A brand new company to advertise industrial hemp in Canada has appointed its first everlasting board and named an government director.

The Canadian Industrial Hemp Promotion-Analysis Company (CIHPRA), established late final yr, was created to coordinate initiatives throughout Canada’s struggling hemp trade. The brand new physique is working as Hemp Canada Chanvre (HCC).

The federally acknowledged company can be led by Govt Director Syeda Khurram, a seasoned chief in agriculture and nonprofit governance. Will Van Roessel, proprietor at Specialty Seeds Ltd., Alberta, will function board chairman, and Reuben Stone, the founding father of Uniseeds Inc., Ontario, was named vice chairman.

Getting began

Khurram brings greater than 20 years of senior government expertise, together with previous roles as chief working officer on the Alberta Barley and Wheat Fee. Her focus will embody implementation of the HCC’s inaugural marketing strategy, growth of its governance framework, and execution of the checkoff levy technique.

Van Roessel has grown hemp for 14 years in Alberta, whereas Stone has been a hemp farmer in Ontario’s Ottawa Valley since 2009.

Formally established below the Farm Merchandise Companies Act in November 2024, HCC is the primary nationwide company devoted to industrial hemp promotion and analysis in Canada. It was created to offer a coordinated strategy to advancing the sector by advertising and marketing, analysis funding and world engagement.

Different board members

Along with Van Roessel and Stone, different administrators named are:

• British Columbia: Peter Dushop – Perpetually Inexperienced Hemp Inc.
• Manitoba: Adam Gregory – Interlake Agri Ltd.
• Quebec: Dany Lefebvre – Chanv Inc.
• Atlantic Canada: Antonio Bramante – Décision de la Nature Inc.
• Saskatchewan: Rob Ardell
• Importers: Marc van Burck – HPS Meals & Elements
• Provide chain: Ryan Meade – Manitoba Harvest

Looking for revival

The launch of HCC comes at a time of extended contraction in Canadian hemp. Acreage dropped to 11,861 hectares (29,309 acres) in 2023—down from a peak of greater than 44,600 hectares in 2017. Organizers hope the company can ship a much-needed turnaround by uniting stakeholders below a nationwide technique and modernizing the sector’s public picture.

Funded by a compulsory levy of 0.5% of commercial hemp gross sales income, HCC’s mannequin mirrors checkoff methods utilized in Canada’s beef and pork industries. Processors will gather the charge to help market growth, product analysis, and the creation of trade requirements. Based mostly on estimated market measurement, annual income might vary between $875,000 and $1 million.

With the total board now seated and Khurram on the helm, HCC will transfer ahead with creating bylaws, finalizing levy orders, and initiating programming to help sustainable progress and develop Canadian hemp’s world competitiveness.