Prepared by Ralph Pearce for the Agricultural Adaptation Council

(Guelph, ON) - The new CanAdvance Program, funded through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) Program, will help those producers, groups and business interests looking to expand or enhance their operations, and compete on a regional, national or global scale.

Worth $36.7 million over five years, funding from the new CanAdvance program will provide producers and others in the agricultural sector with assistance to invest in their unique and innovative ventures. In Ontario, the industry-led Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC) located in Guelph will administer these funds.

The program will allow for the development of value-added complements or new products or services that set Ontario agriculture and agri-food apart from others in the world. The new initiative will be of particular assistance to increasing the development of the agri-food value chain and its many stakeholders.

“The CanAdvance program is going to be a tremendous benefit, not just with innovations but along the entire food value-chain,” says Bob Bedggood, chair of the AAC. “Now more than ever, we need to strengthen our domestic processing and value-added chains if we’re going to compete with other countries and regions of the world.”

For producers, there’s an opportunity to complement aspects of existing farm operations, to strengthen the rural economy and the communities they call home. This is important; for decades, they have exhibited their own unique blend of commitment on the farm and a sense of vision in meeting new challenges and opportunities. Now, as more of the country’s producers face tightening margins and time constraints, many are searching their own country roads for that next innovation. With the help of the AAC and CanAdvance, there is room and money to grow and flourish, be it on the farm, in town, across the country or around the world.

For marketing boards and university research programs, it’s the opportunity to build services or products that will create new markets, address changing consumer demands, and compete with similar services around the world. The program is also available to anyone with a new and innovative idea.

The CanAdvance initiative will also expand the sector’s capacity to respond to emerging issues. For example, increasing domestic processing capacity in the livestock sector or enhancing the industrial usage of grains and oilseeds are just two facets that could qualify for funding. The money also will help identify and capture potential market opportunities, and address medium and long-term sustainability issues within the agriculture and agri-food sector.

“Our producers and industry stakeholders have the savvy, they have the knowledge of what it takes, either to make something better or to bring something new to the farm,” says Bedggood. “This program simply recognizes that foundation, that base, and makes it possible to look beyond the conventional and compete with new ventures and opportunities.”

One of the strengths built into the CanAdvance program is its collective outcomes component. Groups of provinces or regions of the country will be able to work together on projects that may apply to other regions. An Ontario livestock association could, for example, initiate a project with the potential for interest of other livestock associations in other provinces. Additional matching funds for councils participating in such endeavours will be made available, over and above the council’s annual allocation.

Bedggood praises both the sense of vision shown by the development of ACAAF and the Honourable Andy Mitchell, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The ACAAF program, says Bedggood, is a wise and timely use of taxpayers’ dollars in driving the agriculture and agri-food industry forward. Canadian agriculture is at a crossroads, he adds, and the innovative spirit must be encouraged to ensure the industry’s future. Bedggood adds the ACAAF program is another example of government and industry working together on the long-term sustainability of Ontario’s agriculture and agri-food industry.

The AAC is a non-profit grass roots coalition of 62 agricultural, agri-business and rural organizations dedicated to providing financial resources to assist Ontario’s agriculture and agri-food industry remain profitable, grow and maintain its economic strength. The AAC receives the majority of its funding through Ontario’s share of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s five year $240 million Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) Program.


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For more information contact:
Nadine Buitenhuis, Communications Coordinator
Agricultural Adaptation Council
Phone: 519-822-7554
Fax: 519-822-6248
Email: Nadine Buitenhuis