Advance Payments Program (APP)

Eligibility Criteria

Summary

The Advance Payments Program (APP):

• provides cash flow after harvest to help producers meet their short-term financial commitments;
• provides producers with the flexibility to store eligible crop immediately after harvest, thus encouraging orderly marketing of the crop;
• improves the producers' farm income by allowing them to market their crop over an extended season when the marketing conditions are better.

How to obtain services?

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) guarantees advances through eligible administrators (producer organizations) who administer the program on behalf of their members.

The overall maximum advance guarantee per producer or related producers (partnerships, corporations and cooperatives) is determined by the Minister with an overall limit of $250 000 per producer for crops.

The advance guarantee rate cannot exceed 50% of the expected average farm gate price for the crop year.

For each producer, AAFC pays the interest on the first $50 000 of advances.

Producers repay their advance as the crop is sold throughout the year. The advance must be repaid within the timeframe specified in the agreement with the administrator which cannot exceed 12 months.

Additional Information

This program is not new. The provisions of the APP were previously included under the Prairie Grain Advance Payments Act which covered wheat and barley in the designated areas of the Canadian Wheat Board and the Advance Payment for Crops Act which covered all other crops produced across the country.

What is new is that these programs are now under one Act (Agricultural Marketing Programs Act) and the interest free provision of the APP is now part of the legislation rather than a separate program which in the past had to be renewed each year.

Ontario Contact(s):
See National Contact.