The Canadian Grain Commission is proposing to reduce service fees collected for four official grain inspection and official grain weighing services on August 1, 2021.
This proposal is in response to the sustained growth in grain export volumes in recent years and aims to better align fee revenues with fixed service delivery costs.
These changes would result in a combined reduction for official inspection and weighing services fees from $1.48 to $1.05 per tonne for ships, and a cost decrease of $37.88 per official inspection and weighing services for a railway car, truck, or container.
The proposed reduction comes two years before the end of the current fee review cycle.
For fiscal year 2021-22, fees paid by grain sector stakeholders would be reduced by approximately $13.79 million, a cost decrease of 19%. Savings for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 fiscal years are expected to be approximately $20.68 million each year, a cost decrease of 29%.
“We are lowering service fees early in response to the growth in grain export volumes," says Doug Chorney, Chief Commissioner. "Reducing these fees will ensure that millions of dollars remain in the grain sector to the benefit of the entire value chain over the next three years.”
Quick facts
- Official inspection grain volumes from licensed terminal elevators are the basis upon which the Canadian Grain Commission establishes its fees.
- The baseline for existing service and licence fees was established in 2017-18 for the five-year period ending March 31, 2023 and was based on an annual average official inspection and weighing volume of 34.405 million metric tonnes.
- The savings calculation is based on existing 2021-22 published fees, and the updated grain volume forecast of 48.1 million metric tonnes that the Canadian Grain Commission expects to officially inspect and weigh annually for the next three-year period.
- Revenues from Canadian Grain Commission service fees fund approximately 90% of its operating costs.
The proposed changes require amendment to the Canada Grain Regulations. They will be published in the Canada Gazette, Part I for public comment on May 22, 2021 and stakeholders have until June 7, 2021, to provide feedback.
