July 22, 2021 – Kincardine, Ontario – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
The Governments of Canada and Ontario are investing $7.3 million through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership to help support farmers and agri-food businesses. The investment will fund projects in priority areas that increase food safety, accelerate sector innovation and help farmers bring new products to market to grow their businesses.
This funding supports more than 600 cost-shared projects that strengthen Ontario’s agri-food sector by helping eligible farmers in over 270 communities across the province to continue producing safe, high quality food in Ontario.
Positive outcomes of projects funded under this intake include:
- Improvement of food safety systems on farms to meet or exceed national and international certification standards;
- Development of products that will open new sales markets for farm businesses for example, a new organic pepper product to expand markets or developing maple butter as a new, value-added farm product;
- Planting cover crops to improve soil health and reduce soil erosion losses over winter;
- Increasing preventative measures to help reduce pest damage at greenhouse operations; and
- Upgrades to animal-handling equipment to improve animal welfare and reduce disease transmission on livestock farms.
Quotes
“It isn’t an accident that Ontario’s farmers have built an international reputation for producing the best quality food products. It is made possible through their hard work and government investment that keep them on the cutting edge of innovation and competitiveness. Through this investment, we continue to support the growth and sustainability of this bedrock sector in Ontario.”
– The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
“Supporting Ontario’s farmers and agri-food businesses by increasing their ability to innovate is key to strengthening the agri-food sector. Building resiliency within our agri-food sector will help keep our province’s food supply strong and more able to adapt to challenges in the future.”
– The Honourable Lisa Thompson, Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister
Quick facts
The Canadian Agricultural Partnership is a five-year, $3 billion investment by federal, provincial and territorial governments to strengthen the agriculture and agri-food sector, ensuring continued innovation, growth and prosperity. This commitment includes $2 billion for programs that are cost-shared by the federal and provincial and territorial governments and are designed and delivered by provinces and territories.
This cost-share funding is supporting projects in the following key priority areas:
- Economic development in the agri-food and agri-products sectors.
- Environmental stewardship to enhance water quality and soil health.
- Protection and assurance to reinforce the foundation for public trust in the sector through improved assurance systems in food safety and plant and animal health.
In Ontario, cost-share programming to support farmers and other businesses through the Partnership is delivered by the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA).
