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Cost-share projects support economic recovery in Ontario

The Governments of Canada and Ontario are investing $7.3 million to help support more than 600 cost-shared projects in Ontario’s agri-food sector.

Funded through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, the investment will support projects in priority areas that increase food safety, accelerate sector innovation and help farmers bring new products to market to grow their businesses.

The projects span over 270 communities across the province.

“It isn’t an accident that Ontario’s farmers have built an international reputation for producing the best quality food products. It is made possible through their hard work and government investment that keep them on the cutting edge of innovation and competitiveness.” said the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. “Through this investment, we continue to support the growth and sustainability of this bedrock sector in Ontario.”

Outcomes of projects funded under this intake include:

• Improvement of food safety systems on farms to meet or exceed national and international certification standards;
• Development of products that will open new sales markets for farm businesses for example, a new organic pepper product to expand markets or developing maple butter as a new, value-added farm product;
• Planting cover crops to improve soil health and reduce soil erosion losses over winter;
• Increasing preventative measures to help reduce pest damage at greenhouse operations; and
• Upgrades to animal-handling equipment to improve animal welfare and reduce disease transmission on livestock farms.

“Supporting Ontario’s farmers and agri-food businesses by increasing their ability to innovate is key to strengthening the agri-food sector,” said the Honourable Lisa Thompson, Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. “Building resiliency within our agri-food sector will help keep our province’s food supply strong and more able to adapt to challenges in the future.”

Since June 2018, both the federal and provincial governments have committed over $100 million in cost-share support to more than 5,000 projects through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership to help eligible Ontario farmers, processors, businesses and sector organizations innovate and grow.

The most recent application intake for farmers was held from December 9, 2020 to January 6, 2021.