Search for Grants in Ontario

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.

Description

The purpose of the Agri-Tech Innovation Initiative (the Initiative) is to support growth and productivity through innovation, advanced manufacturing, improved food safety and enhanced cyber security, and energy efficiency within the agri-food sector.

The Initiative will be delivered under three streams, as follows:

• Stream 1 – Agri-Tech Innovation (total Eligible Costs per Project less than $100,000)

• Stream 2 – Agri-Tech Innovation (total Eligible Costs per Project $100,000 and greater)

• Stream 3 – Agri-Tech Energy Costs Savings

The Grand River Agricultural Society (GRAS) launched the Rapid Response to Business Development (RRBD) Initiative to support their commitment to impact investing by creating long-term sustainability and fueling innovation in the Agriculture and Environmental sectors. The GRAS RRBD Initiative will provide up to $10,000 to support Ontario-based, agriculture, agri-food and agri-products businesses, as they work with established business connections to advance market opportunities and secure sales for their innovative products, processes or technologies.

The Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Competitiveness (AMIC) Stream will provide financial support to advanced manufacturing companies with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises across Ontario. It will provide investments in:

• capital equipment

• technology adoption

• skills development

The types of support available include:

• funding support

• complementary services and support

The fund supports projects that:

• create jobs and build talent

• attract and encourage private sector investment

• help companies to adopt technologies that improve their competitiveness

• lead to business growth and broad positive economic impacts

• encourage innovation, collaboration, and cluster development

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.

For farmers who want to establish new rotational grazing systems or expand acreage of existing systems for livestock.

The Biosecurity Enhancement Initiative supports the resiliency of the agriculture and food sector by addressing biosecurity risks and enhancing emergency preparedness. It provides funding opportunities to key agriculture industry businesses, including Primary Producers, Processors, and Service Providers. The Initiative has 7 Project Categories to support related activities across the full agri-food value chain (two for animal health and five for plant health).

The Commodity loan guarantee program (CLGP) supports farmers by providing access to short-term operating loans for the purchase of crop input supplies, such as seed, fertilizer and pesticides.

It is administered on behalf of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) by the Agricultural Credit Corporation (ACC). ACC is a private sector, not-for-profit financial institution comprised of various producer associations and marketing boards. Qualifying farmers can borrow up to $750,000 under the CLGP.

Installing tile drainage is a very common land improvement practice among farmers in Ontario. Corrugated plastic tubing, clay and concrete drain tile are installed beneath the surface of agricultural land to drain excess water from the crop root zone. The benefits of tile drainage for crop productivity, farm efficiency and even for reducing environmental impacts have been studied and are generally well known to farmers.

In Ontario, the Tile Loan Program, authorized by the Tile Drainage Act, provides loans to agricultural property owners to help them finance these tile drainage projects.

The Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program recognizes, encourages and supports the long-term private stewardship of Ontario’s provincially important natural areas. Under the Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program, portions of your property that have eligible natural heritage features may qualify for a 100% property tax exemption.

The area needs to be:

• identified by the ministry as one of the eligible land types listed below in the ‘What is eligible’ section

• ¹⁄₅ of a hectare (½ acre) or larger in size

You also need to:

• commit to protecting the designated portion of your property

• allow ministry staff to inspect it if requested

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 Agri-Food Energy Cost Savings Initiative provides funding to agri-food processors who use technologies and processes to increase energy efficiency in their operations.

This cost-share initiative helps to support agri-food processors to:

• lower their overall operational costs

• be more competitive and sustainable

Our goal is to support projects that prioritize reducing greenhouse gas emissions by investing in new technology, equipment and building or facility modifications to help achieve this goal.

The Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) Wine Support Program supports Ontario wineries in increasing competitiveness and innovation while growing the sale of Ontario VQA wines at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO). The Program provides grants to help wineries invest in growing their VQA wine business, including export and tourism development activities.

The Winery Agri-Tourism Economic Relief Grant will help eligible Ontario wineries and cideries continue to grow their operations, create new jobs, and attract more visitors to rural Ontario.