- Step 1. What this program offers
- Step 2. Eligibility
- Step 3. Before you apply
- Step 4. How to apply
- Step 5. Complete the application and apply
- Step 6. After you apply
- Contact information
Step 1. What this program offers
Intake period: Closed
The application intake period is now closed.
The program ends March 31, 2024.
The Local Food Infrastructure Fund (LFIF) is a 5-year, $70 million initiative ending on March 31, 2024. It was created as part of the Government of Canada's Food Policy for a healthier and more sustainable food system in Canada.
Program objectives
The program is aimed at community-based, not-for-profit organizations with a mission to reduce food insecurity by establishing and strengthening their local food system.
The program's primary goal is to help increase food security through investments in infrastructure needs.
This intake of LFIF mobilizes an additional $10 million announced in Budget 2023, to provide grants to help increase food security through investments in infrastructure needs. The impact of which must be targeted and immediate, and must be directly related to addressing food security and increasing the accessibility and distribution of healthy, nutritious and ideally local foods within community(ies).
There have been 4 previous funding phases
The fourth intake of LFIF took place from June 1, 2022 to July 15, 2022 and focused on projects that either created a portion of (or expanded) a food system or implemented an entire food system.
The third intake of LFIF took place from July 12, 2021 to September 3, 2021 and provided rapid-response grants to help prevent hunger through investments in infrastructure needs.
The second intake of LFIF took place from June 9, 2020 to February 12, 2021, and along with simpler infrastructure requests noted below, included more complex, multi-year projects that strengthen local food systems.
The initial intake of LFIF took place from August 15, 2019 to November 8, 2019, and was aimed at small community-based organizations to allow them to improve their infrastructure and purchase equipment directly related to the accessibility of healthy, nutritious, and ideally, local foods within their community.
AAFC Funding
Under the current intake, you may be eligible to receive a minimum of $15,000 and a maximum of $120,000 in grant funding.
Cost-sharing
AAFC may provide up to 100% in funding toward eligible project costs.
For funding to purchase an eligible vehicle, a mandatory cost share will be applied as follows:
- AAFC — a maximum of 85%
- You — a minimum of 15%
This calculation will be done as part of the project assessment.