The Canadian food and beverage processing industries are to receive a C$3m boost from a joint investment by the country’s federal government and the province of Ontario.
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The fund will be used to promote innovation within the sectors in an effort to boost competitiveness.
Gary Goodyear, Member of Parliament for Cambridge, on behalf of Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, unveiled the C$3m Food and Beverage Industry Innovation (FBII) Fund, made up of equal contributions by the federal and provincial governments.
“Innovation has always driven this sector and our Conservative government wants to ensure that proud tradition continues,” said Goodyear. “Our government believes supporting producers will help the Ontario food and beverage processing industry, the second-largest manufacturing sector in the province, achieve successful results.”
“I am very pleased to see the co-ordination of efforts to develop this programme as part of the funding that the McGuinty Government announced earlier this year to support the competitiveness and productivity of Ontario’s food and beverage processing sector,” said Leona Dombrowsky, Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
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By GlobalDataThe federal contribution of C$1.5m is being provided through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food program which, in Ontario, is delivered by the Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC).
The provincial contribution of C$1.5m was provided to increase food industry competitiveness and was announced on 31 January.
“Long-term sustainability and competitiveness are critical to the future success of Ontario’s food and beverage processing industry,” said Jane Graham, executive director of the Alliance of Ontario Food Processors.
“The Agricultural Adaptation Council is pleased to be the administrative partner for the FBII Fund,” added Kim Turnbull, chair of the AAC. “The food and beverage industry is so important to the continued wealth of Ontario that anything that improves this sector will help the province.”
Ontario’s food and beverage processing industry generates more than C$33bn annually in sales and employing more than 110,000 people. The industry is the largest customer of Ontario’s farmers and purchases more than 70% of all farm production.
The Food and Beverage Industry Innovation Fund will be administered by the AAC.
