AgriInnovate ProgramUp to $5M (repayable, interest-free)

Short answer: AgriInnovate is an interest-free, repayable contribution of up to $5 million from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for agri-food businesses that commercialize, demonstrate or adopt technology that is already proven at pilot scale. It is closed to applications today, with no reopening date published, and the program runs until March 31, 2028.

Is AgriInnovate open right now?

No. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's program page shows "Closed to applications" and "Intake period: Closed", and it does not give a reopening date. The program has not been cancelled. It sits under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership and runs until March 31, 2028.

That matters for planning. The project summary form asks for evidence that takes months to build, such as pilot results, secured financing and permits. A business that has it ready when an intake opens is not starting from zero.

Who qualifies for AgriInnovate

You must meet every one of these:

• A for-profit organization incorporated in Canada: a business or corporation, a cooperative, or an Indigenous business that is a corporation or cooperative, including economic development corporations.
• A legal entity able to sign a legally binding contribution agreement.
• An agricultural, agri-food or agri-based technology or process that is commercially ready, with prototypes and pilot-scale testing complete. AAFC says this is generally Technology Readiness Level 7 or above.
• An innovation that is new to the modern Canadian agricultural and agri-food sector and a significant improvement over technologies or processes used elsewhere.
• Benefits that reach the wider sector, not only your own operations.

You also need the managerial, technical and financial capacity to finish the project and to repay the contribution. AAFC assesses all three.

The three kinds of project AgriInnovate funds

On AAFC's innovation continuum the program starts at technology demonstration and runs to technology adoption. Research and prototype development come earlier and are not funded here.

1. Commercialization of innovative agricultural, agri-food or agri-based technologies or processes. AAFC's examples include a new facility to commercialize a significant new way to produce alternative protein, and bio-based food packaging that is new to Canada.
2. Demonstration of a technology that is ready to commercialize, through production of samples for market validation or a reference or showcase site for pre-commercial demonstration.
3. Adoption of commercially ready technology in your own agriculture or agri-food operations. The technology must be new to the Canadian sector, not yet widely adopted in other countries, and need significant adaptation or customization.

AAFC names advanced manufacturing, automation, robotics and digitization as priority areas, and gives greater consideration to projects that touch more than one. It ranks projects that help other agri-based businesses compete above adoption projects whose benefits stay mostly with the applicant, and it ranks adaptation above customization.

What AgriInnovate pays for, and what it will not

Equipment has to be installed, not just bought or in transit. Costs count only from the date your application is deemed complete, and anything spent before the contribution agreement is signed is at your own risk.

How AgriInnovate repayment works

• No interest, except on late payments and debts owed to the Crown.
• Up to 10 years to repay after the project is complete, with payments normally starting one year after completion.
• Unconditional by default. AAFC may offer conditional repayment to small enterprises, start-ups and emerging innovators. Under that model a year's payment is triggered only when gross business revenue passes a threshold tied to the amount disbursed, and a missed trigger is not usually carried into later years.

Because the money comes back to AAFC, treat it in your model as interest-free debt with a long runway, not as a grant. AAFC asks for 10 years of incremental revenue and expense figures from the project and pro forma statements that include the forecast repayment.

AgriInnovate in dollars: a $2 million example

Here is how the rules above play out on a hypothetical $2 million project. The figures are illustrative. AAFC sets the actual share and repayment schedule in each contribution agreement.

Three things follow from the table. Your share is cash, so the $500,000 has to be secured before the application is deemed complete. If the other government money does not come through, your cash share grows to $1,000,000, or $800,000 at the 60% rate. And the $5 million ceiling only binds on bigger projects: on $14 million of eligible costs, 50% would be $7 million, but AAFC's contribution normally stops at $5 million.

For Indigenous applicants the combined government cap is 100% of eligible costs rather than 75%, so other programs can cover more of the gap.

The application, in order

1. Project summary form. Eight sections, submitted online through AAFC's Grants and Contributions portal. It has to prove the innovation is significant and new to Canada, that it is commercially ready, and that the benefits reach beyond your own business.
2. Invitation. AAFC's service standard is 30 business days to tell you whether you may submit a full application.
3. Full application. Ten sections online, plus a detailed project budget and required documents: a business plan, organizational chart, corporate structure diagram, three years of audited or review engagement financial statements, pro forma statements, signed financing agreements, market research or letters of support, articles of incorporation, supplier quotes, permits and patents, technical information, and any inter-company agreements.
4. Decision. AAFC's service standard is 100 business days from a complete application to an approval or rejection letter.
5. Contribution agreement and reporting. After approval, AAFC negotiates the agreement. Recipients file progress, performance and financial reports, plus annual reporting on the repayable contribution.

Where AgriInnovate files get stopped

These are the gates in AAFC's own criteria that a project has to clear:

• The innovation is not new enough. It must be new to the modern Canadian sector and a significant improvement over what is used elsewhere. AAFC says demonstrating significance is mandatory before it invites a full application.
• The technology is not ready. Lab or prototype work below roughly TRL 7 belongs in an earlier-stage program.
• The benefits stay inside the company. Internal efficiency gains on their own do not meet the sector-benefit test.
• The cash is not secured. AAFC wants signed financing agreements, term sheets or bank statements, and third-party money cannot be conditional on AAFC's approval.
• Permits come later. Every regulatory permit must be in place before you apply.
• The budget has the wrong costs in it. Research, travel, land and in-kind items are ineligible, and marketing above 20% of eligible costs will not count.

Stacking AgriInnovate with other programs

Total government funding from federal, provincial, territorial and municipal sources normally cannot exceed 75% of a project's eligible costs, or 100% for Indigenous applicants. With AgriInnovate at up to 50% or 60%, that leaves room for 15 to 25 points from other government sources on the same costs. Our grant stacking guide walks through how to allocate costs across programs so nothing is claimed twice.

Because AgriInnovate does not pay research costs, it does not fund the R&D work that comes before it. For that earlier stage, see NRC IRAP and SR&ED, and our Prairie agtech funding guide for what is open now. Ask the program how it will count any tax credits on the project before you build the financing plan.

How Impact Applications helps with AgriInnovate

AgriInnovate is a two-stage application with a long document list and a repayment model to defend. Our Full-Service Grant Management covers the project summary form, the full application, the contribution agreement and the reporting. While the intake is closed, Grant Check shows which programs your business can apply for today, and the agriculture funding page covers the wider agri-food picture.

Last reviewed: November 9, 2026, against Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's AgriInnovate program pages. Confirm the intake status there before you apply.