MAPAQ — Ministerial initiative Proximity — Component 2

• The signed Formulaire de demande d’aide financière for the applicable volet.
• The Coût et structure de financement document for the applicable volet.
• A detailed supplier quote for each expense over $5,000.
• Financial statements for the last two full fiscal years, or the applicable Canada Revenue Agency form, or if unavailable an income statement and balance sheet, or the Extrait de plan d’affaires annex.
• When applicable, the Formulaire d’accord de regroupement ou de partenariat, the Plan de commercialisation annex for volet 2 projects with eligible expenses of $15,000 or more, proof for the relève agricole bonus, or a lease of at least five years for a public market infrastructure project carried out by a tenant.

Who is eligible?

• For volet 1: legally constituted non-profit organizations under the laws of Québec or Canada.
• For volet 1: cooperatives, business groupings, municipal entities, and communities or nations recognized by the National Assembly of Québec.
• For volet 2: agricultural operations with farm income under $1,000,000.
• For volet 2: new agricultural operations.
• For volet 2: food processing businesses with annual revenue under $1,000,000 from mainly food processing activities, using mainly Québec raw materials when available, and not subcontracting food processing.

Who is not eligible

• Ministries, budget-funded and non-budget-funded bodies, government enterprises, state-owned corporations, and entities directly or indirectly controlled by a provincial or federal government or by a state-owned corporation are not eligible.
• Financial cooperatives and banking institutions are not eligible, and worker cooperatives are also not eligible under volet 1.
• Applicants listed in the Registre des entreprises non admissibles aux contrats publics (RENA), including their partners and subcontractors, are not eligible.
• Applicants that, in the two years before filing, failed to meet obligations tied to previous funding from the minister after formal notice, or that are under protection of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, or the Farm Debt Mediation Act, are not eligible.
• Applicants with specified animal welfare judgments, orders, or offences, and applicants with 25 employees or more in Québec for at least six months that appear on the Liste des entreprises non conformes au processus de francisation, are not eligible.

Eligible expenses

• Professional fees.
• The portion of the applicant’s or partners’ salaries, social charges, benefits, or unpaid time directly devoted to the project.
• Room rental, plus travel and accommodation costs within Québec government rates.
• Purchase, printing, and installation of promotional or interpretive materials linked to the project’s brand identity.
• New equipment or materials needed to build or adapt public market infrastructure, plus delivery, installation, commissioning, and administration costs up to 15% of other eligible expenses.

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Organizing or promoting an event.
• Projects targeting products whose end consumer is not a human, as well as recipe development, nutrition facts tables, social media publications, books, or donations of biofood products.
• Projects related to recreational cannabis or tobacco, products not authorized by Health Canada, or additional cannabis or tobacco products such as food ingredients, processed food products, topical products, concentrates, tinctures, and capsules.
• Costs not directly related to the project, cost overruns, costs incurred before the complete application is filed, current operating costs, debt service, capital replacement, and GST or QST.
• Costs for commercial representation, product sales or tastings, paid search advertising, domain names, human resources, financial, accounting, or customer relationship management tools, land preparation or utility connections, food, beverages, samples, consumables, office or IT equipment, software, vehicles, subscriptions, furniture, audiovisual equipment, advertising placements, or road signage.

• Technical, organizational and financial feasibility of the project.
• Market analysis supporting the project.
• Expected benefits for both the applicant and consumers.

• Review the full text of the Initiative.
• Prepare the required documents for the applicable volet.
• Email the complete application package to initiativeproximite2026-2027@mapaq.gouv.qc.ca.

• Only complete financial assistance applications that include all required documents will be processed.
• Applicants may request a review of an evaluation decision within 30 days of the date it is communicated.
• Project changes or improvements, added information, or new documents that were not included in the initial application are not considered in a review request.

• A Guide de rédaction d'un plan de commercialisation is available to support preparation of a marketing plan.
• A Liste des appels de projets de l'Initiative is available for reference.