The Market Diversification and Trade Resiliency Initiative’s $22 million investment for 130 Ontario farmers and processors will help export Ontario-grown products.
The joint federal and provincial Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership funding supports projects that diversify and expand agri-food trade opportunities.
WHY IT MATTERS
The funding will build sector capacity, competitiveness and growth, ensuring Ontarians and Canadians have access to a reliable, responsive food supply.
Domenique Mastronardi and Beckie Prime, co-founders of Beck’s Broth in Kitchener, were approved for up to $70,000 to expand national distribution and support marketing of their shelf-stable, scalable, bone broth latte lines.
The nearly five-year-old business began in farmers’ markets before expanding into retail three years ago, securing shelf space at Metro, Fortino’s and Costco.ca.
The products are built for people with active lifestyles, which makes the western provinces a good fit and opens market potential along eastern and western seaboards of the United States, Mastronardi explained.
“We don’t need every single continent and country on board right now. There’s so much available right here in our own backyard in Canada,” she said, adding Ontario holds 75 per cent of sales. “Our goal would really be to get Western Canada to match, if not exceed Ontario.”
Mastronardi said for small businesses funding can be “the difference between staying stagnant and staying super relevant within the industry.”
The funding will create two new jobs, allowing them to further connect with potential consumers through pop-ups, product demonstrations and online marketing.
“It’s almost hard to put an accurate estimate on how much it is going to accelerate our growth,” she said. “We know that every time we’ve done an initiative like this, it’s blown out of the water our projections.”
The overall investment is expected to create 925 new, good-paying jobs, generate over $110 million in private sector investment and bolster Ontario’s food security, sovereignty and self-reliant food supply.
Initiative applications opened earlier this year to farmers and processors expanding into new domestic and international markets and strengthening production capacity through three funding streams.
The projects include:
- Up to $499,000 for Waterloo’s Martin’s Family Fruit Farm to develop an innovative packaging line for apple sauce.
- Up to $494,000 for Lynch Ag Ltd., in Englehart, to invest in a handling line, optical sorter, and AI-enabled grading system to increase interprovincial and export sales.
- Up to $310,000 for Kingston’s Canada Royal Milk for a pulse light system and shrink-wrap packaging system to diversify beyond Canadian retail markets.
Approved projects must be completed by Oct. 15, 2027.
