Evaluation of the AgriInnovate Program — summary

About the evaluation

The Office of Audit and Evaluation at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada conducted an evaluation of the AgriInnovate Program to assess its relevance, efficiency and effectiveness.
The evaluation covered activities from 2018-19 to 2022-23, and used multiple lines of evidence: a review of program documents, project files and literature; key informant interviews as well as analyses of administrative and financial data. Early program design changes under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP) in 2023-24 were also considered.

AgriInnovate provides repayable contributions to support projects that accelerate the commercialization, adoption and/or demonstration of innovative products, technologies or service in the agri-food sector.
AgriInnovate aims to enhance the sector's competitiveness and sustainability, benefiting farmers, food processors, and the broader agri-food industry.
Eligible applicants include for-profit organizations in the agriculture sector, with funding covering up to 50% of eligible project costs up to $10 million per project.

Innovation is a key driver of growth in the agricultural and agri-business sector as it contributes to increased productivity, performance, profitability, efficiency and competitiveness in the sector.
Canadian agri-businesses face several barriers to the commercialization and adoption of innovation including low levels of investment in the research and development sector, limited availability of private investments, and the costs associated with developing and acquiring new technologies.
Successive agricultural policy frameworks allocated innovation funding to support the food-processing sector. However, funding for AgriInnovate has decreased over time and eligible activities under successive agricultural framework agreements have also narrowed.
AgriInnovate's design does not limit the risk that applicants may be eligible for funding under AgriInnovate as well as other government programs. However, once an application is submitted, AgriInnovate works with other programs at AAFC and elsewhere in the federal government to limit the potential to receive duplicative funding.

The two-step application process identified projects aligned with AgriInnovate priorities and encouraged firms to submit project proposals without significant investment in time and resources.
Technical reviews and due diligence reports completed by representatives from other branches ensured a thorough assessment of project risks and level of innovation.
Other design strengths to support project delivery were identified, including program contributions which do not require equity stake in the company; the length of interest-free repayment term; and a one-year grace period between project completion and repayment.
AgriInnovate's design contributes to challenges in efficient program delivery, including prolonged timelines to notify applicants of funding decisions and significant delays in processing claims payments.

The program achieved its immediate outcome and demonstrated progress towards the achievement of immediate and ultimate outcomes.
Project performance data are aligned with Performance Information Profile indicators and informed measurement against AgriInnovate performance targets; however, targets for projects and AgriInnovate are not always aligned.
Under CAP, other performance measurement challenges for AgriInnovate included a lack of qualitative questions in performance reports to demonstrate success, a lack of integration of Gender-based Analysis Plus in performance measurement, and unclear linkages between some indicators and program outcomes.
Changes to data collection are planned for performance measurement under Sustainable CAP.

Recommendation 1: The Assistant Deputy Ministers of Programs Branch and Strategic Policy Branch should revise AgriInnovate's eligibility criteria to eliminate overlap with other programs.
Recommendation 2: The Assistant Deputy Minister of Programs Branch should identify and implement changes to the AgriInnovate application review process to increase the timeliness of funding decisions.
Recommendation 3: The Assistant Deputy Minister of Programs Branch, in consultation with the Assistant Deputy Minister of Corporate Management Branch, should revise AgriInnovate's performance measurement approach to include the collection of qualitative data to complement the quantitative modelling already planned in the Performance Information Profile.

Management agrees with the evaluation recommendations and has developed an action plan to address them by March 2028.