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Ontario and Canadian governments invest $16.5M in agri-food research and innovation

The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing up to $16.5 million through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP) to support agri-food research and innovation projects that will help Ontario develop new technologies, practices and solutions for the agri-food sector.

The Ontario Agri-Food Research Initiative (OAFRI) will provide a multi-year suite of funding opportunities to support research and innovation activities that advance the sector. These funding streams include applied research, pilot and demonstration, knowledge translation and transfer (KTT) and commercialization of products, including a new Grow Ontario Accelerator Hub. Funded projects will align with the agri-food sector’s research priorities to deliver new knowledge, products and practices.

The OAFRI research priority areas are: food safety, plant health, animal health and welfare, soil health, water quality and quantity, sustainable production systems, productive land capacity, competitive production systems, innovative products and product improvements, and trade, market and targeted sector growth.

Ontario applicants with capacity for research and development are encouraged to apply in these upcoming competitive intakes.

Under the applied research and pilot and demonstration steams, the maximum funding per project is up to $200,000, and for the commercialization stream it is up to $150,000.

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) will deliver the applied research, pilot and demonstration and KTT funding streams. Bioenterprise Corporation will deliver the commercialization stream. The first application intakes – for three of the streams opens on November 2, 2023.