Agricultural stakeholders gathered in Ottawa Monday to take part in roundtable discussions surrounding NAFTA.

Groups ranging from beef to dairy to grain met with Federal Ag Minister Lawrence MacAulay in addition to Andrew Leslie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

"A strong NAFTA is important for our farmers and our economy," said MacAulay. "Millions of sector jobs across North America are supported by NAFTA, which has helped grow agricultural trade between our three nations to $85 billion annually. Our Government will continue to work together with Canadian farmers to ensure trade remains an engine of growth and prosperity for our nations.”

Discussions focused on how the sector can maximize the benefits of a modernized NAFTA and look at ways to make North America an even stronger agricultural market.

NAFTA has nearly quadrupled agricultural trade in North America over the past 25 years, with trilateral trade reaching nearly $1 trillion (US) in 2016.