The Marketplace will be a transaction system that aggregates verified and stackable on-farm outcomes. It will function like a virtual market for the positive environmental outcomes related to carbon sequestration, water, biodiversity, and reduced GHG emissions.

Here’s how CANZA plans to get there:

Farmers who participate in the Million Acre Challenge Program will have two rounds of data collection, once before implementing a new practice to get baseline information about the farm and the soil and once after practice implementation to track any changes that have occurred. The goal with this process is to quantify the environmental outcomes and create a new revenue stream for farmers.

In Cohort 1, outcomes on participating farms (Flagship Farms) will be measured through two rounds of data collection, planned for Spring 2026 and Spring 2029, which will use a combination of:

• practice-based data (provided by the farmer through the application process)
• field measurements (collected through on-site soil carbon sampling)
• modelled estimates

All of this data will be tied together through CANZA’s emerging MMRV (Measurement, Reporting, Verification) framework.

This Challenge will catalyze the development of a future, national environmental outcomes marketplace, which aims to drive a new economic model for beneficial management practices by valuing environmental outcomes such as carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions.

Over time, this approach will be expanded to include additional outcomes such as water quality, biodiversity, and other key indicators of farm and ecosystem health. In all cases, the outcomes will be turned into tangible value for farmers which may be marketed.

Who will reward (buy) the environmental outcomes that farmers produce?

The marketplace’s “buyers” will include governments and philanthropists seeking to invest in measurable and verified outcomes for climate and nature, as well as private investors who have an interest in supporting more sustainable supply chains and achieving their own sustainability targets.

There are a few terms you have likely heard in relation to an outcomes-based or carbon-based marketplace. Let’s break some of these down:

Carbon credit: A certificate with monetary value representing one tonne of CO2 equivalent reduced, avoided, or sequestered (stored)

Carbon offsetting: The concept of “offsetting” is a mechanism for companies to be recognised for greenhouse gas mitigation interventions made outside their own supply chains. Companies can invest in greenhouse gas emissions reduction activities in other industries and/or geographies and have that investment “offset” some of the emissions in their own operations.

Carbon insetting: The concept of “insetting” is a mechanism for companies to be recognised for greenhouse gas mitigation interventions made in their own supply chains. Insetting is the implementation of nature-based solutions such as reforestation, agroforestry, renewable energy and regenerative agriculture within a company’s supply chain.

Carbon sequestration/removal: The intentional process of removing CO₂ from the atmosphere and storing it.

Baseline: The initial measured amount of soil organic carbon in the soil before any management changes (new practices) have occurred.

The Marketplace will aim to serve as a “one stop shop” to aggregate basic, publicly available information about existing corporate, government, NGO, and philanthropic incentive programs available to Ontario field crop farmers to support the adoption of beneficial and sustainable practices.

It will also include basic search functionality to help farmers across Ontario easily explore available program offerings.

Ultimately, the Marketplace will drive a new economic model for regenerative farming practices by turning environmental outcomes into tangible value.