Annual Report 2016-2017 Table of Contents 3 4 6 7 7 8 11 13 15 16 17 CVA initiatives in support of Canadian winery success and prosperity All Canadian wineries and stakeholders are encouraged to share information on Canada’s Low‐Risk Drinking Guidelines (LRDG). CVA has developed the websites winemoderation.ca and vinmoderee.ca to provide consistent, wine‐specific LRDG information to the public. We strongly encourage your business to include a link to these sites from your website land media socia pages (custom images and buttons are available from CVA). Canadian Vintners Association Annual Report 2016-2017 2 The past year was very busy for the Canadian Vintners Association, as it continues to work hard to push forward the issues of critical importance to the Canadian wine industry. In an industry where there are often diverse interests, the CVA has worked hard to create unity and strives for consensus within the industry at all opportunities. Of primary importance was addressing how wine blended and bottled in Canada is labelled. An issue that has impassioned some for many years, the consultation that the CVA coordinated and facilitated has now resulted in a new designation “International blend from imported and domestic wines” under review by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for implementation. I am proud to say that the CVA has experienced its largest ever growth in membership this past year, with 11 members joining in both in the winery and associate category. Many strategic objectives were addressed over the past year. Some of the highlights for 2016‐17 include: • Completion of the 2nd Canadian Wine Economic Impact study; • Approval of the VQA Canada Guidance Document to support the establishment of an inclusive national VQA system that reflects individual appellation regions; • Launch of the Wine Industry Innovation Program (WIIP) proposal to support private capital winery investment; • Engagement in numerous federal policy discussions including Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program, CFIA Food Label Modernization consultations, Health Canada Food Guide consultations, AAFC Value‐Added Agriculture Roundtable, Chief Medical Officer Report on Alcohol and Health; • Ratification of the World Wine Trade Group (WWTG) Agreement on Information Exchange, Technical Cooperation and Counterfeiting; • Coordination of the Wines of Canada pavilion with regional associations at ProWein with 22 participating exhibitors, representing 25 wineries; • Coordination of the Wines of Canada presence as theme country at the Vancouver International Wine Festival (76 participating wineries); and • Active engagement with liquor boards on policy issues in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. We have an outstanding Board of Directors, volunteer committees, and a very talented team led by Dan Paszkowski, and supported by Asha Hingorani, Caroline Henderson, Elisa Ruiz and Lorraine Yorke. It was a great pleasure and privilege for me to serve as your Chair. My appreciation for the power of the CVA network continues to grow as we make every effort to building a strong and competitive economic environment for the Canadian wine industry. Canadian Vintners Association Annual Report 2016-2017 3 The past year has been extremely busy, and it is hard to remember a year where more has happened. The CVA co‐chaired the World Wine Trade Group (WWTG) and hosted both the FIVS and the APEC Wine Regulatory Forum in Canada, while working with the new Liberal government, which continues to reshape the domestic and international agenda. At home Canadians witnessed federal‐provincial and territorial governments finalize the framework for a new Canada Free Trade Agreement, which will include the launch of a beverage alcohol working group to discuss interprovincial trade. In addition, New Brunswick referred its provincial court ruling on the interprovincial movement of beer to the Supreme Court. Both of these efforts could help remove interprovincial barriers and allow winery to consumer delivery across provincial borders, an effort which the CVA has led since 2006. To address concerns with “Cellared in Canada” labelling, CVA organized one‐to‐one interviews with wineries and retailers across Canada, and facilitated industry roundtables in Eastern and Western Canada. The result of this process was a recommendation to change the labelling designation of wines blended in Canada from "Cellared in Canada" to "International blend from imported and domestic wines". We remain hopeful that the wne labels will be approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in fall 2017. Internationally, Canada signed the historic CETA agreement with Europe which will see import tariffs removed on wine imports and open new markets to Canadian wineries, while our closest trading partner elected a new president. This has brought much uncertainty about the future of Canada’s relationship with the U.S., and the prospect of renegotiating and modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The U.S., also launched a WTO consultation on wine sales in BC grocery. The CVA has remained a strong national voice on all fronts, advocating the priorities of the Canadian wine industry from coast to coast. The Prime Minister’s Economic Growth Advisory Council acknowledged the agri‐food sector as a Canadian priority in global excellence and innovation. To meet the governments focus on innovation, the CVA developed and launched its Wine Industry Innovation Program (WIIP) proposal to support investment in wineries across Canada, and help wineries adjust to the new global competitive reality. As you will see in this report, our work over the years continues to pay dividends. Our newly released economic study has confirmed that the past four years has seen our industry grow from $6.8 to $9.0 billion. With WIIP, we believe we can grow the wine and grape industry to $16 billion, creating 15,000 jobs by 2022. As we look towards the future, we will have to deal with a new US administration, lower US taxes, the risk of higher domestic excise duties, implementation of CETA, renegotiation of NAFTA, and the risk of a WTO challenge. We will also have to dedicate resources to continue our fight for the removal of inter‐ provincial barriers to trade. Canadian Vintners Association Annual Report 2016-2017 4 This past year the CVA has seen a number of staff changes. Following almost four years of dedicated effort, we were sad to see CVA Vice President Beth McMahon depart to pursue a new career opportunity. Beth’s guidance and contributions will live on, as we welcome Asha Hingorani, Director of Government and Public Affairs, and Caroline Henderson, Manager of Programs and Regulatory Affairs into the CVA family. Let me finish by thanking our membership, staff, board of directors and regional associations for your dedication and determination to continually strengthen the CVA network. We look forward to a very exciting 2017‐18, and will work hard to meet and exceed expectations as we seize new opportunities to grow our domestic and international markets. Canadian Wine Institute Board of Directors circa 1968 Photo courtesy of John Peller Canadian Vintners Association Annual Report 2016-2017 5 The Canadian Vintners Association (CVA) has represented small, medium and large grape wineries across Canada for fifty years. CVA member wineries are responsible for more than 90% of the wine produced and sold in Canadian and international markets and are engaged in the entire value chain, from grape growing, farm management and grape harvesting, to wine production, research, bottling, retail sales and tourism. CVA brings together our members, including the British Columbia Original Canadian Wine Institute 1967 Logo Wine Institute, the Winery & Grower Alliance of Ontario and the Winery Association of Nova Scotia, to advocate on public policy initiatives by working cooperatively with the federal government, international bodies and other stakeholders to find solutions that benefit both society and the entire Canadian wine industry. CVA strives to meet the business needs and interests of its members by ensuring the establishment of policies, regulations, rules and an economic framework which allows the domestic and international business environment for Canadian wines to be as competitive, barrier free and supportive as possible. Our Vision Our Mission An inclusive, accessible, knowledgeable and To provide focused national leadership and responsive organization committed to strategic coherence to enable domestic and sustainable domestic and international success international success for the Canadian wine for the Canadian wine industry. industry. We place our members at the core of all we do. Our members are the reason for our existence. We appreciate and are inclusive of all scales of production, providing a unifying voice for the Canadian wine industry. We provide respect, professionalism and responsiveness to each member. We encourage member participation and leadership in our organization. We are committed to our industry. We are respected for our strategic, forward‐looking transparent leadership that supports a successful Canadian wine industry, domestically and abroad. We believe that a unified approach of working together drives high levels of engagement, and is essential to our continued success. We operate ethically. We hold ourselves and our association to high standards of honesty, integrity and social responsibility. We are both individually and collectively accountable and responsible. We strive continually to