B.C. Agri-Business Planning Program

Funding is provided through a reimbursement process to approved applicants.

*Of Note:

• Minimum reimbursement of $500
• $10,000 annual maximum funding contribution per fiscal year (April to March)
• Applicants may apply for one, or both streams at the same time
• You may apply again in a subsequent fiscal year for distinct eligible activities
• You cannot receive support for the same eligible activities under this program more than once during the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP) funding cycle (2023 to 2028)
• If the proposed project budget exceeds the approved funding limit, the applicant is responsible for paying the difference

To be eligible for the Program, applicants must meet all the following eligibility requirements¹:

1. Must be a either a:
   • Primary agriculture producer
     • Growing or raising fresh food or agricultural products which are 100 percent grown or raised in British Columbia and are intended for sale^2.

OR

• Agriculture, food and beverage processor
  • Processing food, beverage, or agricultural products which are processed and packaged in B.C. with 51 percent or more of the direct cost of producing the product in its final form, for example, the sum of raw materials, direct labour, variable processing, and packaging originating in B.C. When the main raw materials are available in sufficient quantities from B.C. producers, they must be used

1. Farm or processing business must 
   • Be a B.C. registered business taxable entity for example, sole proprietor, partnership, corporation, or other associations of persons or trust, with a GST and business number
   • File income tax under the Income Tax Act in British Columbia
   • Report total annual gross revenues greater than $50,000 in the previous year to Canada Revenue Agency
2. All proprietors, partners, members, or shareholders must be residents of British Columbia
3. Disclose any funding received/are receiving from any other B.C Ministry of Agriculture and Food Program(s) or any other Province of B.C. program(s) during the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable- CAP) Agreement

¹ Additional documentation may be required to demonstrate eligibility.

² For primary producers engaged in commercial agriculture production annual gross farm income is defined as income from sales of farm commodities including production insurance, crop and livestock sales including licensed cannabis production, and value-added farm products; but does not include income from custom work, (providing services to a person engaged in farming activities, i.e., providing landscaping) riding lessons, boarding horses, land and facilities rent, aquaculture, raising of pets, agri-tourism income, sales of forestry products and some agro-forestry products, government program payments, or any other non-commodity income.

The province is committed to supporting the success of Indigenous businesses in the agriculture and food sector. We understand that Indigenous businesses may have distinct characteristics reflecting regulatory, operational, cultural, and other factors. We aim for flexibility in our program delivery to reduce barriers and ensure the accessibility of our programs.

Indigenous applicants are encouraged to reach out to program staff with any questions.

Program funding will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis to eligible applicants until the application deadline at 4:30 pm on November 15, 2024, OR when the funding has been fully allocated. 

Approved applicants will receive a letter confirming the approval of their application (“ABPP Approval Letter”) by end of October to mid-November 2024.

• For Stream 1:
  • Your project may have a delayed start time
  • Applicants must have registered and paid for their learning and specialized training by February 15, 2025
  • Final Documents for reimbursement must be submitted within 30 days of training registration, and/or NO later than March 15, 2025
     
• For Stream 2:
  • Your project may have a delayed start time
  • All projects must be completed within 90 days of approved start date
  • All projects must be completed on or before February 15, 2025
  • Applications to extend the project end date may be considered on a case-by-case basis, but WILL NOT be approved past February 15, 2025
  • All Final Documents for reimbursement must be submitted within 30 days of project completion, and/or NO later than March 15, 2025

If you are interested in applying to the program but have questions about the application process or eligibility criteria, please contact program staff at Agribusiness@gov.bc.ca or call AgriSerivce at 1-888-221-7141.

Goal: To support access to specialized training for business owners and key managers resulting in improved business management knowledge, adoption of practices and benefit(s) to the business. 

Funding Amount: reimbursement of up to 70 percent of eligible costs as outlined in your Learning Action Plan (fillable form) (DOCX, 968KB).

• Minimum reimbursement of $500 to a maximum reimbursement of $2,000 per fiscal year
• For example: Cost of eligible specialized training(s) of $715.00 at 70 percent = $500 funding provided  

Eligible Activities: Learning and specialized training, courses, registration, fees, and tuition for:

• Business management including topics such as:
  • Financial analysis
  • Cash flow management
  • Human resource management
  • Cost of production
  • Benchmarking
• Business leadership
• Business management conferences
  • As part of your Learning Action Plan consider attending events in British Columbia such as
    • Farm Management Canada’s Agricultural Excellence Conference in Abbotsford/Chilliwack November 19-21, 2024
    • BC Young Farmers Farm Fest on November 19, 2024
    • The Lower Mainland Horticulture Conference – Pacific Agriculture Show Abbotsford Tradex, January 23 to 25, 2025
    • Islands Agriculture Show   January 31- February 1, 2025
    • Southern Interior Horticultural Show February 12-13, 2025

Ineligible Activities 

• Travel costs
• Acquiring programs, software, devices, stationary, required textbooks or other assets
• Costs incurred before the receipt of the ABPP approval letter
• Activities and costs for which the applicant has already received government funding

Goals:  

• To increase awareness, knowledge, and adoption of best business management practices and support business and sector growth and sustainability
• To support businesses to proactively assess their financial situation as part of a comprehensive risk assessment plan and/or to assess the feasibility of the financial investment in growth, setting up a contingency fund, business interruption insurance, breakeven analysis, succession, sale of assets, debt service capacity, debt restructure and/or debt mediation
• To support the development of immediate and long-term business recovery plans for businesses that have been impacted by an external event such as fire, flood, drought, tornado, disease outbreak, COVID-19, death, or illness

Funding amount:

• Individual application
  • Reimbursement of up to $7,500
• Group application:
  • Two applicants: reimbursement of up to $15,000
  • Three or more applicants: reimbursement of up to $22,500

Any costs that exceed the eligible funding amounts are the responsibility of the applicant.  

Eligible activities  

Business planning services and coaching from a qualified business consultant, as outlined in the program guide to create, update or renew a business plan focused on one, or a combination of, the following eligible activity areas: 

• Business disaster recovery for example, drought, fire, flood
• Business emergency planning preparedness 
• Business structures 
• Business strategy 
• Cash flow and financial analysis 
• Human resources 
• Meetings between consultant and business owner/operator, family, shareholders, partners, or key business individuals for project planning, goal setting, provision of advisory services and/or coaching, review of analysis and options, and development of plan
• Product development 
• Production economics 
• Production of written business plan and supporting documents
• Review and evaluation of existing business plan, strategy, financial and other relevant documents 
• Risk assessment and mitigation 
• Succession/transition planning 
• Travel costs for the consultant for on-site meetings with the business owner/operator (receipts required)
• Travel costs must be reasonable, not exceed 20% of the project cost, and will be reviewed by the ministry. Receipts for travel expenses must be submitted with the consultant invoice. No travel outside of B.C. will be reimbursed
• Value added ventures 

 Ineligible activities  

• Accounting, bookkeeping, income tax preparation, search of titles, off-farm investment planning and other costs associated with implementing the action plan 
• Acquiring capital assets
• Activities/costs associated with the preparation/compilation of applications and/or forms for other provincial or federal programs for example, crop insurance, AgriStability, AgriInvest, AgriRecovery, WorkSafe BC 
• Costs associated with the gathering of data such as soil analysis, tissue analysis/germination and seed viability testing, crop scouting activities
• Costs incurred before the receipt of the ABPP approval letter
• Preparation of legal documents, contracts and/or formal agreements

To apply for B.C.'s Agri-business Planning Program, please complete and submit the program application.

Applicants can apply for one or both streams. Late applications will not be accepted.

For steps to apply, please refer to the application checklist (PDF, 239KB) and the program guide (PDF, 1.1MB).

• Program guide (PDF, 1.1MB)
• Application checklist (PDF, 239KB)
• Claim forms are accessed through the Program Operation Data System (PODS) applicant portal. 
• Direct deposit application (PDF, 407KB
• Letter of engagement for services (DOCX, 284KB) 
• Meeting and services provision log (PDF, 176KB) sample
• Meeting and services provision log (DOCX, 270KB)
• Learning action plan  (DOCX, 968KB)
• Taking stock action plan  (DOCX, 970KB)

Ministry of Agriculture and Food:

• BC Food Hub Network shared-use processing facilities
• Business plan resources (PDF, 381KB)
• Business plan self-assessment (DOCX, 301KB) two pages
• Business plan writing checklist (PDF, 197KB) 
• Health and wellness preparedness
• Learn more about running a farm business
• Marketing guides
• Planning for profits:  Sample templates on net worth, income and expense, cash flow, partial budget, crop production plan, action plan  (XLSX, 1.6MB)
• Preparing to meet your private insurance provider checklist (PDF, 263KB) 
• Program and services for new entrants (PDF, 256KB)
• Program and services for B.C. Agrifood producers and processors (PDF, 253KB)
• Resources for abattoirs
• Succession planning checklist (PDF, 173KB)
• Taking stock:  Self-assessment tools
• Taking stock for flood recovery with Farm Management Canada webinar
• Towards increased profits (TIP) report  compare your farm’s current year income and expenses to your previous five-year average and to benchmarks with other farms of similar type and income

Farm Credit Canada:

• Business plans for producers
• Cash flow planning for food and beverage manufacturers
• Know your cost of production for better decision making
• How cash flow planning can benefit your business
• Net worth statement 
• Preparing to meet your financial provider.
  • Agricultural guide to working with your FCC team
  • Food and beverage guide to working with your FCC team

Farm Management Canada:

•  Agrishield a comprehensive platform for managing farm risk
• Growing Your Farm Profits (Farm Business Canada) a farm business self-assessment tool

Business planning template (Business Development Bank of Canada) 

Business plan writer (Futurepreneur Canada)

Business planning resources (Small Business B.C)

Foundations in Agricultural Management (Unversity of Guelph) a free business planning course