The Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP) is a five-year (2009-2014), $163 million program with the objective of facilitating the agriculture, agri-food, and agri-based products sector’s ability to seize opportunities, to respond to new and emerging issues, and to pathfind and pilot solutions to new and ongoing issues in order to help it adapt and remain competitive.

Launched as a successor to the Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) program, CAAP will continue to support industry-led initiatives at the national, regional and multi-regional levels.

Regionally the Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC) will receive $28.1 million over the five years to deliver Ontario’s CAAP funding. CAAP’s goal is to support industry-led approaches and solutions that allow the sector to quickly adapt to changes, respond to emerging issues and capture new opportunities.


Eligible Projects:
CAAP funds projects that align with priorities identified by industry and/or government by focusing on the following:

Seizing opportunities is meant to take advantage of a situation or circumstance to develop a new idea, product, niche, or market opportunity to the benefit of the sector.

Responding to new and emerging issues is meant to address issues that were not of concern previously, or were not known about at all. Issues vary considerably throughout Canada because of soil conditions, climate and the level of development of the sector.

Pathfinding and piloting solutions to new and ongoing issues is meant to test ways of dealing with new issues, or find new ways to deal with existing issues.  Under CAAP, this is done in two ways:

·               Pathfinding means looking at different options to prepare the sector to face the future and remain competitive.

·               Piloting means the testing of ideas or approaches to see if it is effective enough to use in everyday applications in the sector.

Collective Outcomes:

The CAAP will encourage and support collaborative efforts or collective outcome projects which demonstrate

greater industry collaboration amongst national, multi-regional and regional stakeholders. Collective

Outcome projects could include the participation of:

·               National organizations, working in collaboration with provincial/territorial groups; and

·               A minimum of two provincial or territorial councils.

Collective Outcome project proposals must:
·               Be consistent with CAAP objectives, principles and criteria;
·               Address an issue that crosses beyond the boundaries of one province or territory;
·               Involve as many collaborators/partners and related CAAP Industry Councils as possible and should    encourage the involvement of a national organization, where applicable; and
·               Disseminate the project results to a broadly-based targeted audience.

Ineligible Activities:

The list of ineligible activities includes, but is not limited to, the following:

·               Project activities intended to directly influence/lobby governments;
·               Advertisement, promotion and/or awareness activities that brand one region, commodity, and/or           product over another;
·               Information sharing and/or general awareness activities (such as symposiums, meetings, tradeshows or conferences) unless they are components  of a broader project and are intended to contribute to and/or disseminate project results;
·               Activities that are deemed to be part of normal business practice for any recipient;
·               Normal commercial expansion (e.g., enlarging operational facilities);
·               Basic research;
·               Activities undertaken at the commercialization phase for a product, process or technology;
·               Support for university or research chairs;
·               Support for speakers at general meetings that do not address an issue related to the project;
·               International marketing and promotion; and
·               The testing of food or other agricultural product on humans (human clinical trials).

Any project costs incurred before the reception of a completed application form at AAC’s office are not eligible for reimbursement.

Updated forms were posted on January 15, 2010. Please ensure you are using the most up-to-date version to complete your application and budget.

CAAP Important Dates:

January 25, 2010:  2nd cut-off date for CAAP applications

March 4, 2010:  Tentative AAC Board Meeting

March 8, 2010: Cut-off date for CAAP applications

April 22, 2010: Tentative AAC Board Meeting


Download the full "CAAP Application Guide"  click here (word)  OR click here (PDF)