AgriAssurance Program – National Industry Association 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 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:

  • 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
  • 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
    • There is a separate application process for the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Component

Funding

The maximum Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) contribution toward a project will normally not exceed $1 million per year.

Cost-sharing

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

  • AAFC — a maximum of 75%
  • You — a minimum of 25%

Your portion of the cost-share can be a combination of both cash contributions and in-kind contributions.Endnote 1 In-kind contributions will normally not exceed 10% of the total eligible costs to complete the project.

The program reserves the right to make the final determination of the eligibility and value of in-kind contributions, to disallow expenditures, and reduce the funds. To avoid a situation where in-kind contributions may later be deemed ineligible or incorrectly valued, associations are advised to contact AAFC program staff early in the process to confirm the eligibility and valuation of an in-kind contribution.