MAPAQ — Food Processing Program — Component 2

• Completed and signed financial assistance application form
• Completed financing plan related to the application
• Latest financial statements covering one full 12-month operating year, audited, reviewed, or compiled by an external CPA
• Workforce productivity diagnostic for the project
• Equipment quotes, if available at the time of filing, and environmental and municipal authorizations if the project requires them

Who is eligible?

• Businesses registered with the Registraire des entreprises du Québec.
• Businesses with at least 12 months of operations that submit an application for an establishment they operate in Quebec.
• Businesses whose targeted establishment carries out food processing activities, or at least two other activities recognized by the Ministry with foods already produced and intended for the wholesale market or online sale.
• Businesses operating a central kitchen in Quebec.

Who is not eligible

• Applicants whose targeted establishment holds a permit for an abattoir de proximité, an abattoir sous inspection permanente, a federal slaughter licence for food animals, or a dairy plant operating permit for cheese manufacturing.
• Applicants whose targeted establishment exclusively processes feed for livestock, or whose aquatic products processing establishment is located in a région maritime and whose main activity is the preparation and canning of aquatic products (code SCIAN 3117).
• Applicants with 25 employees or more in Quebec for at least 6 months that are not compliant with the francization process or are listed as non-compliant, and for-profit businesses with more than 100 employees requesting $100,000 or more that cannot meet the requirements of the Programme d’accès à l’égalité en emploi.
• Ministries, budgetary and non-budgetary bodies, state-owned enterprises listed in Schedules 1 to 3 of the Loi sur l’administration financière, entities directly or indirectly controlled by a provincial or federal government or a state-owned enterprise, municipal entities, financial cooperatives, and banking institutions.
• Applicants listed in the Registre des entreprises non admissibles aux contrats publics (RENA), applicants that defaulted on obligations tied to previous Ministry funding in the two years before the application, applicants subject to an order under the Loi sur le bien-être et la sécurité de l’animal, and applicants under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, or the Farm Debt Mediation Act.

Eligible expenses

• Purchase, improvement, delivery, and installation of new or used equipment bought from an equipment supplier and covered by a minimum three-month warranty.
• Purchase and implementation of an integrated management software package, as well as specialized software and equipment required to carry out the project.
• Professional fees of external experts with no business relationship to the applicant, and their travel costs within the rates in effect in the Quebec public service.
• Design of plans and specifications for the project that did not receive financial support under Volet 1, and rental costs for specialized equipment and premises during the project period.
• Specialized software subscription fees for up to one year, and staff training costs such as registration, learning materials, platform access, and eligible travel.

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Costs not directly related to the project, cost overruns intended to obtain additional funding, expenses incurred before the date a complete application is submitted, and expenses already funded under this Program or another Ministry financial assistance measure.
• Expenses paid to a subcontractor listed in the Registre des entreprises non admissibles aux contrats publics (RENA) or to a subcontractor that defaulted on obligations tied to previous Ministry funding in the two years before the application, as well as external expert fees and related costs for preparing or following up on the application.
• Costs related to modifying premises, expansion or construction work, outdoor site work including paving, motorized transport equipment, and the purchase of a building or land.
• Salary, payroll charges, and employee benefits of the applicant's staff, employee wages during training, current operating costs including normal building and equipment maintenance, and the acquisition of consumables.
• Costs for food, beverages, and gifts for participants, expenses not supported by a realistic cost estimate, and the GST and QST.

• Relevance of the project to the objective of Volet 2
• Alignment between the productivity diagnosis and the project presented in the application, including the targeted workforce productivity gains
• Feasibility, realism, and viability of the project
• Presence of the technical, organizational, and administrative capacity needed to carry out the project
• Financial viability and performance of the applicant, and the project’s contribution to sustainable development

• Read the full program text and the applicant guide for Volet 2.
• Download the current financial assistance application form and open it with a PDF reader such as Adobe Reader.
• Complete a separate application form for Volet 2, complete the financing plan, and gather the required supporting documents.
• Email the completed form and all required documents to transfo@mapaq.gouv.qc.ca.

• After submission, the Ministry sends an acknowledgement of receipt and may request additional information or missing documents by email.
• If the application is complete and both the applicant and project are eligible, the Ministry sends a confirmation of receivability; incomplete applications are rejected, and non-admissible applications receive a decision notice explaining the reasons and the file is closed.
• Once eligibility is established, a representative of the Minister analyzes the application based on the project's relevance to Volet 2, alignment between the diagnosis and the proposed project, the targeted workforce productivity gain, the project's feasibility and viability, the applicant's capacities, financial viability and performance, and contribution to sustainable development objectives.
• If the project is selected, the applicant receives and must sign a funding agreement setting out the conditions and terms for project delivery and payment; if the project is refused, the applicant receives a decision notice explaining the reasons.
• An applicant may appeal an evaluation decision within 20 working days of the date it is communicated, using the form available on the Program webpage.

• A financial eligibility simulator is available to help applicants assess certain required financial criteria before submitting.
• A simulator score of 1.29 or less results in an automatic refusal.
• Before submitting, applicants may receive support from a food processing advisor; this support does not guarantee admissibility or approval.
• Hiring a private consultant to prepare the application is not mandatory.