GrantBritish ColumbiaEquipment Purchase or UpgradesTechnology Adoption

Traceability Adoption Program (TAP)

Traceability Adoption Program provides cost-shared funding towards the purchase and installation of traceability systems, practices, technologies, or infrastructure to help businesses meet new and existing regulatory requirements for the traceability of food, animals, and seafood products.

Offered by Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC (IAF)

Amount

Stream 1: up to $20,000 per fiscal year per participant, cost-shared at up to 70%, with a program lifetime limit of $40,000; Stream 2: up to $75,000 per Sector Organization, cost-shared at up to 70%

Quick eligibility check

Years in business
No minimum stated
Employees
No limit stated
Revenue
No limit stated
Legal structure
Incorporated, sole proprietor, partnership, co-operative, non-profit
Location
British Columbia

Who can apply

Per the eligibility criteria, applicants are eligible for either Stream 1 or Stream 2, not both.

Stream 1: Traceability Adoption for Private Businesses

Eligible participants for Stream 1 include agriculture, food, or seafood businesses such as:

  1. Producers
  2. Transporters
  3. Packagers
  4. Harvesters
  5. Warehouses
  6. Importers
  7. Processors
  8. Distributors
  9. Exporters

Applicants must:

  1. Have an active 9-digit CRA business number.
  2. Constitute a legal entity.
  3. Be based and operating in BC and file business or farm income taxes in BC.
  4. Be registered with the BC Premises Identification Program if animals are raised (as defined in the Premises Identification Regulation made under the Animal Health Act)

Stream 2: Traceability Adoption for Sector Organizations

Eligible participants for Stream 2 include sector organizations in agriculture, food or seafood sectors.

Sector organizations are defined as legally incorporated provincial entities representing members in the agriculture, food or seafood sector in British Columbia such as a cooperative, industry association, board or council, or other non-profit agriculture, food or seafood organization.

Applicants must:

  1. Have an active 9-digit CRA business number.
  2. Represent members involved in agriculture, food and seafood production, processing or handing activities.
  3. Provide a plan demonstrating how funding will improve information sharing and traceability within your sector.
  4. Be based and operating in BC and file business or farm income taxes in BC.
  5. Constitute a legal entity capable of entering legally binding contracts.
  6. Be registered with the BC Premises Identification Program if animals are raised (as defined in the Premises Identification Regulation made under the Animal Health Act)

Arm’s Length Transactions

All businesses from which goods or services are purchased must be at Arm’s Length from the applicant, meaning not related to the applicant, not affiliated with the applicant, or controlled in any way by the applicant.

Not eligible:

Ineligible participants for Stream 1 include

Sector Organizations

Health and/or nutrition supplement processing/handling operations

Pet food processing/handling operations

Restaurants or other food service operations

Ineligible participants for Stream 2 include

National sector organizations and non-BC based members of these organizations

Sector organizations of tobacco and tobacco product producers, manufacturers or processors

Sector organizations of pet food producers, manufacturers, processors or related facilities

Sector organizations of health and/or nutrition supplement processors

Sector organizations operating as food charities or food rescue and recovery organizations

Private for-profit businesses

About the funding

Traceability Adoption Program provides cost-shared funding towards the purchase and installation of traceability systems, practices, technologies, or infrastructure to help businesses meet new and existing regulatory requirements for the traceability of food, animals, and seafood products.

Stream 1: Traceability Adoption for Private Businesses

Each participant may receive up to $20,000 per fiscal year (April 1 to March 31) for eligible activities, regardless of whether they are seeking funding for on-farm or post-farm activities, unless otherwise stated. Activities will be cost-shared at up to 70%, see the table below. If you successfully completed a project in 2024/25, please note, there is a program lifetime funding limit of $40,000 over the four-year operation of the program (April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2028).

Stream 2: Traceability Adoption for Sector Organizations

Show all funding details

Each participant may receive up to $75,000 as a Sector Organization. Activities will be cost-shared at up to 70%, see the table below. Funding will not exceed $75,000 over the program lifetime (April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2028).

  1. Consultant fees for assessing, planning and/or implementing the project.
  2. Consultant fees for developing or improving recall plans, specific to the newly implemented traceability system.
  3. Consultant fees for conducting recall exercises of the newly implemented traceability system.
  • IMPORTANT: Fees related to recall plans/ exercises cannot be the sole activity in an application.

Note: Consultants must be accredited third-party individuals.

  1. Purchase and installation of hardware for traceability systems, including:
  • Livestock tag readers (hand-held or panel readers) and installation from Canadian Cattle Identification Agency’s Approved Livestock Tag Reader List (as of Jan 2025)
  • Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or barcode readers.
  • Label printers (including those with bag closure functionality).
  • On-site database and web servers.
  • Wireless or wired connectivity within the enterprise, as required for the traceability system.
  1. Purchase, licensing (subscription) and installation of traceability software to gather, store, process, report, and track information. Including for Livestock Tag Readers.
  2. Staff training by vendor (preferred) or approved accredited third-party consultant to implement traceability systems.
  3. Incremental costs for the purchase of a multi-use electronic device(s) to support traceability systems. (Examples: Computers, laptops, tablets, smart phones.)
  • IMPORTANT: Multi-use electronic device(s) cannot be the sole activity in an application.
  1. Custom software development and installation that enhances and meets the traceability needs of a business or sector (i.e. to gather, store, process, report, and track information).
  2. If custom software development is included in a TAP application, an internal review with a technical specialist will assess whether the software development is essential and significant to the traceability project.
  • IMPORTANT: Custom software must significantly enhance traceability within the business or sector. Comparable ‘off-the-shelf’ traceability software must not be available on the market.
  1. First time (initial) registration fee for GS1 Canada for unique company prefix number.

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