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Nova Scotia food processing gets $2.6M in federal Emergency Processing Fund

Ottawa has announced support of up to $2.6 million through the Emergency Processing Fund for 40 food processing companies in Nova Scotia.

With this funding, recipients are adopting measures to help keep employees safe. This includes making adjustments to enable social distancing, purchasing reusable personal protective equipment (PPE), installing protective barriers and developing employee training.

Perennia, a provincial development agency, is supporting delivery of the Emergency Processing Fund in Nova Scotia.

The announcement was made alongside Kentville-based Ocean Crisp Apple Company Inc., one of the largest single suppliers of premium variety apples in Nova Scotia, which is receiving up to $100,000.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian food producers and processors have stepped up to deliver quality food for Canadians, states Marie-Claude Bibeau, federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Nova Scotia has more than 2,000 agri-food and beverage production companies with approximately 12,000 jobs linked to the industry.

From the outset of the pandemic, Ottawa has helped food processors invest in safety measures and maintain their capacity to keep up with demand.

This announcement builds on other measures introduced to keep Canada’s agri-workforce strong, including almost $85 million in funding for the Mandatory Isolation Support Program for Temporary Foreign Workers to assist Canadian employers with some of the incremental costs associated with the mandatory 14-day isolation period imposed under the Quarantine Act on temporary foreign workers upon entering Canada; and, a $35-million Emergency On-Farm Support Fund to boost protections for domestic and temporary foreign workers and address COVID-19 outbreaks on farms.

Source: AAFC