COVID-19 Updates News
Federal emergency processing fund to help producers adapt to COVID

First announced in early May by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, applications for the new $77.5 million Emergency Processing Fund (EPF) launched late last week. Online applications are open to projects that help domestic greenhouse operators, food processors and manufacturers manage new health and safety protocols while maintaining Canada’s food production.

The program will prioritize projects based on two objectives:

• Emergency COVID Response to assist companies to implement changes required by COVID-19 to ensure the health and safety of workers. This funding will assist with:
  • plant retrofits or adjustments to existing operations to accommodate changes to processes and production
• Strategic Investments to assist companies to improve, automate, and modernize facilities needed to increase Canada’s food supply capacity.

This Emergency Processing Fund will help our processors to adapt their activities to ensure the safety of their workers, and to increase their capacity of production,” says Marie-Claude Bibeau, federal minister of agriculture and agri-food.

The EPF will provide up to $5 million per recipient in non-repayable funding for emergency COVID response activities and/or repayable funding for strategic investments.

All eligible activities must be completed by September 30, 2020. The program will fund activities retroactive to March 15, 2020.

Applications are being accepted (AAFC Emergency Processing Fund) on a continuous basis until 12:00 p.m. (midnight) EDT Friday, July 31, 2020 or earlier if funding is fully allocated before that date.

For requests of less than $1,000,000, contact the organization in the province/territory of the project location to apply.

• Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick
  Perennia Food and Agriculture Inc.
  Telephone: 902-678-7722
  Toll-free number: 1-877-710-5210
  Email: programs@perennia.ca
• Quebec
  Conseil de la transformation alimentaire du Québec (in French only)
  Telephone: 1-888-984-2251
  Email: fondsurgencecovid@conseiltaq.com
• Ontario, Manitoba and Nunavut
  Agricultural Adaptation Council
  Telephone: 519-822-7554
  Email: epf@adaptcouncil.org
• Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories
  Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC^Footnote1
  Telephone: 250-940-6150
  Email: info@iafbc.ca

For requests of $1,000,000 or more, apply to AAFC directly.