AgriRecovery

A federal-provincial-territorial disaster relief framework

About AgriRecovery

AgriRecovery is not a program. You cannot apply to AgriRecovery.

AgriRecovery is a disaster relief framework that is part of a suite of federal-provincial-territorial (FPT) Business Risk Management (BRM) tools under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership. This framework outlines the process FPT governments use to assess the impacts of natural disasters on agricultural producers. Where there is need for financial help beyond what is available through other government programs and private sector tools, FPT governments design joint initiatives to help producers recover from natural disasters.

When an AgriRecovery initiative is launched, the details of that initiative, such as the initiative’s terms and conditions and application process, will be made available.

Objective

AgriRecovery initiatives provide targeted financial help to Canada’s agricultural producers for the extraordinary costs they must pay to recover from natural disasters.

Extraordinary costs are those which producers would not pay under normal circumstances but which are necessary to:

• reduce the impacts of the disaster on their farming operations
• resume farming operations as quickly as possible following the disaster

Additionally, AgriRecovery initiatives are designed to help producers with only those extraordinary costs that are beyond their capacity to manage, taking into account the assistance available through other government programs and private sector tools.

AgriRecovery does not cover production or revenue declines, including those resulting from natural disasters. The core BRM programs are available to help producers who are faced with income or production losses.

Core Business Risk Management programs

The core BRM programs are, in part, designed to help producers deal with the income and production losses they experience when disasters occur. AgriRecovery initiatives cannot duplicate or replace the assistance available through these programs:

AgriInsurance is an insurance-based program designed to help producers experiencing production losses due to eligible perils, including severe losses resulting from disaster events.

AgriStability is a whole-farm, margin-based program that helps producers when they face severe margin (income) declines caused by circumstances such as low prices, rising input costs, and production losses; advances (interim payments) are available under the program to help with cash flow.

AgriInvest is a savings account-based program where producer deposits are matched by governments; the funds in accounts are available to offset losses, help with cash flow needs, or support investments to help with managing business risks.

The core BRM programs act as the first line of defence when disasters occur. Agricultural producers are encouraged to participate in these programs. When assessing whether an AgriRecovery initiative is warranted, we consider assistance available through these programs, as well as other government programs or private sector tools.

Other government programs

Although not part of the core FPT BRM programs, the Advance Payments Program is a federal loan program which is available to help crop and livestock producers meet their financial obligations through improved cash flow and better opportunities to market their agricultural products.

There are other government programs which may provide assistance to producers who find themselves faced with a disaster event. For example, in disaster situations involving a disease or pest, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency may provide disaster-related compensation under the Health of Animals Act or the Plant Protection Act. Assistance may also be available to support recovery through provincial disaster assistance programs, which may be partially funded through Public Safety Canada’s national Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements.

Types of disaster events considered for assistance under AgriRecovery

Examples of natural disaster events are:

• disease (for example, Bovine tuberculosis, Potato wart)
• pest infestation (for example, Potato Cyst Nematodes, grasshoppers)
• extreme weather (for example, drought, flooding, tornado)
• contamination of the natural environment (for example, chemical event)

Types of disaster events not considered for assistance under AgriRecovery

Examples of events that cannot be considered for assistance under AgriRecovery include:

• disaster events where there are no extraordinary costs producers must pay to recover
• disasters that can be effectively managed with assistance from other government programs and private sector tools
• cyclical market trends that result in income and revenue losses
• long-term market trends
• destruction of an individual’s property where there is no impact on the sector
• cancellation of a contract or market loss not related to a disaster event
• trade actions that are not directly related to a disease or pest event
• situations that are market-driven (for example, the closure of a processing plant in an area)
• recurring events which can be effectively addressed in the longer-term through changes to the core BRM programs (for example, changes to insurance products), other federal or provincial assistance programs, or private sector risk management tools

How AgriRecovery works

AgriRecovery provides a process for FPT governments to jointly assess and respond to natural disasters affecting Canada’s agricultural producers.

Key steps of the AgriRecovery process:

Step 1 – Request for an assessment

Requests to determine whether an AgriRecovery initiative is warranted are typically made by a province or territory to the federal government, as provincial and territorial governments are closer to the disaster event, its impacts, and affected producers.

Step 2 – Assessment

A joint assessment is undertaken to:

• examine the disaster event and its impacts
• determine whether there are extraordinary costs producers must pay to recover
• measure the assistance available through other government programs and private sector tools to help producers recover

Key criteria must be met. These key criteria are described below and illustrated in the AgriRecovery Assessment Flow Chart.

During the assessment process, governments may consult with producers and sector organizations to gain a better understanding of the disaster, its impacts, and the extraordinary costs affected producers must pay to recover.

Step 3 – Decision and authorities

The findings of the assessment form the basis on which FPT governments then decide whether or not to proceed with an AgriRecovery initiative.

Step 4 – Agreement on the details

Participating governments work together to finalize the details of the initiative. These details are typically set out in a funding agreement between governments.

AgriRecovery initiatives are typically delivered by the provincial or territorial government, or its delivery agent. Initiatives are typically cost-shared on a 60:40 basis between federal and provincial/territorial governments, respectively.

Step 5 – Launch of the initiative

The initiative is announced, or targeted producers are notified, and program materials are made available (for example, the terms and conditions for the initiative and application forms).

Step 6 – Payments

Applications submitted to the AgriRecovery initiative are processed and payments are made.

As AgriRecovery initiatives are disaster-specific, each will have its own name (for example, The 2023 Canada-New Brunswick Potato AgriRecovery Initiative).

Key considerations to assess disasters and design AgriRecovery initiatives

FPT governments have agreed on a set of principles and criteria to guide the assessment of disaster events and the design of AgriRecovery initiatives. As each disaster situation will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, differences in the circumstances of each disaster will lead to different types and levels of assistance available through an initiative.

Assessment principles

• Assess each disaster situation and initiative individually
• Complement, but not substitute or replace, assistance available through the core BRM programs, other government programs, or private sector tools
• Consider the financial position of affected producers to determine whether assistance is needed
• Design initiatives that do not result in affected producers being brought back to a better financial position than they would have been in had the disaster not occurred
• Make sure that producers share responsibility for the extraordinary costs and are not compensated twice for the same costs
• Encourage mitigating actions

To make sure producers are not compensated twice for the same costs, payments for extraordinary costs that are eligible under AgriStability will be included as eligible income in the program year for AgriStability purposes.

Assessment process and criteria

The AgriRecovery assessment process consists of 2 stages, each with its own set of criteria to assess a disaster event and its impacts:

1. Preliminary assessment criteria

The disaster event must:

• not be a recurring event
  • a recurring event is defined as one which AgriRecovery has responded to previously in a province
    • potential exceptions: An event AgriRecovery has responded to previously in a province where either:
      • FPT governments are in the process of completing work to determine if there is an alternative longer-term solution (may respond a second time)
      • FPT governments have completed the work to determine if there is an alternative long-term solution and it is deemed to be uninsurable or unable to be effectively addressed through existing or new government or private sector programming (may respond again)
• be an abnormal event, something that producers could not have foreseen and prepared for
• result in extraordinary costs to producers, which are costs producers would not normally pay, resulting from actions they must take to reduce the impacts and/or resume production as quickly as possible

If any 1 of the preliminary assessment criteria is not met, the assessment process stops and governments cannot provide assistance through AgriRecovery. If all 3 criteria are met, governments can proceed to the formal assessment stage.

2. Formal assessment criteria

The disaster event should:

• be a collective experience, impacting a large enough number of producers or value of production in the affected region
• result in significant negative impacts on affected producers’ capacity to produce or market agricultural product
• result in significant extraordinary costs, having a substantial impact on producers’ income and being large enough that it makes sense for governments to help with these costs
• be beyond producers’ capacity to manage, even with the assistance available through other government programs and private sector tools

The results of the analysis for the 4 formal assessment criteria will be taken together to conclude whether or not an AgriRecovery initiative may be warranted.

Annex – AgriRecovery assessment flow chart

Compensation for extraordinary costs

Where, based on the findings of an assessment, participating governments agree to proceed with an AgriRecovery response, an initiative is then designed to compensate affected producers for up to 70% of the extraordinary costs.

Examples of extraordinary costs covered by AgriRecovery initiatives include:

• repairing or re-establishing crop and forage land damaged by flooding or drought
• re-establishing fruit trees damaged by a tornado
• cleaning and disinfecting buildings and property
• destroying or replacing infected plants not covered by the Plant Protection Act to prevent the spread of a disease
• carrying costs for animals unable to be sold due to quarantine

Exceptions for disease and pest events with a high risk of spread

AgriRecovery includes provisions which provide greater flexibility to respond to situations where actions must be taken to prevent the spread of a disease or pest.

These provisions include the ability to:

• respond where there are relatively few farming operations affected, but the risk of spread to other operations is high
• respond where a disease or pest event has not yet significantly impacted producers’ ability to produce or market their commodities, but where, if left unchecked, it could have significant impacts
• respond with a higher level of assistance where it is necessary to limit the spread of the disease or pest

Find out more about AgriRecovery

To speak to us about AgriRecovery and how it may help you recover from a natural disaster, please contact us at 1-855-773-0241.