New Application Dates Announced For Canadian Agricultural Partnership

Friday, 1 March 2019 12:57

Beginning this month, farmers and businesses in the agri-food sector can apply for support under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

OXFORD COUNTY - The provincial and federal government announced farmers and businesses in the agri-food sector can apply for support under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

The federal and provincial government recently made the announcement, setting an intake date between March 5th and April 4th.

Oxford MPP and Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Ernie Hardeman says the partnership helps build the rural economy.

"I think it really helps build the rural economy by providing assistance to expand and to become more productive and do it in an environmentally-sensitive way, I think that's really helpful. It's not a program that just sends money to farmers, it's programs that have the federal, provincial and the farming community working together, and farm businesses and agribusinesses too, working together to create a competitive edge over the rest of our trading partners so we can grow our economy."

The partnership supports projects to boost innovation, economic development, environmental stewardship and food safety. More than 1,150 Ontario projects have been supported through the Canadian Agriculture Partnership.

Hardeman says the projects are beneficial for the farmers.

"It supports projects that make farmers more competitive. If they can have a project that's going to make the end product more competitive and the production environment in Ontario more productive, that's what we do. It also works on environmental issues, to improve, to make sure that as we increase our production, that we also increase the quality of our environment. So programs such as how we store the nutrients and so forth are all part of this program, so farmers working together with the federal and provincial government will improve not only our competitiveness in the world market but it will also make sure we do a good job of protecting our environment while we're doing it."

The partnership is a five-year, $3 billion commitment by Canada's federal, provincial and territorial governments, supporting Canada's agri-food and agri-products sectors.