Strengthening the Canadian Supply Chain Program

Aims

• The Strengthening the Canadian Supply Chain Program aims to help Canadian companies remain competitive in the wake of the ongoing uncertainty around trade with the US.

Key Challenges and Opportunities

• Protein Industries Canada is working to address several key challenges and opportunities within the plant-based and agrifood ecosystem:
  • Economic Uncertainty: The ongoing trade topic with the US creates uncertainty for Canadian companies. This project aims to mitigate these risks by supporting domestic production and reducing reliance on US trade.
  • Domestic Supply Chain: Strengthening the Canadian supply chain is crucial for ensuring the viability of the agrifood sector. This project focuses on using Canadian inputs to create or reformulate products for the domestic market.
  • Sustainability and Innovation: By encouraging the use of Canadian crops and emerging ingredients, the project promotes sustainability and innovation in food production.

Funding Information

• Total eligible project costs should be between $50,000 and $200,000. The maximum level of reimbursement from Protein Industries Canada will be 75% of total project costs (between $37,500 and $150,000). Projects must be a maximum of 12 months in length.

Eligible Projects

• To be eligible, projects must include at least one of the following:
  • Reformulating products with domestically produced ingredients;
  • Scale-up and commercialization work to increase the supply of domestically produced food products to Canadian consumers; or
  • Scale-up and commercialization of domestically produced ingredients to Canadian manufacturers.
• As with all Protein Industries Canada investments, projects are required to use Canadian feedstocks or ingredients derived from Canadian field crops such as wheat, oats, barley, peas, soy or fava beans. Other emerging crops, such as lupin or hemp, will also be considered.

Eligibility Criteria

• For a project to be considered eligible for investment, it must:
  • Applicants must be Canadian-owned companies with funding priority given to Small or Medium Enterprises (SMEs: a business with 499 or fewer employees and less than $50 million in gross revenues). Applicants must have a minimum of $100,000 in sales in the previous fiscal year. A project may include academic or research institution(s). This is not mandatory but is encouraged.
  • Protein Industries Canada will reimburse up to 75 per cent of eligible costs of approved projects. Applicants will be required to demonstrate their financial capacity to undertake the project.
  • The project must be aligned with the objectives of Protein Industries Canada and the Global Innovation Cluster initiative.
  • Companies may only apply for one project.
  • The initiative must be incremental to the regular business of the participating organizations, meaning that the project:
  • Is not approved nor in progress and that financial commitments to it are distinct from investments that would have otherwise occurred; and
  • Is new or would not be undertaken at the same scope or scale without the co-investment provided by the Cluster.
  • All projects must have experienced and proven project management capabilities.
  • All Ultimate Recipients must be compliant with all economic or financial sanctions or trade embargoes imposed, administered or enforced from time to time by the Government of Canada.
  • The project cannot be a “designated project” or a “project” under the applicable federal environmental and impact assessment legislation.
  • The project must commit to having IP outcomes owned in Canada.

For more information, visit Protein Industries Canada.