Canadian Government Funding for Food and Meat Processors  

Written by: Mentor Works – A Partner of Carlisle Technology

Did you know that Canadian food and meat businesses are in a prime sector to benefit from government funding? With a vast range of programs available, government grants and loans for the food and meat sector can offset costs of hiring and training, technology adoption, research and development, and export market expansion.

Delivered through the Government of Canada, here are a few of the top federal funding programs that are available to food and meat businesses.

Hiring and Training: The Canada Job Grant (CJG) provides grants of 50-100% of training costs to a maximum $5,000 to $15,000 per trainee to reduce the costs of providing third-party skills training to new and existing employees.

Tech Adoption: The Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) offers both federal and provincial government funding, including its Ontario variant which provides up to 50% of project costs to a maximum $10M through five distinct programs that offer various support options to commercialize and/or adopt innovative products, technologies, processes, or services.  

By utilizing government funding such as the CAP program, Canadian food and meat processors can adopt or evolve their traceability processes through the implementation of advanced technologies. For example, a new or upgraded plant floor Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Warehouse Management System (WMS) can help manage plant floor processes, plan inventory control, enable company-wide traceability and integrate with clients’ ERPs for efficient operations. This focus on automation and traceability can improve productivity, while embedding proactive monitoring throughout the organization. 

Research and Development: The Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) provides up to 60-80% of costs to a maximum $10M for the development of innovative products, processes, and services.

In addition to traditional product development projects, research and development programs can assist Canadian processors in developing new practices, such as traceability processes needed to improve supply chain tracking. By accessing funding through programs like IRAP, businesses can develop integrations between internal and external systems. The more connected a traceability system is to all links that provide support, the more efficient a business will be.

Export Expansion: The CanExport Program provides up to 75% to a maximum $75,000 in grants for export marketing projects including participation in trade shows and government-led trade missions. This program has changed due to COVID-19 to temporarily support virtual marketing activities due to the lack of direct marketing opportunities and travel restrictions.

If your business has been incorporated in Canada for at least three years with 15 or more payroll employees and a positive net income, contact the Mentor Works team to uncover the funding opportunities relevant for you and streamline the application process.