April 1, 2015 marks the start of the third year of the five-year Growing Forward 2 initiative, and along with it the government has begun to announce when it is open to applications. This means that now is a prime opportunity to determine whether or not you have an eligible project that can be submitted. Applications for both Capacity Building funding and Implementation funding will be able to be submitted by producers and processors from May 1 to May 21 (with the next rounds coming in August and November).
Growing Forward 2 is a national-provincial initiative that targets Canada’s agri-food and agri-products sector and aims to foster innovation, market development, and industry capacity. It provides cost-share funding for education, training, audits, assessments, planning, and capital purchases by contributing up to 50% of the project’s eligible costs, to a maximum of $350,000 over the five years of the program (April 1, 2013 – March 31, 2018).
Projects for 2015 must not have a start date before April 1, 2015, and should start within 3 months of anticipated project approval. Eligibility stems from involvement in the processing or modification of all kinds of agricultural-based products in Ontario.
Our business analysts and technical writers here at NorthBridge are excited to work with you and your company to determine the full extent of project eligibility. NorthBridge can offload the work from you, allowing you to focus on the development of your product and business.