NOVEMBER 2026  SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA   7
FOR DECADES, agriculture has been my professional home for 
decades and joining CSGA feels like a natural next step — one 
that draws on everything I’ve learned along the way.  
Over my career, I have worked with provincial agriculture 
associations, national livestock and crop organizations, and 
food companies across the value chain. What affects one part 
of that community inevitably affects the others, and bringing 
those parts together has defined my career.
That is what drew me to CSGA.
Certified seed sits at the centre of the issues occupying 
farmers, industry and government today: managing weather 
and disease risk, strengthening food security, improving export 
competitiveness and ensuring regulation remains efficient and 
credible. 
It is an important time to be doing this work. Seed 
Regulatory Modernization (SRM) is moving toward its next 
stage. As currently anticipated, proposed regulatory changes 
could appear in Part I of the Canada Gazette in the winter 
of 2027, followed by a public comment period. CSGA has an 
important role within the process. Our job is to help ensure 
Canada continues to have a certification system that is trusted, 
transparent and practical for the people who use it.
My background has prepared me well for that task. I came 
to agriculture early in my career, as a political aide to the 
federal minister of agriculture and agri-food in Ottawa. My 
responsibilities included the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 
which at the time had only been established for a couple years.  
I later served as chief of staff to the minister responsible 
for rural economic development, where agriculture was again 
central to the work, viewed through a broader economic and 
community lens. Since then, I have held leadership and com­
munications roles with organizations throughout the agricul­
ture and food sector.
At CSGA, I work alongside board and staff members with 
a lifetime of knowledge about pedigreed seed and certification. 
Their expertise is the foundation of this organization. What I 
add is the perspective of someone who has sat on the govern­
ment side of the table and spent decades helping agricultural 
organizations make their case there.
That experience will matter as the seed sector navigates 
change. Modernization should be measured by whether systems 
become more efficient and better connected and easier for those 
who use it.  Our goal is to balance that efficiency with credible 
oversight, transparency, accountability and traceability.
 For farmers, the value of this work ultimately has to be 
practical. CSGA will remain focused on providing the strongest 
certification system possible and using appropriate technology 
to make that system more efficient and accessible. Our pro­
vincial branches also play an important 
role in helping farmers understand what 
certified seed offers.
But farmers make decisions based on 
the realities of their businesses. The case 
for certified seed therefore must be an 
economic one. Certified seed provides 
verified varietal identity and quality, but 
those benefits must translate into value 
on the farm. Our responsibility is to 
operate a system that allows farmers to 
make that calculation with confidence.
There is also a larger conversation 
underway about public research capacity 
and the infrastructure supporting variety 
development. CSGA is a standard-setting 
and certification organization but we also 
have a responsibility to contribute our 
expertise when government and industry 
discuss issues affecting the health of the 
seed system.
We can do that alongside partners in 
the seed sector and the broader agricul­
tural community, including organiza­
tions such as the Canadian Federation 
of Agriculture. We may not lead every 
policy discussion, but we can help deci­
sion-makers understand what certified 
seed contributes and what may be at risk 
when research or infrastructure decisions 
are made.
The next generation also must have 
a voice in shaping it. Under President 
Shannon Bieman’s leadership, we want 
to bring more young people into the 
CSGA conversation — particularly when 
discussing technology and the future of 
certification. 
My role is to help lead the sector 
through change without losing the trust 
on which certification depends. The chal­
lenges may be new, but the work is what 
I have always done: listen carefully, bring 
people together and build a system that 
continues to deliver for farmers while 
advancing the broader goals of Canadian 
agriculture. That is the opportunity 
ahead of us.  
GUIDING CERTIFIED SEED THROUGH CHANGE
CSGA / SEEDGROWERS.CA / CHANGE WITHOUT LOSING TRUST
By: C.J. Noble, 
CSGA Executive 
Director

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