MAPAQ — Food Processing Program — Component 3

• A duly completed and signed financial assistance application form.
• A duly completed financing plan corresponding to the selected volet or sous-volet.
• The most recent financial statements covering 12 full months, verified, reviewed or compiled by an external CPA; for slaughterhouses and cheese makers that cannot provide them, other financial documents may be accepted, such as a personal balance sheet, the latest income tax return, or interim financial statements.
• Depending on the volet or sous-volet, supporting documents may include an external expert service offer, internal expert CVs, a labour productivity diagnosis, equipment quotes, environmental and municipal authorizations, and a valid certificate for organic food processing.
• If required by the representative’s role, a board resolution or a power of attorney must be attached; for Sous-volet 4.2, a business plan is required for new slaughterhouse construction or slaughterhouse reopening projects, and a support letter may be requested for structuring regional or sectoral development projects.

Who is eligible?

• Businesses registered in the Registre des entreprises du Québec that operate a Quebec establishment carrying out food processing or at least two other activities recognized by the Ministère.
• Businesses registered in the Registre des entreprises du Québec that operate a central kitchen.
• Businesses registered in the Registre des entreprises du Québec that operate an eligible slaughterhouse establishment under a provincial permit or a federal slaughter licence, or manufacture cheese with a dairy plant operating permit.
• Under Sous-volet 4.2, businesses registered in the Registre des entreprises du Québec applying to build a new slaughterhouse or reopen a slaughterhouse that has not been operated for six months or more.
• Under Sous-volet 4.2, Quebec-registered animal transport businesses for animal biosecurity projects and non-profit organizations linked to the slaughterhouse or cheese sectors for collective projects.

Who is not eligible

• Establishments that exclusively process food for livestock.
• Aquatic product processing establishments located in maritime regions whose main activity is the preparation and canning of aquatic products.
• Government ministries, budgetary and non-budgetary bodies, Crown corporations, government-controlled corporations, and municipal entities.
• Financial cooperatives, banking institutions, and applicants listed in the RENA, including applicants whose subcontractors are listed in the RENA.
• Applicants that are non-compliant with francization requirements, in default on prior MAPAQ obligations within the previous two years, subject to an order under the Loi sur le bien-être et la sécurité de l’animal, for-profit businesses with more than 100 employees seeking $100,000 or more that cannot meet the Programme d’accès à l’égalité en emploi, and applicants under creditor protection, bankruptcy, insolvency, or agricultural debt mediation laws.

Eligible expenses

• Fees and travel expenses for external experts with no business relationship to the applicant.
• Depending on the component, eligible internal staff costs can include internal expert salaries and related benefits, as well as training costs and specialized information needed for the project.
• Plans and specifications, materials, and rental of specialized equipment or premises required to carry out the project.
• Purchase, installation, modification, or rental of new or used equipment, integrated management software, or other specialized software needed for the project, subject to the selected component.
• Depending on the component, eligible costs can also include construction, modification, or expansion of premises, laboratory equipment and analysis fees, certification fees, and applicant travel and accommodation.

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Costs not directly linked to the project, cost overruns, or expenses that are not supported by a realistic cost estimate.
• Expenses incurred before the filing of a complete application, or costs already funded under this Program or another MAPAQ financial assistance measure.
• Professional fees and related costs for preparing or following up on the financial assistance application, and expenses paid to subcontractors listed in the RENA or in default on prior obligations to the Ministère.
• Operating expenses, debt service, repayment of future borrowings, capital losses or capital replacement, and GST and QST.
• Depending on the component, other excluded costs can include employee wages during training, owner or staff wages for layout work, land or building purchases, motorized transport equipment, consumables, food, beverages, gifts, and exterior site work including paving.

• Relevance of the project to the objective of the selected volet or sous-volet.
• Feasibility, realism, and, where applicable, viability of the project.
• Presence of the organizational, administrative, technical, and financial capacities needed to carry out the project.
• Financial viability and performance of the applicant.
• Depending on the component, the assessment may also consider the external expert’s expertise, consistency between the diagnosis or planning form and the project presented, expected labour-productivity gains, regional or sectoral impacts, and contribution to sustainable development.

• Read the full program text.
• Consult the applicant guide for the relevant volet or sous-volet.
• Download the current financial assistance application form to your computer and open it with a PDF reader such as Adobe Reader; previous-year forms are not accepted.
• Complete the application form, the corresponding financing plan, and the required supporting documents.
• Submit a separate application for each volet.
• Email the complete application file to transfo@mapaq.gouv.qc.ca.

• MAPAQ sends an acknowledgement of receipt after an application is filed.
• For a complete application where the applicant and project are eligible, MAPAQ issues a confirmation of receivability; incomplete applications are rejected, and non-admissible applications receive a non-receivability letter and the file is closed.
• The acknowledgement of receipt and the confirmation of receivability do not guarantee funding.
• Complete and admissible applications are analyzed based on the selection criteria for the relevant volet or sous-volet, and the decision is communicated by email.
• For quality diagnosis projects under Volet 1 and accompaniment under Volet 3, an external expert who has not previously supported related Ministry food-processing funding projects may be evaluated after submission based on the expert’s CV and supporting documents in order to obtain Ministry approval.

• A financial eligibility simulator is available to help applicants assess certain required financial criteria before applying.
• A score of 1.29 or less on the simulator results in automatic refusal.
• Applicants can receive support from a food processing advisor before filing, but this support does not guarantee that the application will be admissible or accepted.
• Hiring a private consultant to prepare the application is not mandatory.