Wine Sector Support Program
The program aims to provide short-term financial support to licensed Canadian wineries as they transition and adapt to ongoing and emerging challenges impacting the financial resilience and competitiveness of the wine industry.
Offered by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)
Amount
Non-repayable grant payments to licensed Canadian wineries, calculated as total litres of eligible wine you produced multiplied by the per litre payment rate; maximum $25 million in total per eligible recipient per fiscal year
Quick eligibility check
Who can apply
You must meet all of the following criteria to be eligible.
- You're a not-for-profit academic institution or for-profit organization that produces wine in Canada for commercial sale, which includes:
- businesses and corporations
- sole proprietorships
- partnerships
- co-operatives
- trusts
- You hold a federal wine licence issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) under section 14 of the Excise Act, 2001, valid at the time you apply to the program and up to or after March 31, 2027
- You've produced wineEndnote 1 (such as grape wine, other fruit wines, sake and/or other primary agricultural product-based wines), fermented in Canada, that use domestic and/or imported primary agricultural products (for example, grapes, berries, other fruit, dandelions, rice and sap), between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026
- You've grown, produced or otherwise owned the primary agricultural products used to produce the wine
- You've generated a minimum of $50,000 in total gross sales in the previous calendar year or fiscal year, of all wine you packaged in Canada
- You're a legal entity capable of entering into legally binding agreements
You need to meet all the eligibility criteria to qualify for the program.
If you meet all the eligibility criteria, you may qualify for the program.
Eligible wine
Eligible wine is bulk wine produced in Canada between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026, using fermented domestic and/or imported primary agricultural product(s) you grew, produced or otherwise owned. If you meet the eligibility criteria, your grant payment will be calculated based on the total litres of eligible wine you produced, and the determined per litre payment rate.
Only the portion of wine that is produced and originates from domestic and/or imported primary agricultural products will be considered in grant payment calculations, including for International Domestic Blend wine.
If you purchase domestic or imported primary agricultural product(s) (for example, grapes) that were then transformed into a processed input (for example, juice or must) to be fermented into wine, this wine product could be eligible because the wine originates from a primary agricultural product which you owned. Proof of ownership of the primary agricultural product that was transformed into a processed input will be required.
About the funding
The program provides non-repayable grant payments to licensed Canadian wineries based on their production of bulk wine fermented in Canada from domestic and/or imported primary agricultural products. Under the program:
Bulk wine may include:
- grape wine
- other fruit wine
Show all funding details
- sake
- other primary agricultural product-based wines
Primary agricultural products are raw materials, such as:
- grapes
- berries
- other fruit
- dandelions
- rice
- sap
How the per litre payment rate is calculated
The payment rate will be calculated by determining the total litres of eligible wine produced in the relevant production year from information provided in applications, once the application intake period for the fiscal year has closed.
The grant funding allocation for the fiscal year will then be divided by the total litres of eligible wine determined.
How individual grant payments are calculated
If you're eligible, your grant payment will be calculated based on the:
- total litres of eligible wine you produced between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026
- determined per litre payment rate in the given year of the program
Your grant payment will be calculated by multiplying your total litres of eligible wine by the payment rate.
How much you can receive
The maximum amount an eligible recipient can receive is $25 million in total per fiscal year.
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