The Future Herd

7: Leadership in a Volatile World with Tyler McCann


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Guest: Tyler McCann, Managing Director, Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI)

Global trade is shifting. Geopolitics is intruding into supply chains. Food is no longer just food — it is leverage, resilience, and power.

In this episode of Future Herd, Jesse Hirsh sits down with Tyler McCann, Managing Director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI), to explore what leadership looks like in a world where stability can no longer be assumed.

Together they examine:

  1. Why the global context for Canadian agriculture has fundamentally changed
  2. The discipline of focus in a sector overwhelmed by issues
  3. How policy actually moves — and why convening matters
  4. The cultural tendency toward incrementalism in Canadian agri-food governance
  5. Why diversity of participation strengthens policy outcomes
  6. The difference between a commodity sector and a strategic one
  7. The urgent need to build domestic value-added capacity

Tyler draws on his experience inside federal government and now at CAPI to explain how coalitions form, how priorities get chosen, and where the real leverage points exist in shaping Canada’s agri-food future.

At the heart of the conversation is a simple but consequential question:

Does Canada treat agri-food as a strategic sector — or as a commodity engine navigating price cycles?

In an era of geopolitical volatility, that distinction matters.

About the Guest

Tyler McCann is the Managing Director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI), an independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to advancing policy solutions for Canada’s agri-food system. He previously served in senior advisory roles within the federal government and operates a farm in western Quebec.

About Future Herd

Future Herd is a podcast exploring leadership, strategy, and structural change across Canada’s agri-food sector. We focus on systems, policy, innovation, and the people shaping the future of food.

If this conversation resonates, share it within your network and continue the discussion inside your organization. The future of Canadian agri-food will not arrive on its own — it will be organized.

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The Future HerdBy Metaviews Media Management Ltd.