2019–20 Departmental Plan - Details on transfer payment programs of $5 million or more

The expected results are:

To contribute to fostering public trust and building consumer confidence by funding industry to develop and adopt systems, standards and related tools that enable agriculture and agri-food producers and processors to make credible, meaningful and verifiable claims about the health and safety of Canadian agriculture products.

The performance indicators, which are used to measure relevance and effectiveness of the programming include:

• Number of projects approved;
• Number of projects completed; and
• Percentage of assurance projects' implementation plans reported to be functioning.

The objective of the Agricultural Clean Technology Program is to promote sustainable growth in Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector while helping drive the change required to achieve a low carbon economy, through investments in the areas of precision agriculture and agri-based bioproducts.

The program provides non-repayable contributions to provincial and territorial governments to support activities along the innovation continuum - from research and development to commercialization, demonstration and adoption – with the aim of accelerating and contributing to the advancement and adoption of clean technologies in Canadian agriculture.

The expected results are an increased investment by provincial and territorial governments in clean technologies in the agriculture and agri-food sector, and increased development, demonstration, commercialization and adoption of clean technologies in agriculture.

The indicators used to measure the performance of the Agricultural Clean Technology Program in meeting these expected results are: the ratio of leveraged provincial and territorial investments against federal funding, and the number of agricultural clean technology projects that are supported through the Program.

AgriRecovery is a disaster relief framework that allows governments to work efficiently together to assess the impacts of disasters on Canadian producers and respond when needed with targeted, disaster-specific initiatives. Initiatives developed under the program are intended to help producers beyond the support available through existing programming to cover the extraordinary costs necessary to recover from a disaster event and resume business operations as quickly as possible.

Federal AgriRecovery website

The expected results are:
Disaster-affected producers resume business operations and/or mitigate the impacts of the disaster as quickly as possible.

The performance indicator, which is used to measure relevance and effectiveness of the programming is:
Percentage of AgriRecovery recipients where AgriRecovery payments played an important role in their recovery from a disaster.

The process for AgriRecovery begins when one or more provincial/territorial government(s) requests an assessment of a disaster event in writing. Once the request has been made, a joint federal and provincial/territorial task team conducts an AgriRecovery assessment. As needed, the task team consults with affected producers, industry representatives and other department/agency representatives (for example, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency). The assessment looks at the impacts of the event on producers, the ability for them to recover quickly and the costs associated with those recovery activities as well as how existing programs will respond.

Generic information on the AgriRecovery Framework is available on Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s website while the specifics on the initiatives are usually available on provincial/territorial governments’ websites.

The expected results are:

• Information products are available to share with farmers through technology transfer; and
• Program recipients make greenhouse gases mitigation technologies and beneficial management practices available to farmers.

The performance indicators that are used to monitor and report on the program include:

• The number of information products such as factsheets and brochures that are developed; and
• The number of newly developed technologies and beneficial management practices that are demonstrated through field days and workshops.

The AgriInnovate program accelerates the commercialization and adoption of innovative products and processes in the agricultural sector to increase sector competitiveness and sustainability. The program is intended to address both the financing gap present between moving agricultural, agri-food and agri-based research to commercialization, and to assist industry in mitigating the inherent risk in scaling-up products and processes.

The program provides repayable contributions to recipients.

The expected results are:

• Support for innovation-related activities involving the adoption or commercialization of products or processes is provided across the agriculture and agri-food sector;
• Innovations in the agriculture and agri-food sector are generated and commercialized; and
• The competitiveness and productivity of participating firms is increased.

The performance indicators that are used to monitor and report on the program include:

• The number of participating firms that receive funding;
• The number of technologies, products, practices and services that are demonstrated; and
• The number of new technologies, products, practices, processes and services that enter the market.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada communications effort may include mail outs, news conferences or news releases.

Program clients are also being engaged through email, site visits, web presence, videoconferences, teleconferences or other outreach and project assessment and monitoring.

Additional efforts include broader industry engagement, including outreach to the series of Value Chain Roundtables, the Innovation and CleanTech Hub and other related industry associations.

AgriInsurance provides Canadian producers with insurance coverage to reduce the economic impacts of production losses caused by adverse weather, crop diseases and other specified perils. AgriInsurance is a program that uses premiums to fund liabilities. Premiums are shared between governments and producers to ensure affordable coverage to producers, while administration costs are covered solely by governments. The commodities covered vary by province and continue to expand to cover new agricultural products.

For more information, visit the following websites:

• Federal AgriInsurance
• AgriInsurance in British Columbia
• AgriInsurance in Alberta
• AgriInsurance in Saskatchewan
• AgriInsurance in Manitoba
• AgriInsurance in Ontario
• AgriInsurance in Québec
• AgriInsurance in New Brunswick
• AgriInsurance in Nova Scotia
• AgriInsurance in Prince Edward Island

The expected results are:

• Appropriate self-sustainably production insurance programs are offered to producers by provinces; and
• Producers participate in the provincial Insurance Programs.

The performance indicators that are used to monitor and report on the program include:

• Value of agricultural products eligible for insurance as a percentage of the value of all agricultural products produced (excluding livestock); and
• Value of insured crop production as a percentage of the total value of all agricultural products eligible for insurance (excluding forage).

Any province or its agent is the recipient for federal contributions under AgriInsurance.

The Ultimate Recipient of AgriInsurance are agricultural producers (participants) who choose to purchase actuarially sound insurance coverage for the commodities they produce, or who experience verifiable losses due to wildlife.

AgriInvest encourages Canadian producers to set money aside which they can draw upon for any reason including to recover from income declines or to make investments to reduce on-farm risks. Under the program, governments provide matching contributions to producers who make annual deposits to an AgriInvest savings account.

For more information, visit the following websites:

Federal AgriInvest (except Québec)
AgriInvest in Québec (La Financière agricole du Québec)

The expected result is:
Producers' capacity to deal with income losses is enhanced.

The performance indicator that is used to monitor and report on the program is:
Percentage of Canadian agricultural producers participating in the AgriInvest program.

The expected results are:
To maintain, increase and diversify exports to international markets and seize domestic market opportunities through industry-led promotional activities that differentiate Canadian products and producers, and leverage Canada's reputation for high quality and safe food.

The performance indicators, which are used to measure relevance and effectiveness of the programming include:

• Number of projects approved;
• Number of market development activities supported; and
• Value ($) of agriculture and agri-food exports.

AgriRisk aims to increase the ability of Canadian producers to address risk by supporting research and development as well as the implementation and administration of new risk management tools for use in the agriculture sector. Under the program, governments provide financial assistance to facilitate the development and adoption of risk management tools, including insurance-based products.

For more information, visit:
AgriRisk Initiatives

The expected results are:

• Industry are developing and examining risk management tools and services that engage producers; and
• Producers have adopted risk management tools and strategies beyond core Business Risk Management programs.

The performance indicators, which are used to measure relevance and effectiveness of the programming include:

• Percentage of total program funds available that are committed under contribution agreements (Annual, $11 million); and
• Percentage of Research and Development projects that result in either an Administrative Capacity Building project or the implementation of a new private or federal, provincial or territorial tool being available to producers to manage business risks.

Research and Development projects:
Not-for-profit industry organizations representing agricultural and agri-business stakeholders, such as producer associations, commodity groups, and farm services associations; cooperatives, mutual insurance companies, reciprocals; academic institutions; and provincial and territorial governments.

Administrative Capacity Building projects:
Proponents of industry-led Administrative Capacity Building projects resulting from previously funded AgriRisk Initiatives Research and Development projects; proponents of industry-led Administrative Capacity Building projects where the research and development phase was funded from industry sources; proponents of not-for-profit and for-profit administrations delivering agricultural risk management tools; and provincial and territorial governments.

Information on the AgriRisk Initiatives program, as well as the eligibility criteria and application process, is available on Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's website. The program website, toll-free number, and media relations supports the promotional campaigns.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada works with provinces to ensure a coordinated communications approach and to ensure federal identity on cost-shared programs.

The Department continues to build on the program websites as a key source of program information and on options for communicating information to program clients in order to support the Department's mandate to strengthen program service and delivery. Communication activities comply with the Official Languages Act requirements. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada also works with the National Program Advisory Committee to engage its producers.

The AgriScience program accelerates the pace of innovation in the sector by supporting industry-led research and development to increase market opportunities in the agriculture, agri-food and agri-based products sector.

The program is delivered through two types of initiatives: the AgriScience – Clusters Component (Clusters) and the AgriScience – Projects Component (Projects).

Clusters are national in scope and bring together scientific expertise from industry, academia and government to collaborate to address multiple industry priorities of a specific commodity (such as wheat, beef, et cetera) or cross-cutting issues (for example, bioproducts, food processing).

Projects may be individually led research projects or a small group of projects that are national, regional or local in scope.

The expected results are:

• Support for science, research and innovation activities is provided across the agriculture and agri-food sector;
• Industry participation in collaborative research, development and knowledge transfer is increased;
• The agriculture and agri-food sector's knowledge base is increased;
• Research and development supported innovations are generated and commercialized; and
• The Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector is effective in transforming ideas into new products, processes or practices.

The performance indicators that are used to monitor and report on the program include:

• The number of clusters and projects that receive funding;
• Percentage of cluster and research projects that involve Research and Development collaboration;
• The number of papers published in peer reviewed journals; and
• The number of new technologies, products, practices, processes or systems that are utilized.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada communications effort may include mail outs, news conferences or news releases.

Program clients are engaged through email, site visits, web presence or other outreach, and through project assessment and monitoring.

Additional efforts include broader industry engagement, including outreach to the series of Value Chain Roundtables, companies and industry associations.

AgriStability is intended to help Canadian producers to manage financial risks that threaten the viability of their farm by helping them protect their farm operations against large declines in farm income. Under the program, governments provide assistance when a producer's margin falls below seventy percent of their historical reference margin. All producers who derive income from the primary production of agricultural commodities are eligible to participate in the program.

For more information, visit the following websites:

• Federal AgriStability
• AgriStability in British Columbia
• AgriStability in Alberta
• AgriStability in Saskatchewan
• AgriStability in Ontario
• AgriStability in Quebec
• AgriStability in Prince Edward Island

The expected result is:
Program responds to eligible producers' specific production/operation.

The performance indicator that is used to monitor and report on the program is:
Percentage of Canadian agricultural producers participating in the AgriStability program (proactively and through late participation).

Business Risk Management programs are generally marketed to producers as a package. In advance of key program deadlines, direct mail and advertising are used by administrators to raise program awareness, encourage enrolment and compliance with participation requirements (for example, meeting key deadlines). The program website, toll-free number, and media relations will support the promotional campaigns.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada works with provinces and with third party delivery agencies to ensure a coordinated communications approach and to ensure federal identity on cost-shared programs.

The Department continues to build on the program websites as a key source of program information and on options for communicating information to program clients in order to support the Department's mandate to strengthen program service and delivery. Communication activities comply with the Official Languages Act requirements. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada also works with the National Program Advisory Committee to engage its producers.

The expected results are:

• The sector develops tools and strategies to respond to changing circumstances, issues, and/or opportunities; and
• The sector implements tools and strategies to respond to changing circumstances and/or emerging issues and/or opportunities.

The performance indicators that are used to monitor and report on the program include:

• The number of tools and strategies developed by the sector to respond to changing circumstances and/or opportunities from 2014 to 2019; and
• The number of tools and strategies to respond to changing circumstances and/or opportunities implemented by the sector from 2014 to 2019.

The Dairy Programs consist of the Dairy Farm Investment Program and the Dairy Processing Investment Fund, which are designed to encourage investment by dairy farmers and dairy processors to improve productivity and competitiveness.

The Dairy Farm Investment Program (2017–18 to 2021–22) supports dairy farmers to modernize their operations and improve their productivity through activities such as the adoption of robotic milkers, automated feeding systems, herd management tools, or other equipment upgrades.

The Dairy Processing Investment Fund (2017–18 to 2020–21) supports dairy processors as they modernize their facilities and conduct near-market activities to introduce new and improved products that will compete with expected imports. The program supports access to technical expertise and the purchase of new equipment in order to expand processing capacity and diversify product lines to capture new market opportunities.

The expected results are:

• To help the dairy sector modernize their operations; and
• Improve their productivity.

The performance indicators, which are used to measure relevance and effectiveness of the programming include:

• Number of approved projects;
• Number of small/large scale investments;
• Production cost savings (for example, labour and/or cash costs);
• Number of facilities and not-for-profits that apply for and receive funding;
• Participants adopt technologies new to the sector; and
• Increase in volume of industrial or fluid milk and milk components used in production.

Dairy Farm Investment Program

• Canadian licensed cow's milk producers.

Dairy Processing Investment Fund

• For-profit organizations, including co-operatives, which are:
  • small and medium cheese makers;
  • large cheese makers and dairy processors involved in processing dairy products in Canada whose projects have benefits that accrue broadly.
• Not-for-profit organizations involved in or representing the dairy processing sector in Canada.

Dairy Farm Investment Program
National consultations were held with stakeholders in advance of the Government announcing the launch of the second round of the Dairy Farm Investment Program in January 2019.

Dairy Processing Investment Fund
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada communications efforts include mail outs, news conferences or news releases. The program administration continually meets with the industry to improve awareness and understanding of the program.

Program clients are also being engaged through email, site visits, web presence or other outreach and project assessment and monitoring.

The expected result is:
Producers have access to affordable capital.

The performance indicators that are used to monitor and report on the program include:

• Dollar value of registered loans awarded by lending institutions during the fiscal year;
• Number of loans made to beginning farmers;
• Defaulted loans as a percentage of the value of total loans at the end of the year; and
• Percentage of loans received from lenders within 15 business days is registered.

Under the Loan Guarantee Programs, the federal government provides financial guarantees to producers, marketing agencies and agricultural co-operatives. The Advance Payments Program is a loan guarantee program which provides producers with access to credit through cash advances based on the value of their agricultural products. This enables producers to meet financial obligations and allows them to make the decision to sell agricultural products based on market conditions rather than the need for cash flow.

The Price Pooling Program provides cooperative marketing agencies with a price guarantee on eligible products as a form of security against unanticipated declines in the market price for their products. This helps them to secure financing to issue initial payments to their producer members as they deliver product to the cooperative marketing pools.

The expected result is:
Agricultural producers have improved cash-flow to enable them to make better marketing decisions about their products.

The performance indicators that are used to monitor and report on the program include:

• Number of producers receiving Advance Payments Program advances per production period;
• Dollar value of Advance Payments Program advances issued per production period;
• Advance Payments Program defaults as a percentage of total Advance Payments Program advances taken per production period; and
• Default claims under the guarantee as a percentage of total Advance Payments Program advances taken per production period.

The expected result is:
Marketing of agricultural products under cooperative plans is facilitated by guaranteeing minimum average prices of products sold by marketing agencies.

The performance indicator that is used to monitor and report on the program is:
Guarantee price provided through the Price Pooling Program as a percentage of average market price.

• Federal, Provincial and Territorial Cost-shared Markets and Trade
• Federal, Provincial and Territorial Cost-shared Science, Research, Innovation and Environment
• Federal, Provincial and Territorial Cost-Shared Assurance

• Federal, Provincial and Territorial Cost-shared Markets and Trade:
  Under Federal, Provincial and Territorial Cost-shared Markets and Trade, transfer payments are provided to the provinces and territories for programming to assist the Canadian agricultural sector in creating market-based opportunities for individual farms and firms, and providing industry with the knowledge and tools to compete at home and abroad. Specific provincial and/or territorial programs support the sector in identifying new domestic and global opportunities that enhance competitiveness and prosperity.
• Federal, Provincial and Territorial Cost-shared Science, Research, Innovation and Environment:
  Under Federal, Provincial and Territorial Cost-shared Science, Research, Innovation and Environment, transfer payments are provided to the provinces and territories for programming to accelerate the pace of innovation in the Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector. A key focus of such innovation is the research, development and commercialization of products, practices, processes and systems that enhance the productivity, competitiveness, economic growth and adaptability to environment and climate change in the sector.
• Federal, Provincial and Territorial Cost-Shared Assurance:
  Under Federal, Provincial and Territorial Cost-shared Assurance, transfer payments are provided to the provinces and territories for agricultural assurance programming to develop tools and support proactive mitigation activities. Specific provincial or territorial programs support the sector in its endeavors to prevent and control risks to the animal and plant resource base, provide safe food, and meet new market demands for assurance.

Federal, Provincial and Territorial Cost-shared Markets and Trade:

Expected Results:

• The sector is accessing generic and customized information and intelligence to assess market opportunities.

The performance indicator that is used to monitor and report on the program is:

• Number of clients reporting that market information and intelligence meets needs for awareness and knowledge of market opportunities.

Federal, Provincial and Territorial Cost-shared Science, Research, Innovation and Environment:

Expected Results:

• New agriculture and agri-food technologies are generated and commercialized.

The performance indicator that is used to monitor and report on the program is:

• Number of new technologies (products, practices, processes and systems) that attain Intellectual Property protection.

Federal, Provincial and Territorial Cost-Shared Assurance:

Expected Results:

• The sector is adopting risk management activities to maximize resilience.

The performance indicators that are used to monitor and report on the program include:

• Number of risk management/assurance projects completed on-farm; and
• Number of risk management/assurance projects completed at processing facilities.

• Individuals;
• Partnerships;
• Limited Partnerships;
• For-profit and not-for-profit companies;
• Trusts;
• Cooperatives;
• Marketing boards;
• For-profit and not-for-profit organizations;
• International organizations;
• Academic institutions such as universities and colleges;
• Provincial, territorial and municipal governments, including their institutions, agencies and corporations;
• Indigenous communities and governments; and
• Crown Corporations.