April 4, 2024
Last fall, the Canadian and Ontario governments
announced funding of up to $8 million over 3 years for Ontario apple, tender fruit, table grape, and wine grape growers through the Growing Future Opportunities Initiative, under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
The funding is intended to help growers plant varieties of produce that will improve quality, production, and marketability. These improvements will help achieve:
- Better alignment with changing consumer preferences
- Increased yields
- Improved resistance to pests and diseases
- Improved labour efficiency
Funding is available to growers during 2 defined intake periods. The first intake is for apple, tender fruit, and table grape growers, and the second intake is for wine grape growers.
Once an intake period opens, applications are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis until funding has been fully allocated or the intake period closes, whichever comes first.
Wine grape growers intake period
The wine grape intake opens at 10:00am on April 15, 2024. The
application and guidelines are available now.
Apple and tender fruit growers intake period
The intake period for apple, tender fruit, and table grape growers opened on November 20, 2023 and will remain open until funding is fully allocated. Check
agricorp.com for status update.
