Supply Chain Stability and Adaptability Program: $9.8M to Support the Grow Ontario Strategy
With inflation rising and food costs shocking people across the country, it’s crucial to put actions in place that combat food instability and concerns about affordability and access. The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has thus launched the Supply Chain Stability and Adaptability Program to address supply chain and food security challenges in Ontario’s agri-food industry as part of the province’s Grow Ontario Strategy.
The Ontario government is investing $9.8 million via the Supply Chain Stability and Adaptability Program with up to $150,000 per project for eligible applicants.
This specialized program aims to support economic growth of the agriculture, food, and beverage sector in critical areas through addressing supply chain issues, reducing agri-food sector vulnerabilities, increasing resilience, and strengthening food supply for Ontarians.
The application intake period is open until Thursday, February 9, 2023, at 4:30 p.m. Contact the Mentor Works team to learn if your business could qualify for funding.
About the Supply Chain Stability and Adaptability Program
The Supply Chain Stability and Adaptability Program supports the economic recovery and growth of Ontario’s agriculture, food, and beverage sector businesses with nearly $10 million in government funding available via two program streams:
- The Agri-Food Supply Chain Infrastructure Investment Stream (SCII) helps obtain new equipment and assets needed to grow capacity to meet the increased demand for Ontario-grown and produced food products; and
- The Agri-Food Supply Chain Resiliency Analysis Stream (SCRA) is aimed at identifying and addressing market and supply chain challenges created or worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funding Amount
Agri-Food Supply Chain Infrastructure Investment Stream (SCII):
- Eligible applicants can receive up to 25% of eligible costs, up to a maximum of $150,000 per project.
Agri-Food Supply Chain Resiliency Analysis Stream (SCRA):
- Eligible applicants can receive up to 50% of eligible costs, up to a maximum of $50,000 per project.
Applicant Eligibility
Eligible applicants must be:
- Located in Ontario;
- Classified as an Agri-Food Business, including:
- Farms that supply Ontario food processing businesses with their products;
- Farms with production and on-site agri-food processing activities;
- Food Processing Businesses that source a significant portion of agricultural inputs from Ontario farms; and
- Involved in the production of processed food for human consumption.
It is important to take notice that eligible applicants cannot submit applications for both streams.
Eligible Project Examples:
- Capital improvements, including modifications to existing buildings and/or mobile facilities and construction of new buildings and/or mobile facilities;
- Upgrades to utilities;
- Growing, processing, and manufacturing equipment and construction;
- Packaging and handling equipment;
- Technology that allows increased capacity or business resilience (including software and hardware related to business functions, robotics, logistics, inventory management, plant production, and monitoring controls, to enable extended or year-round production); and/or
- Technical assistance, including engineering and construction planning, land use planning, facility design, and configuration planning, and other services that directly support future implementation of infrastructure-related capacity-building projects.
Eligible Activities and Costs:
Eligible costs are those that are directly necessary to carry out the project, reasonable in nature, and incremental, including but not limited to:
- Capital improvements to expand capacity for the purpose of processing, aggregating, storing, and value-adding Ontario agricultural products;
- Upgrades to utilities;
- Livestock intake and storage equipment;
- Growing, processing, and manufacturing and storage equipment and construction;
- Packaging and handling equipment;
- Additional warehouse equipment;
- Purchase of waste treatment/management equipment;
- Facility reconfiguration;
- Technology that allows increased capacity or business resilience;
- Consulting and technical assistance;
- Leasehold improvements to rented buildings or facilities; or
- Cost of purchase of goods including supplies and shipping costs to deliver.
Timeline:
- Deadline for applications is Thursday, February 9, 2023, at 4:30 p.m. (EST).
Government Funding for Food and Beverage Businesses
Millions of people around the world are fed by Ontario’s agri-food industry. As one of North America’s most active and competitive jurisdictions in the food and beverage sector, Ontario has more than 3,000 active food and beverage processors and 97,000 workers.
Learn more about which funding is available for agri-food providers by accessing our Canadian Agribusiness Funding Programs directory page for a list of active programs.
To uncover further insights about how to manage, grow, and finance your Ontario agri-business, download our free Canadian Agri-Business Growth Guidefor a variety of resources, links, tools, and support services related to agriculture and food processing.
