Enhanced Spring Credit Advance Program (ESCAP)

The Enhanced Spring Credit Advance Program (ESCAP) helps producers manage the cash crunch of planting a spring crop by providing loan guarantees that facilitate access to short-term credit.

Loan guarantees are provided to producer organizations and their lenders. Individual producers can receive an interest-free loan of up to $100 000, repayable within nine months. This operating credit allows producers to make sound decisions without the worry of a lack of operating credit.

Eligibility Criteria

Under the definition provided in Section 2(1) of the Agricultural Marketing Products Act (AMPA) an applicant under ESCAP must be:

• an organization of producers that is involved in marketing a crop; or
• any other organization that the Minister considers is supported by producers and designates as an administrator.

A "producer" includes a person or entity, mentioned in Section 2(1) of the Act, that is entitled to a crop or a share in it as a landlord, vendor, mortgagee or hypothecary creditor on a date specified in the AMPA.

Eligible Activities

Eligible Crops

Only crops storable in unprocessed form are eligible under ESCAP. These are defined as:

• one or more field crops, or a portion of one or more field crops, grown in Canada, either cultivated or uncultivated, and stored in a non-processed form;
• maple syrup or honey produced in Canada; or
• any other agricultural product designated by the Governor in Council (e.g., ranch-raised fur).

Ineligible Crops

Processed crops are not eligible under ESCAP. A crop is considered to be processed if it has been subjected to a process that changes the state of the product or which goes beyond processing for storage, such as adding sugar to prolong its life, further processing wheat into flour or bran, or freezing berries.

Greenhouse production and processed and/or frozen crops are not eligible under ESCAP.

Summary

How to Apply

Producers must apply through producer organizations (including the Canadian Wheat Board), which act as administrators for the ESCAP Program. Please refer to the Participating Organizations list.

Producer Organization Applications

Producer organizations that wish to administer ESCAP on behalf of their members are invited to contact Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

New Brunswick Contact(s):
See National Contact.

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National Contact(s):
General enquiries:
Public Information Request Service
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Sir John Carling Building
930 Carling Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0C5
Telephone: 613-759-1000
Fax: 613-759-7977
Toll-free (information): 1-866-367-8506
TTY (hearing impaired): 613-759-7470
E-mail: info@agr.gc.ca or fill out the form at http://www.agr.gc.ca/index_e.php?s1=help-aide&s2;=contact
Web site: http://www.agr.gc.ca/index_e.phtml