OTTAWA, - The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) welcomed today’s announcement by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) that the interest-free portion of the Advanced Payments Program (APP) would be increased to $250,000. The APP provides loans that have an interest-free portion to help farmers deal with cash-flow and increased production costs.
In 2022, the government increased the interest-free portion of APP loans to $250,000 to aid with pandemic recovery, and subsequently increased the threshold to $350,000 in 2023 to aid with escalating costs of crucial farm inputs such as fertilizer and fuel. Prior to this announcement, the APP was scheduled to return the interest-free portion to $100,000 in 2024.
CFA has been advocating strongly to retain the increased interest-free portion of the APP loans to reflect the significant inflationary pressures producers have experienced since the interest-free portion was first set at $100,000.
“Increasing the interest-free portion to $250,000 is welcome news to producers across Canada as these loans assist with cash-flow issues without any financial penalty. Farming is extremely time-sensitive and farmers must often make purchases for the next growing season before they have been paid for the last,” said CFA President, Keith Currie.