Amount: up to 40% of project costs reimbursed to a maximum of $3 Million CAD.

The Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) 2024 – 2025 Open Competition will support collaborative activities that bridge the gap between the development of new innovations in agriculture and their adoption in the commercial space.

Eligible projects

CAAIN is seeking applications for research and innovation projects that:

  1. Advance the development, use, and value of automation and robotics in agri-food production and primary processing;
  2. Support the creation of data-based decision-making tools that can be applied to improve knowledge, reduce risk, or optimize production; and/or
  3. Contribute to the implementation of a smart farm platform or smart farm networks to support technology adoption through fulsome integration of partners; creation of frameworks for validation, demonstration, and scaling; and training of a technologically proficient agricultural workforce.

Eligibility requirements

The following criteria are the minimum requirements for CAAIN funding:

  1. Project teams/networks must be comprised of organizations with operations in Canada,  multiple stakeholder and international collaborations are encouraged.
  2. Projects must include cash contributions from at least two small or medium enterprises (SME) incorporated in Canada. SMEs are defined by Statistics Canada as those with 499 or fewer employees and may be for-profit or not-for-profit entities.
  3. All project partners must be in good standing with CAAIN. This includes having no overdue reporting or monies owed to CAAIN.
  4. Proposal objectives must be consistent with those of CAAIN and of the ISED Strategic Innovation Fund Stream 4.
  5. The initiative must be incremental to the regular business of project team member organizations, meaning that:
    1. Financial commitments are distinct from investments that would otherwise occur
    2. The project is new or would not be undertaken at the same scope or scale without the support of CAAIN funding
  6. Project teams/networks commit to sharing widely the results of all technology assessments supported by CAAIN and uploading research and evaluation results onto a CAAIN-led or CAAIN-managed software platform.
  7. Project teams/networks commit to promoting the CAAIN brand in association with the smart farm or smart farm network.
  8. Former and current funding recipients of CAAIN are welcome to apply

Timeline

The intake is currently open, as the program added a rolling intake to this competition. 

Funding

Successful applicants will be awarded up to $3 Million CAD for project execution. CAAIN will reimburse projects up to 40% of the Total Eligible Supported Expenses.