**PLEASE NOTE**

The AgriMarketing Program has been combined with the CanExport Program

Exports increase sales and profits while lowering risk and unit costs. This helps farmers and food processors provide a more balanced growth, which accounts for difficulties like seasonal changes in agriculture. Exporting can also extend a product’s lifecycle. Locals might tire of a certain product, but who is to say the same holds true in international markets?

Tapping into new markets can help farmers and food processors avoid the problem of over-saturating their local markets. Growing in scale often leads to increased efficiency and overall quality as well. The global market demands new and interesting products, but it also demands the best. Companies that export products are often the ones that gain a competitive advantage both at home and abroad.

The AgriMarketing Program provides government funding for food processors that helps them compete in local and international markets. It supports various initiatives for members of the agricultural sector to create and maintain access to a variety of export-related activities.

The Canadian government offers $341 million in funding to various projects and contribution funding. This funding opportunity began in 2013, and ends in 2018. AgriMarketing focuses on breaking down trade barriers, building market success, developing new markets, and creating assurance systems. The time is now to get in on the action!

AgriMarketing supports four different streams:

The market development stream builds Canadian farmers and food processors’ abilities to grow their local and international markets. They specifically focus on promotional materials that help raise the profile of Canadian goods and differentiate them from their competitors.

Eligible applicants include not-for-profit organizations from a national or sector-wide basis in the agri-food, agriculture, fish, or seafood industries. Regional players from these sectors can also apply if they can demonstrate the ability to develop a project on a national level.

The maximum amount of government funding for not-for-profit applicants covers up to $2.5 million per year.

This stream also includes funding for small and medium-sized enterprise looking to create promotional market development material for markets outside of Canada. This can include participation at a tradeshow, for instance. Eligible applicants include individuals, marketing boards, federal, provincial, territorial, as well as municipal governments and/or agencies, cooperatives, not-for-profit organizations and associations, and Aboriginal groups.

Applicants can receive up to $50,000 per fiscal year, and successful applicants can reapply if they wish over a five-year period.

The second opportunity is the assurance systems stream. This stream helps enhance the competitiveness of the agricultural industry by using assurance to account for the demands of both markets and buyers. Applicants to this stream include those developing national assurance systems or standards that deal with animal and plant health, food safety, market attributes or qualities, and traceability.

There is up to $1,000,000 available in government funding for projects under this stream.

Funding is also available for the two other smaller streams, breaking down trade barriers and building market success.

Reach out to our team of professionals at INAC Services for any further information about the AgriMarketing Program. You already have a great range of offerings—it’s time for the world to hear about them! Let us help you find the best government funding opportunity for you today.