Question Period Note: THE AGRISCIENCE PROGRAM UNDER SUSTAINABLE CANADIAN AGRICULTURAL PARTNERSHIP – APPROACH TO FUNDING

Q1 – Why is this government not supporting the research needs of the farmers? (or Why is AAFC no longer allowing industry to drive the research priorities for AgriScience Clusters?) Q2 – Why did you change the parameters of a program that was working for farmers? Q3 - Why has AAFC decreased funding support for the AgriScience Clusters? Q4 – Why is AAFC requiring Clusters to make mandatory investments in Climate Change, GHG emissions reduction, and carbon sequestration? Q5 – What industry engagement was conducted to communicate the changes in the program parameters from previous frameworks?

R.1 - AAFC’s research programs continue to focus on the short and long-term needs of Canadian farmers and processors.
Recent growing seasons continue to demonstrate the need for the sector to adapt and mitigate against increasingly challenging conditions.
The current AgriScience Program balances immediate producer and processor concerns with building a more resilient production system.
The AgriScience Program is also complemented by a number of AAFC initiatives and provincial cost-shared programming under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership. R.2 - The parameters of the AgriScience Program have evolved with each iteration to align with the priorities of each new Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Agreement. Under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (2023-2028), the AgriScience Program will address challenges and opportunities under three priority areas: climate change & environment, economic growth & development, and sector resilience & societal challenges.
Prior to launching the program, we had meaningful engagement with the sector over a two-year period to define the new priorities and to inform improvements to the administration of the AgriScience Program.
I welcome the opportunity to engage with the sector over the coming years to continue to improve the AgriScience Program for future frameworks. R.3 - Careful consideration went into updating the program parameters under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, including the maximum funding limit and cost-share ratios for Clusters.
Demand for AgriScience funding has always exceeded the supply. Therefore, it is not possible to support every activity that is brought forward. While the maximum funding limit under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership for a Cluster was $20M, the highest contribution was actually in the $15M range. By lowering the maximum funding limit for Clusters to $15M, the Program aligns funding availability more closely with demand.
While the advertised maximum overall cost-share ratio under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership was up to 70:30, the actual average cost-share ratio was closer to 60:40, with several Cluster Activities cost-shared at 50:50. Under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a cost-share ratio of 70:30 is available for Cluster Activities that focus primarily on GHG emission reduction or carbon sequestration. Other activities are cost shared at 50:50. This approach incentivizes investment in an area of research that is a priority for the Program, while continuing to provide support for a wide range of sector research priorities. R.4 - Historically, we have seen a relatively small investment made by AgriScience Clusters in the environment and climate change space. Under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (2018-2023), only 18% of Cluster investments had environment as a benefit, and rarely as the primary focus.
Because Climate Change & Environment is a key priority highlighted in the Guelph Statement, we chose to establish more ambitious environmental and climate change objectives for the AgriScience Program under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
We acknowledge that there exists a narrow overlap between the research priorities of some Clusters and government priorities related to Climate Change & Environment. These mandatory minimum investment requirements are intended to ensure that a consistent investment is made by each Cluster.
Correspondingly, the highest cost-share ratio (up to 70:30) applies to research activities that focus primarily on GHG emissions reduction or carbon sequestration, which is intended to help bridge the gap between Cluster and government research priorities.
These measures ensure that AgriScience Clusters under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership include a well-rounded collection of activities that strive to advance economic, social, and environmental goals. R.5 - Industry engagement on the new iteration of the AgriScience Program began in July 2021 and was continuous through the fall of 2022, during the soft launch of the program.
Changes to program parameters were communicated to all 19 existing Cluster Leads during engagement sessions held in July 2021 and March 2022.
Open information sessions were also held for Clusters (May & June 2022) and Projects (August & September 2022).
A “soft-launch” of the Clusters component was initiated in September 2022, during which Clusters had access to feedback on draft submissions. Intake of applications was open from November 1, 2022 to February 1, 2023.

THE AGRISCIENCE PROGRAM

Program objective
The AgriScience Program, under Sustainable CAP, aims to accelerate the pace of innovation by providing funding and support for pre-commercial science activities and research that benefits the agriculture and agri-food sector and Canadians.

The program has two components:

1. Clusters Component — supports projects intended to mobilize industry, government and academia through partnerships, and address priority national themes and horizontal issues.

2. Projects Component — supports a single project or a smaller set of projects that would be less comprehensive than a Cluster.

Support is available in the form of non-repayable contributions and/or collaborative support from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) research scientists.

Program priorities and eligible activities
On the innovation continuum, Cluster activities range from applied research and development to technology and knowledge transfer.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada offers Technology readiness levels to help you find government funding. The program typically includes eligible activities from levels 4 to 7, essentially getting from proof of concept to prototype on the Innovation Continuum.
The program consists of three priority areas. Research activities must align with at least one of these priority areas:
• Climate change and environment
o Research that addresses climate change and environmental sustainability, to help the sector contribute to the Government of Canada's 2030 and 2050 emissions targets.
o Within a Cluster proposal, a minimum of 30% of overall Cluster costs must be towards activities that focus primarily on this priority area, of which half (50%, or 15% of overall Cluster costs) must focus primarily on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction or carbon sequestration, with the balance focusing on other environmental areas, including: soil health, water quality, air quality, biodiversity, and plastics.
o Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit proposed activities exceeding the minimum requirements.
• Economic growth and development
o Supporting economic growth by creating conditions for Canadian businesses to meet evolving challenges of the interconnected domestic and global marketplace.
o A suggestion of 30% to 50% of activities align with this priority area.
• Sector resilience and societal challenge o Enhancing resiliency to anticipate, mitigate, and respond to risks, and build public trust (for example, contributing to reduction in antimicrobial resistance).
o A suggestion of 20% of activities align with this priority area.
Program Launch Status Update
• AgriScience Clusters
o The application window is closed (as of February 1, 2023).
o 17 Cluster applications were received, representing all major commodities and sector areas.
 All 17 clusters have been approved for funding.
 Several announcements have been made, including for the Beef, Dairy, Swine, Canola, Agronomy, Pulse, Fruit and Vegetable, Biomass, and Grape and Wine Clusters.
• AgriScience Projects
o The application window is open (as of March 6, 2023), and assessment of applications is ongoing.

• The AgriScience Program under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership aims to accelerate innovation by providing funding and support for pre-commercial science activities and research that benefits the agriculture and agri-food sector and Canadians.
• The program has two streams: Clusters and Projects, and three priority research areas: Climate Change & Environment, Economic Growth & Development, and Sector Resilience & Societal Challenges.
• These updated priority areas align the program with the Guelph Statement, and position the program to support Canada’s 2030 and 2050 climate targets.
• Program parameters have been updated to incent and support research and development that will advance economic, social, and environmental goals.