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Accessing Government Funding to protect your workers during COVID-19

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Funding Alerts
October 29, 2020

Grant Funding to protect the health and safety of domestic and temporary foreign agricultural workers during COVID-19.

The Emergency On-Farm Support Fund (EOFSF) provides $35 million to boost support for domestic and temporary foreign workers (TFW) and address COVID-19 outbreaks on farms. The program will assist agricultural producers with some of the costs associated in limiting the spread of COVID-19 on farms and improving the health and safety of all farm workers in agricultural operations. The program will cover up to 50% of costs to maximum of $100,000 per recipient in non-repayable funding for emergency COVID-19 response activities. This program has been rolled out provincially and will be administered through each province’s respective funding agency.

Eligible Applicants

Eligible recipients are primary Canadian agricultural producers (for example, a farm, ranch or other operation) that produce agricultural products for resale and employ farm workers (domestic and temporary foreign workers). They can include:

  • Sole proprietors
  • Partnerships
  • Corporations / Co-Operatives / Communal Organizations
  • Trusts
  • Brand Farms

Eligible Projects & Activities

The great thing about this program is its retroactive – meaning you can claim costs as far back as March 15, 2020. All eligible projects must be completed by by February 26,2021.  Eligible activities include:

  • Farm retrofit or adjustments to existing agricultural operations to cover extraordinary costs associated with COVID-19 to ensure worker safety, such as:
    • Work space adjustments to allow for proper safety measures and physical distancing;
    • Enhancements to required employer-provided housing for workers as a result of COVID-19 to ensure worker safety;
    • Support for temporary housing arrangements for workers in cases where existing facilities cannot adequately allow or be modified to allow for physical distancing (off-farm housing options are eligible where required for prevention of the spread of COVID-19 or control where an outbreak of COVID-19 is confirmed);
    • Additional transportation to and from employer provided housing and job-sites to allow physical distancing as a result of COVID-19.
  • Disposable and non-disposable personal protective equipment (PPE) that are incremental to normal operations due to COVID-19, such as:
    • Disposable PPE such as masks, sanitizer, etc.
    • Non-disposable PPE such as body temperature screening, face shields, etc.
  • Other associated costs related to worker training and safety COVID-19 protocols, such as:
    • Costs associated with worker implementation of enhanced protocols such as interpretation services or training on COVID-19 protocols

Eligible Funding

The Emergency On-Farm Support Fund will provide up to $100,000 in grant funding per recipient (that is per farm/operation) in non-repayable funding for emergency COVID-19 response activities.

The grant will cover 10%-15% of costs associated with disposable PPE up to a maximum of $15,000 depending on the province the facility is in.

How Ayming Can Help

Our team of grant professionals has the expertise and industry know-how to develop a funding strategy that compliments your planned investments and is tailored to your specific needs. Our holistic methodology and thorough understanding of government grant programs results in $1.5 billion of funding achieved globally for our clients per year. The key is finding the right grant program(s) that align with your business growth and investment needs. Ayming will work with your team to understand your near-term needs and long-term objectives and effectively identify the best funding options available to your business.

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