AgriMarketing Program: Step 5. Complete the application and apply

Step 5. Complete the application and apply

The application form has 10 sections. Complete each section.

Note: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) uses the information you give in the application form to determine if your project is eligible.

Annex A: How to complete the application form

  1. Project information
  2. Project team
  3. Organization or business
  4. Activities
  5. Funding sources
  6. Budget summary
  7. Documents
  8. Contacts
  9. Declarations
  10. Review and submit

Annex A: How to complete the application form

1. Project information

AAFC will use the information in this section, in association with your project activities and budget, to determine the eligibility of your project.

Project title

Provide a short, descriptive project title that accurately reflects the activities and results of the project.

Project objective

Provide a concise summary of your project. How would you describe your project in an "elevator pitch," to a friend or colleague, or on social media? What is the overall goal of the project? What does the project aim to achieve?

Briefly describe the main action items and how you will know the project has achieved its goal.

Complete this question after the proposal is fully developed so that it can summarize the action items and desired outcomes.

Please note that if your project is chosen for funding, this summary may be published on Government of Canada websites.

Project description

This overview leads to the details you provide in the project activities. Your answer should provide the following information:

Need
What market gap or commercial need important to the industry and Canada does your project aim to fill?
How does your project fill the need?
Objective

The starting point for any successful international market development strategy is to carefully select your target markets and assess their unique opportunities and challenges. While it may be tempting to start big, by including an entire geographic region or long list of countries — this broader kind of approach does not follow a more focused, strategic plan. Applicants should take time to focus their projects on their top 3 or 4 target markets per year. These target markets should support your organization's strategic goals for the project by generating outcomes or results that are 'S.M.A.R.T' — that is, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.

Tip — Exporting organizations achieve greater success by initially focusing their plans on a smaller number of target markets, allowing sufficient time for follow-up on leads and engagement with key local business contacts. If you reach out to five or more markets at the same time, you should consider ways to prioritize and narrow your markets of interest. Applicants are encouraged to reach out and speak with a trade commissioner in the market for their on-the-ground insight to assess your organization's market potential and determine your market-entry strategy.

What is the long-term objective and how does undertaking this project contribute to achieving it?
How does your project align with the program objectives?
How do you plan to achieve the objectives of the project?

Outcome/Impact
What are the potential outcomes and how will they help build trust and confidence in the sector or industry?
What could be the short- and long-term impacts on the industry if this project is not pursued? Why?
Risks
What challenges could prevent you from completing your project and how will you mitigate them?
Organization Capacity - project

Refer to past AAFC funded projects. If no projects have been funded by AAFC, refer to other projects of similar scale that your organization has delivered in the past.

This long-form answer should address the following questions:

  • How difficult or complex is the project?
  • How will its activities be achieved and monitored?
  • What management controls, human resources and technical capacity do you have to ensure this proposed project will be successful?
  • How will you ensure that you report regularly and accurately on the progress of the project against your work plan and budget forecasts?
  • What financial controls will you have in place to ensure proper financial management of the project?
  • How will you ensure that expenses submitted to AAFC are accurate and can be properly assessed to determine eligibility?
  • If your organization received prior funding from AAFC, briefly describe the results of the previous projects, the level of complexity or expertise used for past projects and their results.
  • Provide recent examples of projects undertaken/led by your organization
Primary project location

Enter the address where the project will take place.

If there are multiple project locations, for the primary location, enter the address for the project location where activities associated to the largest portion of the budget will take place.

Environmental considerations

The purposes of the Impact Assessment Act (Justice Canada) (IAA) include ensuring that projects to be carried out on federal lands or outside Canada are considered in a careful and precautionary manner in order to avoid adverse environmental effects. Before AAFC provides financial assistance for the purpose of enabling a project on federal lands to proceed, it must determine whether the carrying out of the project, in whole or in part, is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects. To help you answer the questions in the project application form, examples and more information follow.

A. Is the proposal a "project" as defined by the IAA?

Examples of projects include:

  • construction of a greenhouse
  • installation of a permanent irrigation system
  • building construction or demolition
  • any other activity related to a permanent human-made work

Activities that are not considered projects include:

  • administrative or marketing activities
  • workshops
  • training or hiring staff
  • installation of temporary or portable systems
  • any other activity not related to a physical work

B. Where does the project take place?

AAFC has certain obligations under the IAA, if providing financial assistance to projects on federal land. Under the IAA, "federal lands" means:

  1. lands that belong to His Majesty in right of Canada, or that His Majesty in right of Canada has the power to dispose of, and all waters on and airspace above those lands, other than lands under the administration and control of the Commissioner of Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut;
  2. the following lands and area:
    1. the internal waters of Canada, in any area of the sea not within a province,
    2. the territorial sea of Canada, in any area of the sea not within a province,
    3. the exclusive economic zone of Canada, and
    4. the continental shelf of Canada; and
  3. reserves, surrendered lands and any other lands that are set apart for the use and benefit of a band and that are subject to the Indian Act, and all waters on and airspace above those reserves or lands.

If you answer "Yes" or "Unsure" to Question A and "Federal lands or lands outside Canada" or "Reserves, surrendered land or other land set apart for the use and benefit of a band and that are subject to the Indian Act" to Question B, further assessment may be required by AAFC. AAFC will contact you as necessary.

Project data collection

Your answers to questions under the Project Data Collection will be used for reporting and program planning purposes, and will not impact the success of the application.

North American Industry Classification System

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is an industry classification system developed by the statistical agencies of Canada, Mexico and the United States.

For more information, visit North American Industry Classification System (Statistics Canada).

AAFC has selected the NAICS identifiers that best suit this program for reporting purposes. To simplify the selection process, we have sorted the codes into the following 4 categories:

  • Agricultural Production
  • Food and Beverage Manufacturing
  • Other Manufacturing
  • Other

We recognize that not all projects will fit perfectly into one identifier; if this is the case for your project, select the identifier that best applies to the overall intent of your project, or the identifier that best applies to the activity with the highest dollar value.

Harmonized System Codes

In this section, list all the Harmonized System Codes for the products for export in this project. Describe the product(s) and include the 6 digit HS Code(s) which can be found in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.

Select any of the following groups who will directly benefit from the project's activities

Indigenous peoples

The collective name for the original peoples of Canada and their descendants and consists of distinct, rights-bearing communities comprising First Nations peoples, Inuit, and Metis.

First Nations — are a people composed of many different nations having their own origin, history and culture, and whose members have called North America home for thousands of years. First Nations include status and non-status Indians.

Métis — are a people whose members are of mixed First Nations and European ancestry, are united by a common origin, history and culture, and are generally accepted by the Métis Nation.

Inuit — are a people that inhabit or that traditionally inhabited the northern regions and Arctic coasts of Canada known as Inuit Nunangat, and whose members are united by a common origin, history and culture.

Indigenous organizations may include:

  • Aggregated Indigenous entities (as self-defined by Indigenous groups, could be linked by cultural or linguistic background, geographical area or historical treaty lines);
  • Associations;
  • National and regional Indigenous organizations;
  • Indigenous non-governmental and voluntary associations and organizations, including non-profit organizations and corporations; and
  • Self-governing Indigenous governments.
Persons with disabilities

The Employment Equity Act defines "persons with disabilities" as persons who have a long-term or recurring physical, mental, sensory, psychiatric or learning impairment and who

  1. consider themselves to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment, or
  2. believe that an employer or potential employer is likely to consider them to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment, and includes persons whose functional limitations owing to their impairment have been accommodated in their current job or workplace.
Members of Visible Minorities
The Employment Equity Act defines "members of visible minorities" as persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.
Women
One of many gender identities. Includes all people who identify as women.
Youth
Individuals aged 39 and under.
2SLGBTQI+
Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and other people who identify as part of sexual and gender diverse communities who use additional terminologies.Endnote 1
Not Applicable
Use this selection if the question is not relevant to your organization.
Decline to identify
Use this selection if you do not want to disclose this information at the time of your application.
Previously received funding

Has your organization received any funding from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada within the last 6 years?

Indicate if your organization has received funding from AAFC within the last 6 years. If yes, and if known, list:

  1. the program(s) your organization received funding from,
  2. the name of the projects, and
  3. the amount received.
Official languages

AAFC is committed to enhancing the vitality of official language minority communities (OLMCs), supporting and assisting their development, and promoting the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society.

Do the project activities have the potential to reach an audience of both English speakers and French speakers?

OLMCs consist of Francophones outside Quebec and Anglophones in Quebec. These communities are often represented by provincial and regional organizations.

Would the project activities specifically target an official language minority community (French speakers outside Quebec or English speakers in Quebec)?

When we find that projects under this program involve activities related to the development and transfer of knowledge and may have an impact on OLMCs or promote the use of English and French, we will include appropriate commitments in agreements with your organization and additional expenses incurred as a result of these commitments will be considered eligible for contribution funding.

Activities can include, but are not limited to:

  • Communications
    • Project web pages and/or project social media account(s) produced and maintained in both official languages
    • Project materials offered in both official languages (brochures, kits, handouts, newsletters, reports, etc.)
    • Directional and educational signs produced in both official languages
    • Project-related advertisement in OLMC media (newspapers, radio, social media)
    • Bilingual coordinator or other contractor hired to help deliver project-related activities in both official languages (for example, master of ceremony for a project event, workshop facilitator or simultaneous translator)
    • Distribution of invitations in both official languages
    • Knowledge transfer activities
  • Outreach
    • One or more OLMCs are included in the project target groups (for example, as in-kind or cash partners in project budget or to be invited to project events)
    • Other groups representing OLMCs are consulted to see if there is any potential for involvement on their end
    • Travel to or from OLMCs (costs associated with these project activities included in project budget)

If your project is funded, your organization will be required to publicly acknowledge AAFC's support for the project. In these cases, we may request that such acknowledgments include text in both official languages.

2. Project team

Review the contact information for project team members and edit if necessary. There is a maximum of five (5) project team members per project. Any Project Team Member can create and edit project application forms, submit direct deposit information and submit payment request and performance reports to AAFC.

3. Organization or business

AAFC uses the information you provide in this section to confirm your organization's identity and to verify your organization's eligibility for funding based on a valid CRA business number.

Refer to Eligible applicants to determine if your organization is eligible under this program.

Legal name of your organization

Your organization's legal name, as it appears in legal documents such as articles of incorporation, certificate of incorporation, etc.

Operating as (if used)

Enter the name under which your organization operates, if that name is different from its legal name.

Acronym (if used)

Enter the acronym your organization uses, if different from legal and operating name.

CRA business number

Enter the first 9 digits of your 15-digit Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) business number.

Example: 123456789 RR 0001

For more information, visit Business number (CRA).

If you do not have a CRA Business Number, click off the checkbox "The organization or business does not have a Business Number" and indicate why you do not have a business number. Note, you will need to provide one if approved for funding.

Organization or business type

Your answer to this question must be one (1) of the following:

  • Not-for-profit
  • Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, Inuit)
Applicant Type – Additional information

You must select one (1) of the options listed. Refer to Eligible applicants to see the list of eligible applicants.

Headquarters address

Enter the complete address, main e-mail address and main phone number of your organization's headquarters or regional headquarters.

Mailing Address

Enter the mailing address if different from the Headquarters' address.

Organizational capacity - organization

AAFC will use the information you provide in this section to understand more about your organization and to assess your ability to carry out this project.

How many employees work for your organization?

Include the number of all full-time and part-time employees on your organization's payroll. Do not include contractors.

Describe your organization (for example, when it was established, the mandate/mission, and who it serves.)

Include your organization's mandate/mission, priorities, and who it serves. Provide a brief history of your organization including when it was established and any significant changes in the past 2 years (for example, a significant increase/decrease of staff, changes to executive leadership, including the Board of Directors, a change in mandate).

Responses to the remaining organizational capacity question will be used for reporting and program planning purposes, and will not impact the success of the application.

Does the mandate/mission of your organization target any of the following groups? (Select all that apply)

Indigenous peoples
The collective name for the original peoples of Canada and their descendants and consists of distinct, rights-bearing communities comprising First Nations peoples, Inuit, and Metis.

First Nations — are a people composed of many different nations having their own origin, history and culture, and whose members have called North America home for thousands of years. First Nations include status and non-status Indians.

Métis — are a people whose members are of mixed First Nations and European ancestry, are united by a common origin, history and culture, and are generally accepted by the Métis Nation.

Inuit — are a people that inhabit or that traditionally inhabited the northern regions and Arctic coasts of Canada known as Inuit Nunangat, and whose members are united by a common origin, history and culture.

Indigenous organizations may include:

  • Aggregated Indigenous entities (as self-defined by Indigenous groups, could be linked by cultural or linguistic background, geographical area or historical treaty lines);
  • Associations;
  • National and regional Indigenous organizations;
  • Indigenous non-governmental and voluntary associations and organizations, including non-profit organizations and corporations; and
  • Self-governing Indigenous governments.
Persons with disabilities
The Employment Equity Act defines "persons with disabilities" as persons who have a long-term or recurring physical, mental, sensory, psychiatric or learning impairment and who
  1. consider themselves to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment, or
  2. believe that an employer or potential employer is likely to consider them to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment,

and includes persons whose functional limitations owing to their impairment have been accommodated in their current job or workplace.

Members of Visible Minorities
The Employment Equity Act defines "members of visible minorities" as persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.
Women
One of many gender identities. Includes all people who identify as women.
Youth
Individuals aged 39 and under.
2SLGBTQI+
Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and other people who identify as part of sexual and gender diverse communities who use additional terminologies.Endnote 1
Not Applicable
Use this selection if the question is not relevant to your organization.
Decline to identify
Use this selection if you do not want to disclose this information at the time of your application.

Is your organization majority owned (50% or more) by one or more of the following groups? (Select all that apply)

See the information above for groups included in the previous question, as well as the following group:

Gender parity
A minimum of 50% women and/or non-binary individuals.
Non-binary
A person whose gender identity does not align with a binary understanding of gender such as man or woman. It is a gender identity which may include man and woman, androgynous, fluid, multiple, no gender, or a different gender outside of the "woman—man" spectrum.

Does your organization's Board of Directors have a diverse composition with significant representation (30% or more) from one or more of the following groups? (Select all that apply)

See the information above for groups included in the previous 2 questions.

Does your organization have a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan or a Human Resources Plan that supports diversity, equity and inclusion?

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Plan
An employment equity plan addresses under-representation of marginalized groups such as Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, women, youth, LGBTQ2+ people, and official language minority people and employment barriers they may face. A Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan goes beyond an employment equity plan to address under-representation and employment barriers for equity and equity seeking groups to advance diversity, equity and inclusion commitments in the workplace.
Human resources plan that supports DEI
A plan that links human resources management to the organizations overall strategic and operational plans and includes objectives to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.

Does your organization commit to the 50 - 30 Challenge: Your Diversity Advantage?

The 50 – 30 Challenge is an initiative co-created by the Government of Canada, civil society and the private sector that aims to attain gender parity and significant representation (at least 30%) of other under-represented groups on boards and senior management positions in order to build a more diverse, inclusive, and vibrant economic future for Canadians.

The challenge will allow a variety of organizations to participate across 3 program streams including small and medium-sized enterprises and non-profit organizations, and those without Boards of Directors or senior management teams. The Challenge includes:

  1. Organizations that meet the Challenge
  2. Organizations that are working towards the Challenge.

For more information, please visit: The 50 — 30 Challenge: Your Diversity Advantage (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada).

4. Activities

The Activities section is an important part of the application form for evaluation purposes. Include key milestones and indicate how you intend to measure performance and report on results.

The activities will be assessed to determine if they have been clearly planned and described, and if they are aligned with the project's goals, objectives and purpose.

Be specific when entering your information. Your organization knows your project the best so:

  • explain the project in a clear manner, using all available information
  • answer common questions to properly describe essential elements of the project (who, what, where, when, why, how much, and so what)
  • provide sufficient detail to clearly illustrate how you established your budget, such as any cost estimates, calculations or assumptions made to determine the financial requirements to implement the proposed activities and achieve the forecasted results

In existing markets, where the applicant has conducted previous marketing, promotion, business development or export sales in the past, the onus will be placed on the applicant to clearly demonstrate how the proposed activity represents an incremental change to support the project's objectives and expected results. Increasing and diversifying exports to markets where Canada has free trade agreements in place is a key factor under this initiative.

In order to determine the budget numbers to enter into the application, you must first complete the Detailed project budget spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is available to download from the portal. Once the spreadsheet is completed, enter the data in the related areas within the application and attach the spreadsheet in the Documents section of the application.

Read the Instructions worksheet in the Detailed project budget spreadsheet for directions on how to fill it out before starting to enter data.

For each new activity, enter the project start date, the first day that work on the first activity will take place, and the project end date, the last day that work on the last activity will take place. The fiscal year begins April 1 and concludes March 31.

Each activity must be clearly defined and articulated.

  • Target market by country
    Select a market from the drop down list that you will target with this activity.
  • Activity Title
    Provide a short name for the activity that clearly indicates what it is. Activities and/or cost items names should point to what the activity or cost item is meant to accomplish.
  • Start Date
    Enter the date that the individual activity will start.
  • End Date
    Enter the date that the individual activity will finish.
  • Description
    Provide a description of the activity which clearly outlines the activity that you would like to undertake. Your goal is to help the reviewers visualize what you want to do, so be specific. Keep in mind to answer the following questions (who, what, where, when, why, how).
    • Where and when will the project take place?
    • How long will it take to complete?
    • What are your methods for delivering the project?
    • What difference will the project make?
    • Who will participate/benefit?
    • What makes the activity worth funding?

    Your description should also provide assurances that your activity:

    • makes sense
    • is likely to be successful
    • will make a difference
  • Type of activity
    Select the type of activity which best describes what you will be undertaking from the drop-down menu:
    • Print, radio, television advertising and/or promotion
    • Online advertising and/or Promotion
    • Social media advertising and/or promotion
    • Incoming mission
    • Market research
    • Outgoing mission
    • Technical training
    • Trade advocacy
    • Trade shows
    • Other
  • Deliverables
    Provide a description of the deliverables of this activity. Deliverables are the tangible end results that will be provided upon the completion of the activity (such as, reports)
  • Expected results
    Provide the measures for each of the expected results that apply for each individual activity that you plan on undertaking. Enter a numeric value for each expected result that applies. For expected results that do not apply, enter n/a.

The list of expected results will appear based on the selected activity type:

  • Print, radio, television advertising and/or promotion
    • Audience reach
      The number of individuals your advertisement or promotional campaign is expected to reach, such as the number of people who will see a bus/billboard ad campaign; the number of subscribers/readers for a magazine or newspaper; or the audience for a radio or television based campaign.
  • Online advertising and/or promotion
    • Click through rate
      The number of individuals who click on your online advertisement, such as a web banner or sponsored ad, that appears on another website's page.
    • Unique website visits
      The total number of unique visitors to a featured promotional landing page on your website. Only include the initial visit to this specific promotional page on your website and do not count multiple visits from one person or multiple page impressions from the same visitor.
  • Social media advertising and/or promotion
    • Engagement rate
      The number of individuals who viewed a post and either liked, shared, reacted, or commented on the communication. This may include click-through rates for any trackable links featured in the posting as a call-to-action to visit another webpage, view a video or sign up for more information. It does not include your normal social media followers.
  • Incoming missions – outgoing missions
    • Value of estimated sales (CAD$)
      The direct sales (forecasted or actual) from the activity. This value should be directly resulting from the mission and is not the value of estimated sales for the entire commodity/sector.
    • Number of buyers reached
      The number of companies or organizations met with that purchased or signed distribution contracts, etc., as a result of the activity.
    • Number of new prospects
      The number of qualified contacts or potential buyers whose information has been confirmed or acted upon. For example, your organization has verified and used the contact information for follow-up, such as meeting with the person, sending sales and direct marketing materials, or placing sales calls. This does not include the general collection of business cards, mailing lists, or other contact information.
  • Market research
    • Estimated value of markets identified (CAD$)
      This is the general value of the market that your research has identified as the potential for your sector. This figure should demonstrate the thoroughness of the research and the potential return on investment (ROI) of different market development activities, and reflect a targeted, direct opportunity for the sector. It is not the current import value or the total value of estimated sales for the entire commodity/sector within a country.
    • Number of members using research/data
      The number of people your research has been shared with or who have accessed it. For example, number of downloads of the report by members from your website.
  • Technical training
    • Number of participants attended
      The total number of people that attended your training sessions, both virtually and in-person. This could include classroom sessions, conferences and seminars, or pre-recorded training sessions for on-demand viewing, as well as live webinars and videoconferences.
  • Trade advocacy
    • Value of market impacted (CAD$)
      This is your organization's assessment of the value (CAD$) of sales, exports or costs that the trade advocacy work will help ensure, and should demonstrate the importance and potential return on investment (ROI) of the issues being worked on. For example, if the activity aimed to resolve a technical trade issue that could negatively impact $10 million in annual exports to a given market, then the value would be $10 million. This is not necessarily the total value of exports for the entire commodity/sector.
    • Number of issues advanced
      This represents the number of topics a given activity aimed to progress or resolve. For example, if your organization attended a bilateral meeting to engage in discussions on country of origin labelling (COOL) and maximum residue limits (MRLs), indicate two issues were advanced under the activity.
  • Trade shows
    • Value of estimated sales (CAD$)
      The direct sales (forecasted or actual) from the activity. This value should be directly resulting from the trade show and is not the value of estimated sales for the entire commodity/sector.
    • Number of buyers reached
      The number of companies or organizations met with during the trade show that purchased or signed distribution contracts, etc., as a result of the activity.
    • Number of new prospects
      The number of qualified contacts or potential buyers met with during the trade show whose information has been confirmed or acted upon. For example, your organization has verified and used the contact information for follow-up, such as meeting with the person, sending sales and direct marketing materials, or placing sales calls. This does not include the general collection of business cards, mailing lists, or other contact information.
Activity cost by fiscal year

In this section you must provide the AAFC and non-AAFC funding amounts for this activity by fiscal year. AAFC funding is the amounts that you are requesting from AAFC. Non-AAFC funding is the remainder of the activity funding coming from you, your industry or partner, and/or other government. The available fiscal years are determined by the activity start and end date.

Non-AAFC breakdown by funding source

In this section you must indicate where the Non-AAFC project funding is coming from for the activity. If in the Activity cost by fiscal year section, you denoted that there is a total of $1,000 coming from Non-AAFC sources, then you must breakdown how much of that amount is being funded by you, your industry or partner, and/or other government.

Eligible costs

To help you complete your budget, following is a list of eligible costs under this program and limitations or explanations related to those eligible costs.

Administrative costs
Administrative costs — Eligible cost items

Administrative costs are defined as the organizations' expenses (such as, fundamental operational costs); not directly related to undertaking the project activities but necessary for the organization to manage activities outlined in the work plan and to administer the reporting requirements of the contribution agreement, including project management costs.

Administrative fees will be calculated at a 10% flat rate that will be cost shared. Under the 10% flat rate, administrative cost items do not need to be detailed, negotiated or substantiated when submitting a claim. However, if subject to a compliance audit, the recipient may be asked to supply supporting documentation. For this purpose, it is important to keep in the mind the following examples.

Administrative costs means costs related to:

  • project management costs: management and administrative staff wages not working on outcome of projects, including those who negotiate service contracts, pay the invoices, manage the project budget, monitoring and/or prepare the claims and any financial or progress/performance reports for the project
    • salaries, Mandatory Employment Related Costs (MERCs), and benefits and/or contract services
  • administrative office supplies and expenses
    • basic telephone fees (including fax lines) and cell phones
    • hydro
    • materials and office supplies (for example, pens, pencils, paper, envelopes, cleaning supplies, subscriptions)
    • monthly internet fees
    • postage and courier fees
    • office equipment (for example, computers, printers, photocopiers)
    • office space (rent) and related utilities, maintenance and property taxes
  • audit fees (if eligible)
  • bank fees (if eligible)
  • insurance (fire, theft, liability) (if eligible)
  • legal fees (if eligible)
  • administrative information technology (IT) products and services, including maintenance
  • other overhead type expenditures relating to the organization's office
Administrative costs — Limitations/Explanations

Do not include administration costs in your application; the application form will calculate it automatically at a 10% flat rate. This flat rate has been developed to represent the cost of undertaking the administration functions of the contribution agreement.

You may also choose to not claim administrative costs, and opt-out of the flat rate.

  • To ease administrative burden, these costs do not need to be detailed at the time of application and will not be negotiated or need to be validated when submitting a claim
  • These costs will be funded at the approved program cost-share ratio

Note: You are still required to keep all documentation of these costs. If you are subject to an audit, you will need to supply the supporting documents at that time.

Salaries and benefits
Salaries and benefits — Eligible cost items

Salaries and benefits paid to or on behalf of staff to execute activities outlined in the project work plan. These costs do not include completing financial or performance reports for the project.

  • Including Mandatory Employment Related Costs (MERCs), Employment Insurance (EI), Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Quebec Pension Plan (QPP), vacation pay and benefits
  • Benefits mean payments an employer is required to make by virtue of company policy or a collective agreement such as contributions to a group pension plan
Salaries and benefits — Limitations/Explanations
  • Salaries and benefits must be additional to existing costs
  • Salary costs are normally not to exceed 25% of the total amount eligible project costs
  • Benefit costs must not exceed 25% of the eligible salary costs for each employee who works on the project
  • Timesheets must be maintained for employees who work less than 100% of their time on the project. If your application is successful, you should expect to complete timesheets for employees working on the project.
  • For further clarification, salary and benefit costs do not include incentive amounts such as performance pay (for example, bonuses), or benefits that are considered perks, such as a gym membership or parking allowance
  • Severances are not eligible
Contracted Services
Contracted Services — Eligible cost items

Professional or specialized services for which a contract is entered into, such as:

  • inspection
  • consultant/expert services
  • installation/construction
  • financial auditing (required for the project)
  • environmental assessment
  • research
  • interpretation and translation services
  • project management to undertake activities
  • advertising, marketing and media planning agencies to implement local promotional strategies and recommend paid media placements
  • graphic design
Contracted Services — Limitations/Explanations
  • A contract should be in place with the contractor, including payment terms and deliverables
  • Recipients must use a fair and competitive or otherwise justifiable and generally accepted sound business process that results in competent and qualified contractors working on the project
  • Materials developed for domestic activities must be available in French and English
Travel
Travel — Eligible cost items

Travel costs directly related to the project, such as:

  • per diems (accommodations, meals, incidentals and taxis)
  • transportation, such as airfare, rail and ground transportation
  • the purchase of eligible carbon offset credits from a vendor that has received third-party verification and adheres to internationally agreed standards, including Gold Standard, VER+, VERRA (formerly VCS, Verified Carbon Standard), or B.C. Offset System
Travel — Limitations/Explanations
  • When travel is approved, claimants have an option to claim for these expenses using one of the following options:
    • claim the established per diem or
    • claim actual expenses incurred which are less than the established per diem
  • The per diems will contribute to covering the costs for individual travel including:
    • accommodation
    • meals
    • local or in-city transportation (buses, taxis, vehicle rentals, etc.)
    • ground transportation to and from the public carrier terminal, including parking
    • entry documents (passports and visas)
    • insurance (all types)
    • Required inoculations, vaccinations, x-rays and certificates of health
    • dependent care
    • incidentals (personal phone calls, laundry, gratuities, currency exchange fees, etc.)
  • Whether using option (a) or (b), invoices for daily travel costs will not be required, however, proof of travel is required for the claim (for example, boarding pass, hotel invoice, trip report). Recipients must also keep all invoices and proof of payment per the terms of their Agreement.
  • If using option (a), per diems can be claimed for every day on travel status as follows:
    • travel within Canada:
      • trip outside the traveler's headquarters with no overnight stay: $100 CAD/day
      • trip outside the traveler's headquarters with overnight stays: $400 CAD/day
    • travel outside Canada:
      • trip outside the traveler's headquarters with no overnight stay: $125 CAD/day
      • U.S. trip outside the traveler's headquarters with overnight stays: $475 CAD/day
      • International (non-U.S.) trip outside the traveler's headquarters with overnight stays: $575 CAD/day

        Note: For multi-day trips, day of departure and day of return is eligible for the overnight per diem rate

  • The recipient may claim cost for air, rail and ground transportation (to an out-of-city destination that is more than 50km (100km roundtrip) outside of the city) for individual travel as follows:
    • Air:
      • Economy Class for domestic travel.
      • Economy or Premium Economy Class for international travel
      • Baggage costs, seat selection fees and reservation change fees are eligible

        If a higher class is purchased, proof of the flight's economy rate must be obtained for reimbursement purposes

    • Rail:
      • Next highest class after the full Economy class.
    • Private vehicle:
      • kilometric rates ($0.575/km). Gas is included in the kilometric rate. Travelers shall use the most direct, safe and practical road routes and shall claim only for distances necessarily driven while on travel status
      • tolls and parking at the destination
      • Private vehicle is not to be used if more expensive than rental, rail or air
    • Rental vehicle:
      • the cost for a mid-size vehicle (or the cost of a larger vehicle, based upon factors such as, but not limited to, safety, the needs of the traveler, and the bulk or weight of goods transported)
      • gas
      • parking at the destination and tolls
      • collision damage waiver
      • Any fuel service charges provided by the car rental company are not eligible
    • Bus or Motor Coach
      • A Bus/Motor Coach may be eligible based upon factors such as the needs of the traveler(s), and the bulk or weight of goods transported.
Capital expenditures
Capital expenditures — Eligible cost items

Capital Assets are tangible assets that are purchased, constructed, developed or otherwise acquired and:

  • are used in the production or supply of goods, the delivery of services or to produce program outputs
  • are not intended for resale in the ordinary course of operations
  • the cost of which is considered to include the purchase price plus other acquisition costs, such as installation costs, freight charges, transportation insurance costs, duties, and the non-refundable portion of provincial sales taxes, GST/HST or other value-added taxes
  • has a useful life in excess of 1 year
Other direct project costs
Other direct project costs — Eligible cost items

Other costs for project-related deliverables, such as:

  • shipping of product samples and marketing materials
  • conference fees/registration fees
  • construction material costs
  • translation and localization costs
  • printing expenses
  • marketing costs related to production of promotional materials/documents/marketing plans
  • recruitment of volunteers
  • meeting room rentals, including audio-visual equipment rentals
  • cost related to trade show displays
  • Cost of product samples used at events to promote the sector under unified Canada Brand (but not the promotion of a single producer's logo or visual identity
  • Purchase of existing market research information
  • Advertising costs related to print and electronic media, billboards and posters
  • Storage/warehousing costs
Other direct project costs — Limitations/Explanations
  • The value of product samples purchased from a member and claimed to AAFC should normally be the member's production cost, not the retail price.

Ineligible project costs include, but are not limited to:

  • costs not specifically required for the project
  • funding under the AgriMarketing Program is not available for attending within the Canada Pavilion flagship tradeshows. Visit Canada Pavilion Program for more information about trade shows sponsorships (Please note: Consideration may be given to those who wish to exhibit within a sector hall)
  • costs of hospitality, entertainment and gifts
  • the refundable portion of the GST, HST, value-added taxes, or other items for which a refund or rebate could be received
  • banking charges and fees, such as interest and credit card fees
  • business cards, seasonal greeting cards and subscriptions to publications
  • memberships in trade and professional organizations
  • normal costs of establishing a commercial operation
  • retail listings fees and slotting charges
  • legal fees associated with the incorporation of an organization
  • the purchase of land or buildings
  • costs being reimbursed under an existing federal, provincial, territorial or municipal program
  • costs towards ongoing/regular communication with members, such as website and database maintenance, annual general meetings, and value-chain roundtables
  • costs incurred to benefit an individual for-profit company as opposed to generic activities to benefit the overall sector

Ineligible costs cannot be counted as cash contributions towards the project. The applicant and partners cannot include them in their share.

5. Funding sources

Complete this section after entering all project activities.

See Funding and cost sharing for information on cost-sharing, sources of funding, and government funding stacking limits. This is where you will indicate how you plan on funding your share of the project.

Under the funding sources section, enter your share of the cash funding which will come from:

  • You directly (your organization)
  • Industry/partners (your members, industry partners, sponsors, etc.)
  • Other government:
    • Other federal government departments, agencies, and crown corporations
    • Provincial/territorial government departments, agencies, and crown corporations
    • Municipal governments

Within each funding type, provide the name of the funding source.

In the description box, provide the necessary level of detail to indicate what activity and/or cost the specific funding is tied to.

6. Budget summary

Review all information in this section. The budget summary is calculated from the addition of all activities, and you must return to the Activities section to make any changes. Reminder: The amounts in the Detailed project budget document need to match the information presented in this section.

7. Documents

In addition to the application form, the following documents are required to be submitted to AAFC:

Required: A copy of the organization's Certificate of Incorporation or Articles of Incorporation
Certificates and Articles of Incorporation are issued and filed, respectively, by or with provincial, territorial or federal government that document the organization's status as a legal entity.
If applicable: Additional options for Indigenous applicants
A copy of a Band Council Resolution (BCR), a Tribal Council Resolution (TCR), a Director's Resolution (DR), or legal document stating they are a legal entity can be accepted as proof the organization is a legal entity.
Required: A copy of the last 2 years' financial statements
Statements for the last 2 years (can include most recent interim financial statement)
Required: AgriMarketing program questionnaire
Information pertaining to National Industry component, diversity, SWOT analysis, environmental considerations and certification and marketing of Canada's Green Products
Required: Membership listing
A list of all your members
Required: Detailed project budget
The budget breakdown for each activity is required on the AAFC-provided Excel spreadsheet.
If applicable: Project Endorsement Letters/ Letters of Support (if available, not a requirement)
Letters from organizations indicating they support the proposed project.
If applicable: Capital Asset Pre-approval for Grants and Contributions Programs
All capital asset purchases over $10,000 must be pre-approved by the program using the AAFC Capital Asset pre-approval template.

8. Contacts

Primary contact

Enter the contact information of the person in your organization who is responsible for responding to inquiries about this application.

Indicate if you are the primary contact or if you need to enter a new contact. If entering a new contact enter the following:

  • First name and Last name
    Provide the name of the person in your organization who will be AAFC's primary contact about this application.
  • Email address
    Provide the email of the primary contact. Please note AAFC will use this information to communicate with your organization about the application.

    You will also need to enter the following if you are the primary contact or if entering a new contact.

  • Language of correspondence
    Provide the preferred language of the primary contact for written and verbal communication.
  • Position title
    Provide the position title of the primary contact. For example, Business Owner, President, Executive Director.
  • Phone numbers and Fax number
    Provide the telephone number(s) of the primary contact. If applicable, provide a fax number. Please note AAFC will use this information to communicate with your organization about the application.
Project contact

If your project is approved for funding, this is the person who will discuss the project with AAFC. This person can be the same as the Primary Contact.

Indicate if you are the project contact or if you need to enter a new contact. If entering a new contact enter the following:

  • First name and Last name
    Provide the name of the person in your organization who will be AAFC's primary contact about this application.
  • Email address
    Provide the email of the primary contact. Please note AAFC will use this information to communicate with your organization about the application.

    You will also need to enter the following if you are the primary contact or if entering a new contact.

  • Language of correspondence
    Provide the preferred language, English or French, of the project contact for written and verbal communication.
  • Position title
    Provide the position title of the project contact. For example, Business Owner, President, Executive Director.
  • Phone numbers and Fax number
    Provide the telephone number(s) of the primary contact. If applicable, provide a fax number. Please note AAFC will use this information to communicate with your organization about the project.

9. Declarations

Read and complete the declarations.

10. Review and submit

After you complete your application form and include the additional documents, please submit your application.

If you have any trouble when you complete or submit the application, please contact the AAFC Contact Centre.

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