Search for Grants in Nova Scotia

The program aims to create an enabling environment for the development and adoption of clean technology that will help drive the changes required to achieve a low-carbon economy and promote sustainable growth in Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector.

The new Dairy Innovation and Investment Fund, announced in Budget 2023, will provide Canadian dairy processors with non-repayable contributions to help the dairy sector better manage the structural surplus of solids non-fat in Canada. This Fund will be delivered by the Canadian Dairy Commission on behalf of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

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.

The Local Food Infrastructure Fund (LFIF) supports projects that strengthen community food security and increase the availability and accessibility of local, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food through food production-focused activities for equity-deserving groups, particularly Indigenous and Black communities.

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

The AgriMarketing Program is a $129.97-million program under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP).The program aims to increase and diversify exports to global markets and seize market opportunities via industry-led promotional activities to differentiate Canadian products and producers, by leveraging Canada's reputation for high-quality and safe food. The program supports a wide range of agricultural sectors, such as:field cropsfish and seafoodfood and beveragehorticulturelivestock

The objective of the Indigenous Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative (IAFSI) is to increase economic development opportunities of Indigenous Peoples and communities in Canada. This initiative will support Indigenous communities and entrepreneurs who are ready to launch agriculture and food systems projects and others who want to build their capacity to participate in the Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector.

Through this initiative, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) aims to contribute to the Government of Canada's commitment to reduce barriers for underrepresented groups and focus on building Indigenous Peoples' capacity to succeed in agriculture.

The initiative supports the development of partnerships between federal and non-federal partners, including Indigenous communities, provincial and territorial governments, and the private sector.

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

The AgriCommunication Program is a 3-year, up to $8 million federal initiative that will focus specifically on supporting activities which increase appreciation and pride in the contributions of farmers and the food industry and enhance public trust. The activities will help strengthen public trust about the origin of the food Canadians eat and how it is produced.

The objective of the Market Development Program for Turkey and Chicken is to deliver on the Government of Canada’s commitment to provide full and fair compensation to supply-managed sectors for market access concessions made under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The program will help increase domestic demand and consumption of Canadian turkey and chicken products through industry-led promotional activities that differentiate Canadian products and producers, and leverage Canada’s reputation for high quality and safe food.

The program aims to provide short-term financial support to licensed Canadian wineries as they transition and adapt to ongoing and emerging challenges impacting the financial resilience and competitiveness of the wine industry.

The CAAIN Smart Farm Network Competition intends to:

• Provide Canadian agricultural producers and innovators an unbiased assessment of how agtech innovations can benefit their farms

• Provide a platform for smart farms or smart farm networks to evaluate emerging agricultural technologies under commercial conditions

• Promote the adoption of new agricultural technologies that will benefit the competitiveness and profitability of the Canadian agricultural sector.

• Foster mutually beneficial collaborations between Canadian smart farms through sharing of best practices and leveraging of complementary knowledge and expertise

• Foster collaboration between organizations in Canada’s agtech community

• Support the growth of new companies, scale up efforts, and talent creation in Canada

• Create experiential learning opportunities in building the skilled agtech workforce

• Build a repository of research and evaluation data that can be anonymized and shared among smart farms and, possibly, the broader research community

As part of this competition, CAAIN will support the smart farm’s or smart farm network’s evaluation of specific technologies of the network’s choosing. Evaluations must consider the scientific, technical, economic, environmental, and social benefits of the emerging agricultural technologies within a Canadian perspective.

The Emergency Processing Fund (EPF) is a one-time, federal investment of up to $77.5 million to help companies implement changes to safeguard the health and safety of workers and their families due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund also aims to aid companies to invest to improve, automate and modernize facilities needed to increase Canada’s food supply capacity. The fund is one part of the greater Government of Canada response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

Addresses several key challenges and opportunities within the plant-based and agrifood ecosystem:

Such As:

• Reformulating Products with Canadian Ingredients

• Developing or modifying food products to incorporate domestically produced ingredients.

• Scale-Up and Commercialization

• Increasing the production capacity of Canadian food products or ingredients to meet domestic demand.

• Supply Chain Development

• Enhancing the resilience and efficiency of Canada's agri-food supply chain.

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

• encourage projects that aim to increase sector development of environmental information and benchmarking

• help industry-led efforts to provide information needed to build capacity and enhance the sector's development

• support sector-led activities such as producer-oriented seminars and conferences that identify industry best practices and build the capacity of the sector to allow agri-businesses to transition, adapt, and improve their profitability by nurturing entrepreneurial capacity and cultivating industry leadership

• provide targeted support to national domestic agricultural fairs and exhibitions to support projects that:

  • promote awareness of mental health, farmer wellbeing, best management practices, and farm safety

  • enhance awareness of the Canadian food system and agricultural practices

  • raise awareness of careers in the Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector

  • help industry develop capacity throughout the sector and facilitate the sharing and expansion of skills, knowledge, and best practices among industry members

  • engage with Indigenous Peoples and other underrepresented and marginalized groups by taking into consideration the unique perspectives, priorities and challenges facing these populations and activities that emphasize inclusivity and diversity within the sector

The program will prioritize projects that develop sector capacity, build public trust and are national in scope with a broad focus spanning the agriculture industry.

The program aims to:

• contribute to the achievement of the overall objectives of the Sustainable PCA's Strategic Initiatives on Resilience and Public Confidence by enabling the development and adoption of industry-led sectoral insurance systems aimed at managing risks, improving resilience and addressing market considerations and challenges to public confidence at the national level;

• help small and medium-sized enterprises export products by supporting the adoption of assurance tools and systems that enable them to make verifiable claims in response to market requirements.

The objective of this program is to encourage and support new ownership of commercial farms in Nova Scotia. Program funds are intended to improve the financial stability of beginning farmers in the first years of operation, based on a four-year projected calculation of eligible loan interest on new loans only. We support the development of diverse and inclusive industries. We welcome individuals from all equity deserving communities including but not limited to women, persons with disabilities, Black and African Nova Scotians, First Nations, Indigenous peoples, 2SLGBTQI+ and racialized individuals, to apply to programming.

Program Objectives: To help Nova Scotia farms and agri-businesses to be more competitive, manage transition, develop risk management strategies, and respond to change. The business advisory services offered under this program also supports an agriculture sector that can be proactive in business development and risk management decisions.

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 objective of the Value-Adding Equipment Program is to support value-added businesses and increase local food production by assisting in the sustainability of farms and communities and improving food security in Nova Scotia. Value-added means the modification of a Nova Scotia agricultural product through the addition of ingredients or processes into a higher value food, beverage or agri-product including the creation of new value from agricultural waste products, by-products, or co-products.

The objective of the Get Growing Program is to support growth of small farms (those with annual gross commodity sales currently less than $30,000) through the adoption of specialized infrastructure or equipment. Projects should help the expansion of local agricultural production for local markets.

The Environmental Stewardship and Climate Change Program will support the Agricultural sector to reduce environmental risk and enhance environmental benefits, as well as reduce GHG emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. This program will support primary producers to accelerate the adoption of priority Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs) subject to completion of an Environmental Farm Plan (EFP).

The Market Opportunities and Diversification program will support local and export activities that enable eligible producers, processors, and industry associations to: • modify products and packaging to meet specific market requirements and preferences • support for marketing activities to meet changing requirements or emerging opportunities • sell quality agricultural, inside and outside of Nova Scotia • build capacity and take the steps necessary to ensure products and businesses are ready and able to compete in target markets

Experienced financial losses due to infrastructure or crop damage, livestock loss or extended power outages due to Hurricane Fiona.

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

The Agriculture Beneficial Management Practices (BMP) Program is now available to help farmers in Nova Scotia unlock the benefits of sustainable and energy-efficient practices. The program is designed to support a wide range of eligible measures that align with Efficiency Nova Scotia’s Business Energy Rebates and Custom Energy Retrofits programs, as well as additional incentives for specific projects.Program benefits include:

• Improved cost effectiveness while introducing energy efficient updates across operations.

• Access to funding to start and complete new projects.

• Receive ongoing support from Efficiency Nova Scotia Energy Managers.

The Advancing Clean Technologies Program supports the adoption of clean technologies that help with climate change adaptation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy efficiency, promoting sustainable and clean growth, and increasing value-added agricultural production.

The Wild Blueberry and Apple Harvest Efficiency Program supports the modernization of wild blueberry and apple harvesting equipment for growers to reduce labour requirements, increase productivity and improve profitability.

The objective of the Beef Abattoir and Processing Assistance program is to support increased capacity of Nova Scotia provincially licensed abattoirs and processors that serve the beef industry in the province. The program can provide up to 60 percent funding for eligible project costs; up to $15000 for abattoirs and $5000 for meat processors working with beef.

The Agricultural Research and Innovation Program supports applied research and innovation activities. It also supports on-farm trials that are intended to improve production, productivity, profitability, competitiveness and sustainability of Nova Scotia’s agricultural sectors.