Staff
Bill Walker, Member of Provincial Parliament for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, welcomes the announcement that the governments of Canada and Ontario are helping the province’s beef sector grow and develop new markets by investing up to $2 million in projects that enhance operations at provincially licensed abattoirs.
Ernie Hardeman, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, recently announced two initiatives to support Ontario’s cattle farmers and abattoirs. One provides an opportunity for cost-share funding for provincially licensed abattoirs to take on a variety of projects to improve food safety, animal welfare and biosecurity measures at their operations. The other is an investment of up to $292,600 to help the Beef Farmers of Ontario with marketing efforts to access emerging markets in Vietnam, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and the European Union. The cost-shared project will encourage export-market diversification and support efforts to increase volume and sales through trade missions, promotional events and the development of new brands.
The initiatives are funded through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (the Partnership).
The application intake for abattoirs opened on February 19, 2020 and applications will be accepted until April 30, 2020. Eligible projects must be completed on or before December 31, 2020.
Some examples of projects eligible for support under the abattoirs’ initiative include:
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Capital upgrades for enhanced food safety, improvements in the safe handling and housing of animals; and,
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New equipment for safe and efficient animal-hides disposal.
“Our government is investing in Ontario abattoirs to increase competitiveness, food safety, animal welfare and growth in Ontario’s agri-food sector with up to $2 million in cost-share funding for provincially licensed abattoirs,” said Walker. “This is a huge boost for beef producers and processors here in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound and I want to thank Minister Hardeman for this commitment.”
“By making these investments, our government will strengthen and grow provincially licensed abattoirs while further improving on our already high food safety standards,” said Minister Hardeman. “We’re also working with the province’s beef industry in seeking out new markets, which will help secure future economic growth opportunities for Ontario’s beef farmers. Looking to diversify and build new markets is an important step to ensure the success of the industry.”
Since June 2018, both the federal and provincial governments have committed cost-share support to approximately 2,500 projects through the Partnership to help eligible Ontario farmers, processors, businesses and sector organizations innovate and grow.
