AgriAssurance Program – Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Component: Step 1. What this program offers

Step 1. What this program offers

The AgriAssurance Program is a $64.05-million program under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP).

Program objectives

The program will:

• contribute to the overarching objectives of Resiliency and Public Trust Strategic Initiatives of Sustainable CAP by enabling the development and adoption of industry-led sector-specific assurance systems to manage risks, enhance resiliency and address market considerations and challenges to public trust at the national level
• help small and medium-sized enterprises export products by supporting the adoption of assurance systems and tools to make verifiable claims in order to meet market requirements

The program aims to:

• increase and diversify exports to markets where Canada has Free Trade Agreements are in place
• support industry to develop, verify and integrate assurance systems to address market and regulatory requirements (for example, food safety, plant and animal health surveillance, animal welfare, environmental sustainability, traceability, market attributes and quality standards)
• enable industry to make credible, meaningful and verifiable claims about the health, safety, and quality of Canadian agriculture products

The program has 2 components:

• Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Component — supports businesses to adopt assurance systems and supporting tools to make verifiable claims to meet export market requirements or domestic markets for Indigenous Peoples
• National Industry Association Component — provides funding to national industry associations to develop or improve assurance systems that aid their sector in managing risks and/or ensuring product safety and quality
  • There is a separate application process for the National Industry Association Component

Funding

The maximum Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) contribution toward a project will normally not exceed $50,000.

If you have multiple projects funded under this component, the total of all projects cannot exceed $100,000.

Cost-sharing

Contributions toward eligible costs will normally be shared between AAFC and you as follows:

• AAFC — a maximum of 50%
• You — a minimum of 50%

Your portion of the cost-share must be cash contributions. In-kind contributions are ineligible.^{Endnote 1}