An additional $22.2 million to support farm businesses affected by weather hazards in 2023

Quebec City, Quebec – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

The Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec are launching the Canada-Quebec Initiative to Help Mitigate the Impacts of Excess Rainfall in Quebec in 2023 (known as AgriRecovery). The Canada-Quebec Initiative will provide $22.2 million in addition to the sums already allocated by existing programs. The financial support will partially offset the extraordinary costs incurred by vegetable, potato, strawberry and raspberry growers affected by the exceptionally adverse weather conditions of summer 2023.

André Lamontagne, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Minister responsible for the Centre-du-Québec Region, and the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, made the announcement today.

Here are the key points for companies affected by the Initiative:

• The registration form will be available in December 2024 in the producer's online account at La Financière agricole du Québec (FADQ).
• The registration period will run from December 2024 to February 2025.
• The registration will be online only, and no paper forms will be made available.
• If necessary, a FADQ staff member will contact the company to obtain information or request additional supporting documents.
• To demonstrate that they have incurred costs beyond their capacity, companies will have to provide financial data covering the 2022 and 2023 growing seasons if they have not already done so. They will also have to meet the Initiative's criteria, in particular having incurred a given level of expenditure for the categories eligible for the Initiative.

In the meantime, companies are asked to create or update their FADQ online account. If they need assistance in this regard, they are asked to contact their service centre.

To speed up the processing of applications, if they have not already done so, companies participating in AgriStability are encouraged to submit their financial data for the 2023 participation year to the FADQ as soon as possible. For companies not participating in AgriStability, it will be possible to register by filing audited tax documents, such as the T2042 form.