PERTH-WELLINGTON – Federal and provincial governments are investing $7.3 million through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) to help support farmers and agri-food businesses.
The investment will fund projects that increase food safety, accelerate sector innovation, and help farmers bring new products to market to grow their businesses.
Farmers and agri-food businesses in Perth-Wellington will receive a total of $580,954.40 in overall funding, Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece announced on July 26. Funding will go to projects in every municipality in Perth-Wellington.
“Our agricultural sector works hard to put food on our tables,” said Pettapiece. “We want to ensure they have the resources they need to continue being successful. That is why this funding is important.”
The Ontario agri-food sector supports more than 860,000 jobs in Ontario and contributes more than $47.3 billion each year to the province’s economy.
“Supporting Ontario’s farmers and agri-food businesses to be more competitive by increasing their ability to innovate is key to strengthening the agri-food sector,” added the provincial Minister of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs Lisa Thompson.
‘Building resiliency’
“Building resiliency within our agri-food sector will help keep our province’s food supply strong and more able to adapt to challenges in the future,” Thompson added.
Since June 2018, both the federal and provincial governments have committed over $100 million in cost-share support to more than 5,000 projects through CAP to help eligible Ontario farmers, processors, businesses, and sector organizations innovate and grow.
CAP is a five-year, $3 billion investment by federal, provincial, and territorial governments to strengthen the agriculture and agri-food sector. The commitment includes $2 billion for programs that are cost-shared by the federal, provincial, and territorial governments and are designed and delivered by provinces and territories.
