- Step 1. What this program offers
- Step 2. Eligibility
- Step 3. Before you register
- Step 4. How to register
- Step 5. After you register
- Contact information
Step 1. What this program offers
Intake period: Open
The intake period for the Dairy Direct Payment Program is open.
Program objective
The objective of the program is to support dairy producers as a result of market access commitments made under recent international trade agreements.
Funding
Under the program, eligible dairy producers receive payments on the basis of their milk quota. From 2023-24 to 2028-29, the program will make available a total of $1.2 billion in compensation for the impacts of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
Current and upcoming payments
In 2024-25, $250 million will be made available up to March 31, 2025 in the form of direct payments to eligible supply-managed cow’s milk producers. For example, an eligible producer with 80 cows could receive around $22,090 in 2024-25. To receive a payment, registrations must be signed and received no later than March 31, 2025.
In the next 4 years:
- $250 million will be made available in 2025-26
- $150 million will be made available in 2026-27
- $150 million will be made available in 2027-28
- $100 million will be made available in 2028-29
Eligible producers must register every year of the program to receive a payment.
National allocation of funds on a provincial basis for year 2024-25
| National allocation of funds on a provincial basis | Allocated Quota (% of the P10 Rounded) |
Provincial share $ (Rounded) |
|---|---|---|
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 0.47% | $1,165,597 |
| Prince Edward Island | 1.27% | $3,171,451 |
| Nova Scotia | 2.16% | $5,413,279 |
| New Brunswick | 1.69% | $4,218,864 |
| Quebec | 36.92% | $92,299,675 |
| Ontario | 32.03% | $80,079,084 |
| Manitoba | 4.36% | $10,895,556 |
| Saskatchewan | 3.12% | $7,806,506 |
| Alberta | 8.96% | $22,402,238 |
| British Columbia | 9.02% | $22,547,750 |
| Total | 100.00% | $250,000,000 |
Past direct payments
In 2023-24, the program made available $300 million out of the $1.2 billion in compensation for the impacts of the CUSMA.
From 2019-20 to 2022-23, the program made available $1.75 billion in compensation for the impacts of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Up to $345 million, $468 million, $469 million, and $468 million in direct payments was made available in 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively.
How the program is delivered
The Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) delivers the program. The CDC will:
- collect information from provincial milk marketing boards on the licensed quota holders
- calculate individual payments based on the percentage of each producer's provincial quota holdings
- work closely with each of the provincial milk marketing boards to deliver funding