectors face ongoing and/or new challenges. The Canadian beekeeping industry is not exempt from this reality. While issues are numerous, predominant among them are:

  • cost of production
  • disease/pest impacts on colony health
  • accessing labour
  • imported honey competition and quality

Responding to these issues is of paramount importance to the continued viability of the industry.

The Canadian Honey Council (CHC) has initiated a project seeking stakeholder input on building capacity within the industry to address current and future challenges. This project, entitled “Finding a Better Path Forward – Cultivating Solutions to Challenges Facing the Canadian Beekeeping Industry”, will operate from November 2025 to March 31, 2027.

To assess the current ability of the Canadian beekeeping industry to address challenges and to recommend possible solutions to strengthen capacity, CHC has engaged consultants Richard McConnell and Sheryl Rae to undertake this project. Both have considerable experience in agriculture risk management and have successfully completed various projects in Canada and internationally. Richard has a family background in beekeeping and understands industry nuances. Richard and Sheryl will work closely with CHC and depend on stakeholder input to complete this work.

PHASE 1: 

Gather background information from stakeholders to describe industry structure, roles of stakeholders and how they interact, and identify challenges facing beekeepers in Canada and resource capacity to respond to these challenges.

PHASE 2:

Assess the practicality and interest among stakeholders to realign/clarify roles and responsibilities to more efficaciously use resources, and explore options to acquire financial contributions from imported honey to address specific issues facing Canadian beekeepers.

PHASE 3:

Identify the primary operational requirements needed to implement potential capacity-building solutions identified as practical by stakeholders.

Stakeholder Input

 Direct input from industry stakeholders (e.g., beekeeper association board members, individual beekeepers, honey packers, exporters, importers, provincial apiculturists and other government representatives) is the main source of information for this project. It is the collective interest, expressed need for capacity building, and honest opinions on practical ways to move forward that will be key to the success of the project.

The project will begin by contacting beekeeper association board members and then expand outward to broader contacts with individual beekeepers through their provincial associations. Contact with beekeepers will focus on timing that does not conflict with in-field operations. The project will communicate directly with board members and “suggested” individual beekeepers in the early phase, and then through a general survey to beekeepers later on. Exporters, importers and other stakeholders will be contacted directly throughout the project.

Activity Timing

The timing for each phase is dependent on how readily contact with stakeholders can be made to get their feedback. Admittedly, the project is not widely known among stakeholders at present. Anticipated timelines for the three general phases are:

PHASE 1

November 12, 2025 to June 30, 2026

PHASE 2

July 1, 2026 to October 31, 2026

PHASE 3

November 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027

Summary

  • The intent of this project is to get feedback from industry on ways to increase capacity within the industry to address challenges.
  • To this extent, it is a “fact or opinion gathering exercise” intended to help define practical ways the industry could address challenges.
  • It is NOT a project that will initiate any change to processes that currently exist.
  • Rather, it will simply make recommendations that industry stakeholders can consider to move forward.

Funding Partners

This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Agricultural Strategic Priorities Program (CASPP).

 

 

 

 

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Further updates will be posted on honeycouncil.ca