Amount: up to $150,000 per project.

The Ontario Agri-Food Research Initiative (OAFRI) Commercialization Stream targets innovative Ontario-based agri-food and agri-tech organizations who are ready to transform their ideas into market-ready products and services.

The Commercialization Stream is designed to provide Ontario’s agriculture, agri-food, and agri-based products sectors, including technology or equipment suppliers, access to funding to support commercialization projects with a focus on Market Validation and Product Development activities. These efforts aim to enhance competitiveness and the leadership position of Ontario in the agriculture and agri-food sectors.

Eligible Projects

Project Type A: Market Validation Grants

Conduct market research to determine the size and quality of the market opportunity for a new and promising technology, product, or service with the goal of determining if there is any market potential before more research funds are spent on the technology.

Funding Available: up to $30,000 per project

Project Type B: Product Development Grants

Create prototypes, perform field trials, remove any barriers to a market launch or private sector adoption and optimize a minimum viable product that best meets the needs of customers.

Funding Available: $50,000-$150,000 per project

Eligibility

Applicant organizations to OAFRI may include, but are not limited to, for-profit and not-for-profit entities, government (except federal and provincial) and non-government organizations, universities and colleges, and research institutions based in Ontario.

Eligible organizations must:

  • be located in Ontario
  • have project activities and costs that take place in Ontario
  • develop projects that address OMAFA’s key research priority areas and initiative objectives
  • be operating in the agriculture, agri-food, and agri-based products sector
  • have a product/technology/service that is unique to Ontario.

Amount

Up to $30,000 per project for Market Validation Grants and up to $150,000 per project for Product Development Grants.

Funding

Bioenterprise Canada partnered with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA) to support the delivery of the OAFRI Commercialization Stream with up to $3.4 million in funding from the Governments of Canada and Ontario through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP).