Nutrition North Canada retail subsidy program
Highlights
This program is a fantastic opportunity for your business to reduce costs and increase access to essential items. By registering, you can claim subsidies on eligible food and essentials, making it easier to provide affordable products to your community. This financial support can significantly lower your operating expenses, allowing you to invest more in other areas of your business.
Key Benefits:
- Financial Support: Subsidies on eligible items shipped to or grown in eligible communities.
- Expanded Eligibility: Now includes food banks, charitable organizations, and local growers.
- Ease of Registration: Simplified process for small northern retailers and suppliers.
Why Apply?
- Lower Costs: Subsidies help reduce the prices of essential items, making them more affordable for your customers.
- Community Impact: Support isolated communities by providing access to nutritious and locally produced foods.
- Government Backing: Benefit from a program supported by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, ensuring reliability and stability.
Qualifying for this program is straightforward, and once approved, you will receive ongoing support to ensure the subsidy is passed on to your consumers. This can enhance your business's reputation and strengthen your community ties.
Financing Details
Type of Financing: Subsidy
Eligible Expenses:
- Food items
- Essential items
- Items shipped to or grown in eligible communities
Use of Funds:
- Funds can be used to reduce the prices of eligible food and essential items for consumers in northern, isolated communities.
- Funds cannot be used for non-eligible organizations such as mining companies, oil and gas companies, construction companies, and other specified businesses.
Repayment Terms and Interest Rates:
- There are no repayment terms or interest rates, as this is a subsidy, not a loan.
Fees:
- There are no fees associated with applying for or receiving this subsidy.
Qualifications
- Must be a retailer operating stores in eligible communities, selling eligible food and essential items.
- Must be a supplier located outside of eligible communities, selling food to:
- Northern retailers
- Eligible social institutions (schools, daycares, etc.)
- Eligible commercial establishments (restaurants, hotels, etc.)
- Individuals in eligible communities (direct or personal orders)
- Must be a country food processor or distributor that is registered, inspected, or licensed by the government, producing food approved for export, and located in an eligible community.
- Must be a registered food bank or charitable organization serving eligible communities without profit.
- Must be a local food grower, such as a greenhouse or other growing facility, located in eligible communities, producing food for local sale or distribution.
Small retailers and local growers without a Canada Revenue Agency business number can provide a letter of support from the local government or Band Administrator.
Disqualifications:
- Resource companies (mining, oil and gas, exploration, etc.)
- Construction companies
- Government establishments
- Companies providing support activities for mining and oil and gas extraction, exploration, and development
- Surveying and mapping services
- Environmental cleanup operations
- Electricity companies
- Weather stations
- Research stations and projects
- Military establishments and operations
- Outfitters
- Bed and breakfast establishments and boarding houses, except where used as women's shelters, emergency housing, or other such purposes as affirmed by the local government
Description
This program offers financial support to help your business sell or distribute food and other essentials at reduced prices. You can receive a subsidy for eligible items shipped to or grown in specific communities. This means you can lower your costs and pass the savings on to your customers.
The subsidy can be used for:
- Food and essential items sold in stores.
- Food supplied to schools, daycares, restaurants, and hotels.
- Food produced by local growers and distributed locally.
Conditions of the subsidy include:
- Monthly claims to receive payments.
- Detailed reporting on the types and weights of products.
- Proof of purchase and shipping documents.
By participating, you help make food more affordable for residents in isolated communities, while also potentially increasing your customer base and sales. This program is a great opportunity to support your business and community.
Program Steps
Contact the Program: Email the program at [email protected] to express your interest in accessing the retail subsidy.
Complete the Application Form: Fill out the application form provided by the program.
Prepare Documentation: Gather and prepare the following documents to support your application:
- A list of stores in eligible communities (for large retailers) or a list of eligible communities served (for charitable organizations).
- A verifiable forecast in kilograms of monthly shipments of all eligible items by subsidy level for the coming fiscal year.
- Recent audited financial statements.
- An explanation of how program requirements will be met, including:
- Capacity to submit claims and documentation electronically.
- Plans for program visibility and transparency for consumers through signage, receipts, and other communication materials provided by NNC.
Submit Application and Documentation: Send the completed application form and all required documents to the program.
Evaluation Process: The program will evaluate your application based on criteria such as northern shipping experience, ability to provide eligible food tailored to specific nutrition needs, forecast of shipments, Indigenous ownership, and financial stability.
Approval and Registration: Once your application is approved, a Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs (CIRNAC) official will contact you to prepare a Contribution Agreement.
Sign Contribution Agreement: Review and sign the Contribution Agreement, which outlines the obligations you must fulfill to receive subsidy payments.
Implement Program Requirements: Ensure your business adheres to the terms of the Contribution Agreement, including supporting Nutrition Education Initiatives, providing access for audits, certifying subsidy claims, and maintaining transparency with consumers.
Submit Monthly Claims: Each month, submit detailed subsidy claims including reports on product types and weights, purchase and shipment documents, and attestations of claim accuracy.
Comply with Additional Reporting: Periodically report additional data such as pre-subsidy prices and costs of items in the Revised Northern Food Basket to support program monitoring and management.
