AgriCommunication Program: Annex A: How to complete the application form

Application deadline

The application intake period is now closed.

The program ends March 31, 2024.

Eligibility criteria

Begin by assessing that your organization and activities meet the eligibility criteria detailed in Section 1.2 and Section 1.4 of the AgriCommunication Program Applicant guide.

Application form instructions

PDF forms

If you have problems opening a PDF form in your Internet browser, you need to:

• Use your computer. The forms may not open on mobile devices (iPads, tablets, mobile phones).
• Make sure you have Adobe Reader 11 (or higher) already installed on your computer. If not, download Adobe Reader 11 or higher for free. Adobe has help for solving common issues.
• You must save the file on your computer in a place you can remember.
• Open the file on your computer using Adobe Reader 11 or higher.
• If you can't open the form with Adobe Reader 11 or higher, contact the program.

How to download and open a PDF form

• Microsoft Windows Operating System computers using "Internet Explorer" or "Microsoft Edge" as your browser

  1. Right-click on the link you want to save
  2. Select "Save target as" or "Save link as"
  3. Choose the location on your computer where you would like to save the file
  4. Select "Save"
  5. Open Adobe Reader 11 or higher
  6. Select "File"
  7. Select "Open"
  8. Go to the location where you saved the file
  9. Select the PDF file
  10. Select "Open"
• Microsoft Windows Operating System or Apple computers using "Chrome" or Firefox" as your browser

  1. Right-click on the link you want to save
  2. When the option menu appears, choose "Download link file" or "Download link file as"
  3. Choose the location on your computer where you would like to save the file. Your computer will start the download once you have selected a location.
  4. Open Adobe Reader 11 or higher
  5. Go to the location where you saved the file
  6. Select the PDF file
  7. Select "Open"

To apply, complete the Project Application Form (PDF).

Applicant information

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) will use the information you provide in this section to establish your organization's identity and assess its eligibility to the program.

Organization type

See Section 1.2 of the Applicant guide to determine if you are eligible to apply under this program.

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 the questions (who, what, where, when, why, how, so what)
• explain clearly what the overall project intends to achieve, and
• provide the level of detail necessary to show how you established your budget

Legal name

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.

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) business number

A CRA business number is a nine-digit number that gives each registered business its own unique identifier. Visit CRA to register for a business number.

If you do not have a CRA Business Number, or do not wish to share it at this time, enter nine zero's (that is, 000000000).

Primary contact

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

Project contact

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

Mailing address

Provide the complete mailing address of your organization's headquarters.

Primary project location

The location where the project will take place other than your organizations headquarter, if applicable.

If you have multiple project locations, the primary location is the one with activities associated to the largest portion of the budget.

Organizational capacity

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

Provide your organization's mandate and priorities. Include a brief history of the organization including any significant changes in the past 2 years (for example, a significant increase or decrease of staff, changes to executive leadership, including the Board of Directors, a change in mandate, etc.).

Does the mandate of your organization focus directly on any of the following groups?

This question is for statistical purposes only, and will not affect the outcome of your assessment.

Indigenous

• Individuals who are:
  • registered on a band list
  • registered as an Indian under the Indian Act living both on or off reserves
  • Métis
  • Inuit
• or, Indigenous communities and governments such as:
  • band and tribal councils
  • governments of self-governing First Nations
  • local governments of Inuit communities
  • Métis organizations

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

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

Visible minorities

The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour

Women

Individuals who are born female or who identify as female

Youth

Individuals aged 34 and under

Not applicable

Use this section if the mandate of your organization doesn't focus on any of the above-listed groups

Decline to identify

Use this section if the mandate of your organization might focus on one of the above groups, but you don't want to disclose that information at the time of your application

Previous funding

Please identify if you or your organization has previously received funding from AAFC. If yes, list the program(s) from which you've received funding.

Capacity to deliver this project

This long-form answer should answer the following questions:

• How difficult or complex is the project? How will its related activities be achieved and monitored?
• Has your organization managed projects on a similar scale to this project?
• 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?
• Has your organization previously received funding from the Department? If so, can you briefly describe the past projects and their results?

Project information

AAFC will use the information in this section, in association with your project work plan and budget, to do a full assessment 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 objective. How would you describe your project in an "elevator pitch" or on social media? This area should be completed once the proposal has been fully developed so that it can include a summary of the action items and desired outcomes.

Note: if your project is chosen for funding, this summary may be published on Government of Canada websites.

Project purpose

Your answer to this long-form question should answer:

• How does this project align with the objectives listed in Section 1.1 of the Applicant guide?
• How do you plan to achieve the objectives of this project?
• What is your long-term objective and how will undertaking this project contribute to achieving it?
• Does your project fill a gap or need important to the industry and Canada?
• What are the potential outcomes and how will they help build trust and confidence in the sector?
• What could be the short- and long-term impacts on the industry if this project is not pursued?

Environmental considerations

AAFC and AAFC projects must comply with the Impact Assessment Act (IAA). If a proposal is in relation to a "project" on federal land, then the IAA might apply. To help AAFC make this determination, indicate whether the proposal is a "project" on federal land.

• A. Is your proposal a "project" on federal land?

  Under the IAA, federal land 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 areas:
     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.

Under the IAA, a "project" means a physical activity (for example, construction, operation, installation, maintenance, decommissioning, demolition) carried out in relation to a human-made structure with a fixed location. Examples of projects include the construction or expansion of a building, excavation of a pond, installing a concrete pad or permanent irrigation system, or any other activity related to a permanent human-made work.

1. Asks if the proposal is on federal land?
2. Asks if the proposal relates to a "project"?

If the answer to 1 and 2 are yes, the proposal is related to a "project" and is taking place on federal land, further assessment is likely required by AAFC.

If the answer to 1 or 2 is no, it is likely the proposal does not require further assessment. Examples would be:

• the proposal is not related to a "project", and is not taking place on federal land.
• the proposal is related to a "project", but is not taking place on federal land.
• the proposal is on federal land, but is not related to a "project".

If you are unsure about the answers to 1 and 2, please contact the program for help.

Project data collection

AAFC is committed to the fair and transparent distribution of program funds. AAFC will use the following questions for reporting purposes only; answers will not directly affect the outcome of your project's assessment.

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)

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 on Statistics Canada's website.

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 four categories:

• agricultural production
• food and beverage manufacturing
• other manufacturing
• other

AAFC recognizes that not all projects will fit perfectly into one code. If this is the case for your project, select the code that that best defines the overall intent of your project, or the code that best defines the activity with the highest dollar value.

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

Definitions are the same as the Organization Capacity section.

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.

If approved, would your project activities reach an audience of both English-speaking and French-speaking individuals or groups?

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

If approved, would your project activities specifically target an official language minority community (French-speaking people outside Quebec or English-speaking people in Quebec)?

When it is determined 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, AAFC will include appropriate linguistic commitments in agreements with your organization and ensure that additional expenses incurred as a result of these commitments are 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.)
• project-related advertisement in OLMC media (newspapers, radio, social media)
• knowledge transfer activities as listed in the applicant guide.

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)

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

Attachments

In addition to the application form, other documents are required as part of a complete application package. The application form includes a checklist in the Project Information tab to track required documentation. Your application cannot be considered until the documentation listed below is attached to this form or submitted directly to AAFC. An incomplete package will not be processed until all documents are received. Further details on required attachments are included in the Additional documents section.

Work plan

The work plan is part of the application form. In the work plan, you should include key milestones and indicate how you intend to measure performance and report on results.

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

Project application form – work plan instructions

Activities

To add an activity, press the + symbol.

To delete an activity, press the × symbol.

Name

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).

Goal

For each activity, use the list of results in the drop-down list to select the goal you want to achieve from having undertaken the activity:

• improve involvement by under-represented groups
• increase knowledge and share information
• build entrepreneur capacity
• develop agricultural & business skills
• bolster interest and advancement of careers in agriculture
• improve business management and planning capacity
• promote agriculture awareness

Type of activity

For each activity in your work plan, please select the activity type from the list below which best describes what you will be undertaking:

• publication materials
• conference, workshop, or meeting ^{Endnote 1}
• education program ^{Endnote 1}
• development of tools ^{Endnote 1}
• training, mentorship
• study, survey
• social media
• other (please specify)

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.

• Number of information products distributed
• Number of attendees
• Number of tools developed
• Number of events held
• Number of activities delivered
• Number of individuals reached

The list of expected results will be repeated for each activity.

Project Costs

Cost-sharing

If approved for funding, eligible project costs will normally be shared between you and AAFC you as follows:

• a maximum of 70% AAFC and a minimum of 30% Applicant
• a more favourable cost share may be eligible for underrepresented groups within the agricultural sector or projects that focus on including underrepresented groups within the organization's activities.

Your portion can be comprised of other sources of funding including those from:

• other federal government departments, agencies, and crown corporations ^{Endnote 2}
• provincial/territorial governments^{Endnote 2}
• municipal government^{Endnote 2}
• industry and/or partners such as:
  • industry associations and networks
  • businesses
  • academia

The maximum level of government funding cannot typically exceed 85% of eligible costs.

Your portion of the cost-share can be comprised of both cash contributions and in-kind contributions. In-kind contributions can only account for a maximum of 25% of total project costs under the CA.

What is a cash contribution?

A cash contribution is an expense requiring a cash outlay, by either your organization or by a participant/contributor (such as a partner or other government), during the term of the contribution agreement (CA). Specifically, a cash contribution is an expenditure for an eligible project cost incurred by your organization, or another project participant.

AAFC will only reimburse cash contributions for eligible project costs that are incurred and paid for by your organization. A cash contribution made by another project participant should be reported as part of your sources of funding, and must be an eligible project cost.

What is an in-kind contribution?

In-kind means the fair market value attributed for goods and the fair value attributed for services that are contributed to this project and require no outlay of cash during the term of the CA by you or a contributor.

This can be a contribution of materials, goods, services or time to which a dollar value can be attributed, that would otherwise be purchased and paid for by the organization to achieve the Project results, if not provided by an industry partner (for example, providing technical expertise at no cost, or providing free access to equipment, (an industry partner has a large boardroom in their office that could be beneficial to your project. Rather than you renting a boardroom at a conference center, they agree to loan it to you for free).

In-kind contributions must be relevant and central to the activities and objectives of the CA. These costs must be eligible under the CA and must be recorded at a fair value.

In-kind contributions should be reported as part of your sources of funding, but they will not be reimbursed by AAFC.

The AgriCommunication 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, applicants are advised to contact AAFC program staff early in the process to confirm the eligibility and valuation of an in-kind contribution.

Project application form - budget instructions

After selecting the Eligible cost items tab, activities entered in the Work plan will be visible.

Activity name

The name of the activity that is visible is the name of the activity that was entered in the work plan and has been carried over to this tab. To view the areas to input, select the Details button.

At any time, you can see all of the information you have entered for all of the activities by selecting the [Show all details] button. Similarly, to just see a list of cost items, select the [Hide all details] button.

Start date

The activity start date (the date that the individual activity will start.) will be carried over from the work plan.

End date

The activity end date (the date that the individual activity will finish) will be carried over from the work plan.

Name of cost item

Provide a name for the cost item that clearly indicates what it is.

Depending on the complexity of your application, this could be viewed as your "sub-activity"

If there is more than one cost category, or more than one cost item within each cost category, you would replicate the name of the cost item for each of the cost category entries under the "sub-activity" so that reviewers are able to determine the cost break-down of each sub-activity.

Description

Within the description box, provide a breakdown of the cost item(s) so that reviewers are able to determine what the individual cost components are, and be able to determine the reasonableness of the proposed budget.

For example, if your cost category is 'Travel', this is where you would identify the per diem and transportation cost breakdowns, or if you plan on claiming actuals, the meals, accommodations and transportation cost breakdowns.

Cost category

From the drop-down list, select the cost category (as described below) for each particular budget item:

• salaries and benefits
• contracted services
• travel
• capital expenditures
• other direct project costs

Details on eligible cost items

Any costs incurred before AAFC deems your application complete or after March 31, 2024 are ineligible for reimbursement, nor will they be considered as part of an applicant's cost-share.

AAFC may allow eligible costs to be incurred after a complete funding proposal has been received by the Program, but prior to the signing of a CA if AAFC deems this necessary for the achievement of objectives under the project and if such costs are reasonable and required to carry out the eligible activities to which they relate.

In these cases, costs cannot be reimbursed until a signed CA between your organization and AAFC is in place, therefore these incurred costs are done solely at your risk without obligation of payment by AAFC.

The date of the receipt of a complete application or the proposed start date of the project, whichever is later, would be the "effective date."

You should not consider an application as submitted to the program until you receive the acknowledgement notice.

The following information demonstrates the eligible costs under the program and any limitations or instructions you need to know to help you complete your budget.

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 administrative financial or performance reports for the project.

• This includes Mandatory Employment Related Costs (MERCs), Employment Insurance (EI), Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Quebec Pension Plan (QPP), vacation pay and benefits
• Benefits refer to payments an employer is required to make by virtue of company policy or a collective agreement such as contributions to a group pension plan

Limitations and instructions

• Timesheets must be maintained for employees who work less than 100% of their time on the project. It is unlikely that an employee would work 100% of their time on the project and not have any other regular duties; therefore, if an applicant is successful, they 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
• Benefit costs must not exceed 25% of the eligible salary costs for each employee who works on the project
• These costs do not include those salary costs incurred for employees completing administrative financial or performance reports for the project. Those costs are included as part of administration.

Contracted Services

Eligible cost items

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

• consultant/expert services
• research
• project management to undertake activities

Limitations and instructions

• A formal contract should be in place with the contractor that includes payment terms and clearly details the 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

Travel

Eligible cost items

Travel costs directly related to the project, such as:

• per diems (accommodations, meals, incidentals and taxis)
• transportation, such as air, rail and ground transportation
• hospitality

Limitations and instructions

• When travel is approved, claimants have an option to claim for these expenses using one of the following options:
  1. claim the established per diem or
  2. claim actual expenses incurred which are less than the established per diem
• The per diems will contribute to covering the costs for daily accommodation, meals, local or in-city transportation (buses, taxis, vehicle rentals, etc.), ground transportation, including parking, to and from the public carrier terminal, entry documents, including passports and visas, insurance (all types), vaccinations and incidentals (personal phone calls, laundry, gratuities, currency exchange fees, etc.) for individual travel
• If using option (a), per diems can be claimed for every day on travel status as follows:
  • travel within Canada:
    • day trip with no overnight stay: $70 CAD/day
    • multi-day trip with overnight stays: $300 CAD/day
  • travel outside Canada:
    • day trip with no overnight stay: $100 CAD/day
    • multi-day trip with overnight stays: $425 CAD/day
• 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:
  • private vehicle: kilometric rates ($0.55/km) as well as costs for 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, and parking at the destination
  • air: economy airfare rate only for all travel (not Business or First Class). Bookings should be made during the effective dates of the Contribution Agreement, as outlined in the Details on Eligible cost items section above. Seat selection and baggage costs are eligible. If a higher class is purchased, proof of the flight's economy rate must be obtained for reimbursement purposes
• Alcohol, entertainment, and gifts are ineligible

Capital Expenditures

Eligible cost items

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

• are not intended for resale in the ordinary course of operations
• may also include betterments (which are described as being expenditures relating to the alteration or modernization of an asset that appreciably prolong the period of usefulness of the item or improve its functionality)
• 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 one year and a per item cost greater than $10,000

Limitations and instructions

• To be eligible, the capital expenditure must be directly required for training
• Capital costs over $10,000 need to be pre-approved
• Where several related assets are required, the cumulative cost of these assets should be considered as one and require pre-approval if over $10,000
• The purchase of land or buildings is an ineligible cost
• Minor assets and capital items not specifically required for the execution of a project are ineligible

Other Direct Project Costs

Eligible cost items

Other costs for project-related deliverables, such as:

• shipping
• printing
• conference fees/registration fees
• translation
• costs related to production of materials/documents
• material costs

Limitations and instructions

• Alcohol, entertainment, gifts, prizes and giveaways are ineligible
• Normal costs of establishing a commercial operation are ineligible

Administration

Eligible cost items

Administrative costs are organizations' fundamental operational expenses not directly related to undertaking the proposed 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.

Administration costs will be calculated automatically at a flat rate of 10% based on the total activity costs in the budget. This flat rate will cover costs of project management and administrative staff salaries (managing and reporting), use of office accommodations, use of office equipment and use of office materials.

The following list identifies costs that would be covered in the flat rate. These costs cannot be charged under salaries and benefits or other direct project costs.

The costs include, but are not limited to the following:

Administrative costs means costs related to the administration of the contribution agreement, such as:

• 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
• bank fees
• insurance (fire, theft, liability)
• legal fees
• administrative information technology (IT) products and services, including maintenance
• other overhead type expenditures relating to the organization's office

Limitations and instructions

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

These administration costs will be subject to the cost-sharing ratio of the Program. Should your project be approved, the 10% flat rate will be applied to your actual eligible costs when you submit your financial reporting against your expenses.

Sources of funding

Please see Section 1.3 of the Applicant guide 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 Sources for funding tab, enter your share of the cash and in-kind funding which will come from:

• applicant directly (your organization)
• other federal government departments, agencies, and crown corporations
• provincial/territorial government departments, agencies, and crown corporations
• municipal governments
• industry/partners (your members, industry partners, sponsors, etc.)

Within each funding type, provide the name of the funding source. To add another funding source to the selected funding type, select the + symbol. You can add as many funding sources as you need. To delete a funding source, select the x symbol, all information for that funding source will be deleted.

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

Budget summary

The Budget Summary tab auto-calculates all the financial information you entered in the Project Costs and Sources of Funding tabs and provides an ongoing high-level overview of your project's budget.

This is where you will see that the administration costs have been added to the overall budget. The administration costs are automatically calculated at a flat rate of 10% based on the total activity costs in the budget.

Declarations

Unpaid debts to the Government of Canada

The recipient of AAFC funds must declare any amounts owing to the Government of Canada. Any amounts due to the recipient under AAFC programs may be set off against any such amounts owing to the Government of Canada under any agreement or any legislation with the Government of Canada.

Lobbying activities

The applicant must ensure that a person lobbying on behalf of the applicant is registered and in compliance with the Lobbying Act.

More information on the obligations in the Lobbying Act can be found on the website of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada.

Conflict of Interest

Current or former public servants or public office holders are required to avoid conflict of interest situations while employed by the federal government, and for a period of time following their service. The Applicant acknowledges that any individuals who are subject to the provisions of the Conflict of Interest Act, the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector, the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons, any applicable federal values and ethics code or any applicable federal policy on conflict of interest and post-employment shall not derive any direct benefit resulting from this application unless the provision or receipt of such benefit is permitted in such legislation, policy or codes.

Consent for Use, Disclosure and Copyright

Personal information will be treated and disclosed in accordance with the Privacy Act. You have the right to access your personal information held by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and to request changes to incorrect personal information by contacting the AAFC Access to Information and Privacy Director at aafc.atip-aiprp.aac@agr.gc.ca.

For more information about AAFC's privacy practices, you may refer to the following Personal Information Banks: Public Communications PSU 914 and Outreach Activities PSU 938.

Business information will be disclosed only in accordance with the provisions of the Access to Information Act.

Information on the Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act is available on the Justice Laws Website. For more information about these Acts, please contact the Access to Information and Privacy Director at aafc.atip-aiprp.aac@agr.gc.ca.

Copyright permission

AAFC may disclose, reproduce and distribute any part of or the whole of the documentation provided in or with the application form, within AAFC and to its authorized third parties, including other government departments, for purposes consistent with the receipt, assessment and subsequent treatment of the application.

Additional documents

In addition to the application form, the following documents are required as part of a complete application package. Use the attachment checklist in the Project Information tab to track required documentation.

Your application cannot be considered until the documentation is attached to this form or submitted directly to AAFC. An incomplete package will not be processed until all documents are received.

Document name	Description
Executive summary	A brief summary that links proposed activities to the project objectives.
A copy of the applicant 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 applicant's status as a legal entity.
Financial statements	Statements for the last 2 years.
Project endorsement letters/ letters of support (if available, not a requirement)	Letters of support from organizations indicating they believe there is a need for the proposed project and expressing hope that the proposed project will be accepted.
Capital Asset Pre-approval (if applicable)	All capital asset purchases over $10,000 must be pre-approved by the program using the AAFC Capital Asset pre-approval template.

Submit

Once you have completed your application form and all the additional documents, please submit your project application with all required documents attached.

The representative who submits the form must be duly authorized to submit the Project Application Form on the Applicant's behalf.

For technical assistance submitting your application, on any page of the Project Application Form (PDF), select the information icon to access technical help.

For more information on the AgriCommunication Program, please contact the program by:

Telephone: 1-877-246-4682
Email: aafc.agricompetitivenessagri-competitivite.aac@agr.gc.ca