Federal government doles out more than $3 million for northern Ontario agriculture sector

The federal govermnent is providing more than $400,000 to the Sault Ste. Marie-based Fair Finance Fund in an effort to beef up investments in food and farm enterprises throughout northern Ontario as part of a $3-million funding package for agri-food producers and organizations.

The FedNor-delivered funding will support a total of 13 agriculture-related projects across northern Ontario. 

“The Government of Canada understands that people are facing real challenges during these difficult times. That’s why we’ve been investing in robust measures to help Canadians to put food on the table, help students pay their rent and keep businesses afloat,” said Sault Ste. Marie MP Terry Sheehan during Wednesday's funding announcement. “Ladies and gentlemen, our message is clear: We’ve been here for you with immediate measures to support families and businesses, and we are here for you now as our economy reopens.”

“We’re working with you to create good jobs and help the economy come back stronger.”

Here's a rundown of how the FedNor funding breaks down, as provided by the federal government: 

Cloverbelt Country Meats Cooperative

$150,000

Upgrade the abattoir, located just west of Dryden, to make it more competitive through improvements that reduce energy costs, increase capacity and production volumes, and support the development of value-added products.

Local Food and Farm Co-Operative (Nickel Belt)

$356,576

Coordinate priority activities of the new Northern Ontario Food Distribution Network and provide value-chain coordination, training and advisory support to communities and food co-operatives across Northern Ontario. The goal is to improve market access and enterprise start-up and scale-up for food and farm producers, processors, social enterprises and co-operatives.

Reliable elevators

$420,000

A repayable contribution to purchase and install a high capacity grain handler dryer to respond to consumer demand in the Earlton-New Liskeard region, enhance the quality of yields, increase exports and create jobs.

Fair Finance Fund

$418,125

Expand Northern Ontario investor and loan client participation over a three-year period to mobilize equitable and accessible capital for Northern food and farm enterprises that create social, environmental and economic benefits.

Social Planning Council of Sudbury

$31,500

Hire a youth intern to support local and regional food economic initiatives in Northern Ontario by assisting with research, data collection and analysis, market information and knowledge sharing.

Collège Boréal

$363,173

Hire an agronomist and agricultural technologist for a three-year period to assist with applied research and development projects that will create innovative agricultural technologies and support agricultural businesses in developing and selecting plant varieties that can thrive in Northern Ontario’s challenging climate.

Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario

$245,892

Promote innovation and expansion in sustainable agriculture, particularly targeting young farmers with mentoring, clean tech adoption and on-farm research and innovation.

Association of Community Pastures

$43,502

Establish a rotational grazing system for local community pastures organization to increase carrying capacity and improve quality of forage production.

Rainy River Future Development Corporation

$129,000

Hire an agricultural, as well as investment advisor to support the growing agricultural sector in the Rainy River District.

Regional Food Distribution Association

$100,000

Explore the economic viability of developing a value-added food processing business line and becoming a social enterprise, thereby improving its financial sustainability and providing local opportunities for area farmers. 

Lakehead University

$55,290

Hire a youth intern to perform industry-oriented field crop research at the Lakehead University’s Agricultural Research Station to create opportunities for local farmers to increase yields, profitability and business growth.

Town of Cochrane

$660,989

Construct a grain handling and storage facility at the community’s multi-modal site to support the expansion of the region’s agricultural sector and to service farms in the Cochrane District.

Town of Hearst

$63,000

Intern to assist with research to determine obstacles to livestock farming expansion in the Highway 11 North region.