The Agricultural Societies Infrastructure Revitalization Program provides annual capital funding to help agricultural societies make major repairs to existing infrastructure. In 2024/25, the program awarded $2.5 million in grants to ag societies around the province.

The Agricultural Societies Infrastructure Revitalization Program provides annual capital funding to help agricultural societies make major repairs to existing infrastructure. In 2024/25, the program awarded $2.5 million in grants to ag societies around the province.

The PREP program will provide up to $20,000 per project to complete on-farm research that supports the evaluation of whether a production practice change is feasible on-farm. The program will enable producers to gain sufficient data to make informed decisions and understand how to further adapt a production practice.

In most cases, producers are expected to be working with third-party service providers to support the project trial, delivery, and analysis. Proposals are required to contain a sound project design and testing approach that will support the evaluation of whether a production practice has a positive return on investment and is a favourable change for the farm.

The Small Community Opportunity Program provides grants to solve challenges and find opportunities in rural areas. Indigenous and small communities, as well as non-profit groups they work with, may receive between $20,000 and $100,000 for local projects. By building capacity in the agriculture industry and small business, these rural communities will grow their economic footprint.

The Recruitment, Retention and Innovative Skills Training (RRIST) Program, part of the Agriculture and Food Workforce Development Initiative, offers a maximum funding of $250,000 to support BC's agriculture industry in adopting innovative tools and practices for recruiting and retaining domestic workers. Eligible activities include developing new training programs, increasing workforce diversity, and improving recruitment and retention strategies.

The ADOPT program provides funding to help producer groups and First Nations communities demonstrate and evaluate new agricultural practices and technologies at the local level. The results of successful trials can then be adopted by agricultural operations in the region.

The Strategic Field Program (SFP) offers funding for rigorous field level primary production demonstrations, value-added processing technology demonstrations and/or the evaluation of targeted practices and technologies. The goal of SFP is to support targeted field-based projects that enhance and support the delivery of ministry’s extension and knowledge transfer services to producers and targeted projects that demonstrate scalability of research derived processing technologies to value-added processors. Funding is awarded on an annual basis and projects are selected by the Agricultural Development Fund (ADF) Advisory Committee.

PEI employers who hire students during summer may qualify for the employee wage subsidy offered through two separate student employment programs:

1. Jobs for Youth Program
   This program supports students aged 15-29 working 8-12 weeks during summer and students must be returning to school in the Fall. 

2. Post-Secondary Student Program
   Supports full-time post-secondary students working a minimum of 12 to a maximum of 18 weeks during the summer. The exact number of weeks designated per placement will be based on factors such as but not limited to: position, wage, and the likelihood of opportunity for experiential learning. Students must be entering or returning to full-time post-secondary studies in the Fall.  

   • Priority will be given to employers able to demonstrate they will provide post-secondary students with a valuable experiential learning opportunity related to the student's field of study (e.g. Pathways to Apprenticeship, Health-related occupations).

   • Experiential Learning opportunities are presented by employers who meaningfully contribute to and advance a student’s education through summer employment. Experiential learning could include: practical field-related skills; insight and knowledge that would benefit the student in their academic pursuits; and/or interactions with environments related to their field of study.

The Agriculture Awareness Sub-Program is designed to raise the profile of PEI agriculture among youth and the general public in PEI through agriculture promotional activities and events. The program will develop and improve leadership, farm business and technical skills and encourage participation in conferences and special events for rural youth in order to increase their knowledge about agriculture.

The Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) in Agriculture Industry Housing Improvement Program is designed to support the improvement of the quality of housing for temporary foreign workers in PEI’s agriculture sector that have been hired through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program stream.   

Program objective:

The program provides repayable contributions to incent targeted commercialization, demonstration and/or adoption of commercial-ready innovative technologies and processes that increase agricultural and agri-food sector competitiveness and sustainability benefits.

If you receive funding, you'll work to meet the program objectives

• support projects aimed at helping Indigenous Peoples and other underrepresented and marginalized groups in Canadian agriculture — including women, youth, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, 2SLGBTQI+ communities, and official language minority communities — to fully participate in the sector by helping these groups address the key issues and barriers they often face for sector participation

• help activities that promote the benefits of a career in agriculture and that enhance the public's perception of agriculture and its role in the economy

• help Canadian organizations working in the agriculture and agri-food sector that:

  • engage, train and empower underrepresented and marginalized groups so they can succeed in the Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector

  • work with Indigenous communities to increase their involvement in the sector thereby supporting the Government of Canada's commitment to reconciliation and inclusive economic growth

  • provide opportunities for sector participation to youth, women, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, 2SLGBTQI+ communities, and official language minority communities

• help Indigenous Peoples and other underrepresented and marginalized groups in the agriculture and agri-food sector:

  • become aware of business management strategies and tools. With training and the necessary tools, the sector will have the ability to adapt to emerging issues (for example, regulatory challenges, sustainability and market opportunities), and advance economic growth

  • enhance entrepreneurial capacity, business skills and sector leadership of Indigenous Peoples and other underrepresented and marginalized groups

  • learn about available career opportunities in the agriculture and agri-food sector

The program aims to strengthen the sector and build its capacity by:

• helping members from underrepresented and marginalized groups to develop their leadership skills to take on a greater leadership role

• building the entrepreneurial capacity and business skills of Indigenous Peoples and other underrepresented and marginalized groups in the agriculture and agri-food sector

• facilitating the sharing of industry experience, best practices and knowledge to help Indigenous Peoples and other underrepresented and marginalized groups manage transformation and adapt to changes in their business operations

• strengthening the sector by incorporating views from a greater diversity of sector players

Help Canadian youth (aged 15 to 30) develop the skills and gain the experience they need to successfully transition into the labour market.

The Canada – NL Job Grant is an employer-driven, cost-sharing program that helps employers to invest in training for their existing and future employees. The grant provides eligible employers up to a maximum of $10,000 per year towards training an existing employee, and up to a maximum of $15,000 per year to train and hire an unemployed person. The employer must contribute at least one-third to the cost of training, with the exception of training an unemployed person. The result of training must be employment (from unemployment) or a better job. Decisions regarding eligibility of employers, participants, training providers, training programs and reimbursable costs will be made by the Department.

The On-Farm Technology Adoption Program is to enable producers to invest in advanced technology on their farm that will provide labour efficiencies, reduce cost of production, increase yields, and support more efficient use of inputs. Advanced Technology is defined as: a technology that is still immature but promises to deliver significant value, or that has some technical maturity but also may have relatively few users.

The Apiculture Sustainability Growth and Health Program promotes hive health, pollination expansion and adoption of efficient technologies that help with labour shortages.

Ontario’s Rural Economic Development (RED) program provides cost-share funding to support activities that create strong rural communities in Ontario, and opens doors to rural economic development through:

• funding assistance to address barriers to economic development and labour force challenges, better position rural communities to attract or retain investment, and enhance economic growth

• funding to build community capacity and support for economic development in Ontario’s rural communities

• investments in rural communities to help diversify and grow local economies – making economic growth more inclusive so rural Ontario continues to share in the province’s economic prosperity

This page provides a summary of the RED program. Read the RED program guidelines for the full details about eligibility, program funding and application requirements.

The Eastern Ontario Development Fund provides support for projects and investments to existing businesses, municipalities and not-for-profit organizations for economic development in eastern Ontario. The objective of the program is to provide financial support and services to help growing companies in eastern Ontario make investments to:

• grow their businesses

• improve productivity

• invest in innovation and skills development

• pursue new markets

• generate broad positive regional economic impact

• create new good, sustainable jobs

A project is a distinct undertaking, separate from ongoing operations, that will result in benefits to the organization such as business growth or access to new markets.

The types of support available include:

• funding support

• complementary services and support

The Sowing the Seeds of Wellness Initiative (the Initiative) provides funding to national or Ontario provincial level farm organizations, agricultural commodity groups and/or affiliated groups to promote a suite of mental health programs and resources that are specifically designed to support Ontario farmers and their family members.

Funding for the Initiative comes from the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP), a five-year (2023-2028) investment by federal, provincial and territorial governments. Up to $700,000 has been allocated for the Initiative.

The Promoting Agriculture and Food Careers Initiative provides funding to agricultural societies to promote careers in the agriculture and food industry.

Career opportunities in Ontario’s agriculture and food industry offer:

• competitive salaries and benefits

• a diverse range of opportunities

• experience in a range of industries (for example hands-on animal care, technological and robotic operations, management and logistics)