Financial Assistance – Soutien aux exportations bioalimentaires

To be eligible, companies must be registered with the Quebec Business Registry, have an establishment operating in Quebec, and meet at least one of the following criteria:

• • be a company whose main economic activity is food processing;

• • be an agricultural operation;

• • be a company in the fisheries or commercial aquaculture sector;

• • be a company that subcontracts all its food processing in Quebec.

Furthermore, depending on the targeted export market, the eligible company must meet all of the following criteria:

For a project targeting Canada (outside Quebec), the eligible company must:

• • have achieved a minimum annual revenue of $1 million;

• • hold a license from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency under the Safe Food for Canadian Regulations (SFCR);

• • have been marketing its products on foreign markets for two years or demonstrate that it sells its products on a regular basis in at least one other Canadian province or territory.

For an international project (outside Canada), the eligible company must:

• • have achieved a minimum annual revenue of $2 million;

• • hold a license from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency under the Safe Food for Canadian Regulations (SFCR);

• • have been marketing its products on foreign markets for three years, or demonstrate that it has been selling its products internationally on a regular basis for at least one year;

• • hold a Canada Revenue Agency import-export program account

Companies that have never exported are not eligible for financial assistance.

Individual project:

• • aim for a 12-month duration

• • implement marketing and market development activities to develop, consolidate or diversify one or more Canadian (outside Quebec) and international (outside Canada) markets;

• • involve eligible expenses of at least $30,000 (minimum assistance of $15,000);
  • ensure that its products are listed in the Répertoire des aliments québécois (RAQ), before making its first request for financial assistance, i.e. within the first six months of the project.

Pre-commercialization projects are not eligible for financial assistance.

*A bonus of 10% of eligible expenses is offered to companies whose export project entirely involves certified organic food products.

Planned expenses must include one or more activities outlined in the Applicant’s Guide (French only); the following categories of activities are eligible :

• • GS1 Product Registry;

• • Salary of a market development specialist;

• • Marketing;

• • Business development (fees);

• • Trade shows;

• • Travel and stays outside Quebec;

• • Hosting potential clients in Quebec.

All complete applications for financial assistance, for which both the company and the project are eligible, will be analyzed. This analysis will be based on the following criteria:

• • Project relevance and quality:
    • Structured approach and level of company preparation;
    • Alignment between the activities and the company’s objectives;
    • Demonstration of a strategy or approach to diversifying export markets;
    • Demonstration of realistic potential benefits in Quebec

• • The company’s ability to carry out the project

• • Demonstration that the project supports the SEB objective

Projects will be received on an ongoing basis until available funds are exhausted.

Application processing steps

• • Step 1: Pre-qualification;

• • Step 2: Submission of a complete financial assistance application;

• • Step 3: Analysis of the complete financial assistance application.

• Download the pre-qualification form (Step 1)
• Submit a complete application for financial assistance (Step 2).
• Once the pre-qualification process has been completed satisfactorily, the Group will e-mail the forms required to submit an application for financial assistance:
• Application form (French only) accompanied by a recent export marketing plan;
• Arguments for the criteria to be evaluated (French only);
• Project cost form (French only) with supporting documents for selected activities.
  • Applicants have 4 weeks to submit their application.
• Application analysis (Step 3)