Following last year’s devastating floods, British Columbia farmers who suffered damages will have access to up to $228 million in federal-provincial government support.
Federal minister of agriculture and agri-food, Marie-Claude Bibeau and British Columbia minister of agriculture Lana Popham announced the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program, which will be delivered by the government of British Columbia and will leverage the federal government’s AgriRecovery Framework and Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA).
The program will help farmers who have incurred extraordinary expenses from uninsurable damages such as:
- Clean-up, repair and restoration of land, barns and animal shelter, water and waste systems; returning flood impacted land and buildings to a safe environment for agricultural production;
- Repair of uninsurable essential farm infrastructure; reasonable repair of on-farm structures such as livestock containment fences, and the rental of temporary production facilities drainage ditches and riprap;
- Animal welfare; replacement feed as well as livestock transportation, veterinary care and mortality disposal; and
- Loss of perennial plants not raised for resale
The response was designed following extensive consultation with agricultural organizations and individual farmers in the different disaster areas.
The governments of Canada and British Columbia have also established a committee of federal and provincial ministers who are working together and with Indigenous leadership to guide immediate and ongoing support to British Columbia families, businesses, and communities affected by the extreme weather events.
Farmers who have already undertaken any work are advised to keep their receipts, track the hours of work involved, and take pictures documenting the damage and repairs to support their application.
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