This report was submitted by Public and Stakeholder Engagement, for Alberta Beef Producers.
The Public and Stakeholder Engagement (PSE) program, jointly delivered by the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) and Canada Beef, delivers national public trust issue management and proactive content on the societal benefits of raising beef cattle in Canada.
Issues Management
The C40 Cities initiative, which has Canadian cities like Toronto and Montreal as signatories, encourages municipalities to create climate action plans to reduce emissions. This influence spreads to other institutions, with Polytechnic Montréal announcing meat was off the menu in early 2026, with emissions as the reasoning. PSE supported Les Producteurs de bovins du Québec (PBQ) with media relations assistance, stakeholder meetings with the school and paid advertising tactics. Three video ads in strategic transit stations and street billboards promoted beef’s environmental and nutritional benefits, resulting in five million consumer impressions.
The Planetary Health Diet, championed by the group EAT Lancet, launched its second version this fall. PSE worked with both the national communication managers as well as global partners in preparation for the launch. While the first version attracted intense and sustained media coverage, global attitudes have shifted and media interest this past fall was minimal. In early March, it was announced that the EAT Foundation, funder of the EAT Lancet report, is winding down operations.
PSE also responded to an activist campaign that aims to build distrust in the National Farm Animal Care Council and the industry Codes of Practice. A new video that focuses on animal care, highlighting various ways that both cow/calf and feedlot producers care for cattle through each season of the year, was posted to PSE’s social media channels. Paid boosting targeted specific audience demographics with more than 81,000 views.
Public Outreach
PSE released their latest short documentary on National Wildlife Day in September 2025. Titled Homes on the Range, it highlights the wildlife habitat and biodiversity that is maintained on beef farms and ranches. The film has been selected for eight film festivals across Canada thus far including a win for Best Canadian Documentary at the Vancouver Indie Film Festival and Best Wildlife Documentary at the Canadian International Film Festival. Screening events were held at the University of Saskatchewan, the Wildlife Society International Conference in Edmonton and the Latornell Conservation Symposium in Ontario.
Report continues below video.
Homes on the Range
Bobolinks, burrowing owls and…beef cattle? The land used to raise beef cattle in Canada contributes the majority of critical habitat that wildlife need for reproduction and to raise their young (74%) and to find food (55%) when all crop and pastureland is considered. When it comes to habitat for many species in Canada, home is truly on the range.
Public Outreach (continued)
Recognizing the importance of influencers to reach the target audience for PSE, the program expanded its annual campaign to include an experience at Canadian Western Agribition for the first time in 2026. Six content creators attended the event and learned about the families behind Canadian beef production and animal care. The influencers are chosen for their demographic profiles of their audiences and combined, the content had close to 1.9 million impressions.
The nominees for the annual Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA) present excellent opportunities to amplify success stories from each region in Canada. In September, articles were written for each regional nominee and pitched to local publications using our media outreach platform Cision. In all, 70 publications picked up the articles with a potential audience of more than 5,500,000 and an estimated advertising value equivalency of $30,389. For Canada’s Agriculture Day, the Alberta nominees were interviewed by the Corus network (Global TV) leading to a further reach of 250,000 Canadians.
With 2026 being declared the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists by the United Nations, PSE has organized multiple events across Canada this summer. Together with the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, we hosted the North American Grazing Lands Congress which included visits to both countries in early July. A delegation of ten representatives from the Food and Agriculture (FAO) division of the United Nations attended, including the Director General. They joined influencers, media, industry partners, government and conservation organizations to learn about modern day pastoralism on beef farms and ranches on Alberta’s endangered native grasslands.
Once again, the PSE team was also excited to see industry initiatives win accolades at the Canadian Agri-Food Marketing Awards (CAMA). The Confessions of a Canadian Beef Farmer campaign, conducted in partnership with Canada Beef and the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, and articles written about the national environmental stewardship award nominees (which ran in 70 online publications across Canada) both won Certificate of Merit awards. Homes on the Range was the big winner, taking home the award for best non-specialty video but also winning Best of Show in all the digital marketing categories.
For the 2026-2027 fiscal year, PSE is operating with anticipated income of $825,000 with $618,750 allocated to CCA to administer, and $206,250 to Canada Beef.
It is our privilege to be able to work on behalf of beef cattle producers across this country everyday. Any questions or comments are welcomed by email to Amie Peck at pecka@cattle.ca.
Find PSE on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube – @RaisingCdnBeef.
2025-26 Annual Report
Learn more about Public and Stakeholder Engagement through the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off Agency’s 2025-26 Annual Report (page 22).