An additional $22.2 million to support farm businesses affected by weather hazards in 2023

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Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

The Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec are launching the Canada-Quebec Initiative to Help Mitigate the Impacts of Excess Rainfall in Quebec in 2023 (known as AgriRecovery). The Canada-Quebec Initiative will provide $22,2 million in addition to the sums already allocated by existing programs. The financial support will partially offset the extraordinary costs incurred by vegetable, potato, strawberry and raspberry growers affected by the exceptionally adverse weather conditions of summer 2023.

André Lamontagne, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Minister responsible for the Centre-du-Québec Region, and the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, made the announcement today.

Here are the key points for companies affected by the Initiative:

  • The registration form will be available in December 2024 in the producer’s online account at La Financière agricole du Québec (FADQ).
  • The registration period will run from December 2024 to February 2025.
  • The registration will be online only, and no paper forms will be made available.
  • If necessary, a FADQ staff member will contact the company to obtain information or request additional supporting documents.
  • To demonstrate that they have incurred costs beyond their capacity, companies will have to provide financial data covering the 2022 and 2023 growing seasons if they have not already done so. They will also have to meet the Initiative’s criteria, in particular having incurred a given level of expenditure for the categories eligible for the Initiative.

In the meantime, companies are asked to create or update their FADQ online account. If they need assistance in this regard, they are asked to contact their service centre.

To speed up the processing of applications, if they have not already done so, companies participating in AgriStability are encouraged to submit their financial data for the 2023 participation year to the FADQ as soon as possible. For companies not participating in AgriStability, it will be possible to register by filing audited tax documents, such as the T2042 form.

Full participation details will be available shortly on the FADQ website.

Quotes

“Our farmers work so hard every single day, often in the face of different challenges, including unpredictable weather. Our government will always be there to support them and help them build resilience, so they can continue to produce the top-quality products they have become known for.”

– The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

“For our government, it was essential to come to the aid of agricultural businesses to respond to the consequences of exceptional weather, which were disastrous for many of them. I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to supporting farms in their efforts to improve their resilience to the impacts of climate change, for a strong, agile and competitive sector.”

– André Lamontagne, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Minister responsible for the Centre-du-Québec Region

Quick facts

  • Summer 2023 was characterized by abundant and frequent rainfall in the regions of Montérégie, Capitale-Nationale, Laurentides, Montréal-Laval-Lanaudière, Chaudière-Appalaches, Mauricie, Estrie, Centre-du-Québec, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Outaouais, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Côte-Nord.
  • Production losses, combined with the extraordinary costs due to the situation, have had an impact on the liquidity and financial capacity of Quebec horticultural companies.
  • The Initiative, which will be administered by the FADQ, stems from the AgriRecovery disaster relief framework under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership Multilateral Framework Agreement.
  • AgriRecovery is a federal-provincial/territorial disaster relief framework. It is more precisely designed to help agricultural producers meet the extraordinary costs of recovering from natural disasters. AgriRecovery initiatives are cost-shared by the federal government and the provinces and territories concerned on a 60%-40% basis, as set out by the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP).
  • In addition to risk management programs, the Initiative completes a series of measures put in place by the FADQ and the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation (MAPAQ) to support horticultural producers following the excess rainfall in 2023, for example:
    • Introduction of the Mesure complémentaire pour certaines productions horticoles affectées lors de la saison de culture 2023 (Complementary assistance measure for certain horticultural crops affected during the 2023 growing season). This measure offers assistance, which is complementary to the Agri-Québec Plus assistance, which allows the company to record at most $200,000 in net profit, depending on the number of shareholders or the equivalent established by the FADQ;
    • $30 million increase in the Working Capital component of the Sustainable Growth Investment Program, for a total of $55 million;
    • Grant of $50,000 in financial assistance to the Association des producteurs maraîchers du Québec to conduct a study explaining the low rate of enrollment in crop insurance;
    • Payment of indemnities in advance at the request of producers;
    • Extension of warehouse loss coverage for some crops;
    • Extensions of sowing deadlines for market garden crops;
  • Cancellation of the account-to-account policy for companies that request it.
  • Financial assistance could reach up to $904 per hectare for vegetable crops and potatoes, and up to $3,613 per hectare for strawberries and raspberries.
  • This announcement is the result of discussions and exchanges between various stakeholders involved.
  • Agricultural associations and the MAPAQ continue their collaboration to adapt the sector to climate change.