Small Cidery Program
The Small Cidery Program provides grant payments to help Ontario cideries grow their operations. Payments are based on sales of alcoholic cider.
Offered by Ontario Agricorp
Amount
Up to $0.74 per litre of Alcoholic Cider sold, up to a maximum of $220,000 per Program Year per eligible applicant, paid as two semi-annual grant payments
Quick eligibility check
Who can apply
“Small Cidery” means an Alcoholic Cider producer (including its Affiliated Licensed Cideries) with annual sales of 4.5 million litres or less of Worldwide Alcoholic Cider and 3 million litres or less of Ontario Alcoholic Cider (including Contract Production but not Contract Bottling/Canning). These volumes are calculated as a combined total over the First Payment Period and the Second Payment Period.
To be eligible for funding under the Program, Applicants are required to meet all of the following criteria:
- Be a legal entity that is a sole proprietor, corporation, partnership or an
unincorporated association. Articles of Incorporation or other acceptable proof of the Applicant’s legal name and status must be made available to Agricorp upon request;
- Be a Licensed Cidery and meet the definition of a Small Cidery, or be deemed eligible
by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA) to have sales of Alcoholic Cider in Ontario assigned from a former business to the Applicant
- Hold a valid LCBO Direct Delivery Authorization if direct delivery sales of Alcoholic
Cider are made in the Payment Period;
- Be an active producer of Alcoholic Cider at the time of Application
- Have appropriate governance structures, accountability and control processes in
place to administer and manage the grant funds;
- Submit a completed application form by the date and time indicated in these
Guidelines;
- Agree to comply with the terms and conditions of the Program as set out in these
Guidelines; and
- Be in compliance with and remain in compliance with all Requirements of Law.
Affiliated Licensed Cideries Only one Affiliated Licensed Cidery in a group of Affiliated Licensed Cideries may apply to the Program in a Program Year on behalf of the entire group.
Not eligible:
If an Applicant sells more than 3 million litres of Alcoholic Cider in Ontario, or if
Worldwide Alcoholic Cider Sales exceed 4.5 million litres, each as the combined total for the Payment Periods, the Applicant is no longer eligible to receive any Grant Payments in the Program Year
About the funding
The Small Cidery Program provides grant payments to help Ontario cideries grow their operations. Payments are based on sales of alcoholic cider.
Determination of Grant Payment Agricorp will determine Applicant Grant Payments based on their eligible Alcoholic Cider sales volumes, within the limits of the Cidery Program Cap (annual Program budget). Each eligible Applicant may be eligible to receive up to $0.74 per litre of Alcoholic Cider sold, up to a maximum of $220,000.00 per Program Year, subject to the following:
- If an eligible Applicant’s volume of eligible Alcoholic Cider sales exceeds 1.5 million
litres per calendar year, the Applicant will receive less than the Maximum Available Grant. Specifically, the Applicant’s Grant Payments will be reduced, or phased-out, proportionate to the volume above 1.5 million litres that the Applicant has in eligible Alcoholic Cider sales, based on the following formula:
Show all funding details
Grant Payment = Maximum Available Grant - (Applicant’s total eligible Alcoholic Cider sales volume - 1,500,000) x by the phase-out rate of 0.147); in other words:
Grant Payment = $220,000 (Maximum Available Grant) – (Applicant’s total eligible Alcoholic Cider sales volume – 1,500,000) x 0.147 Phase-Out Rate = $220,000 (Maximum Available Grant) ÷ (3,000,000 (Phased- Out End Volume) – 1,500,000 (Phased-Out Beginning Volume)) = 0.147
- The funding will be split into two Semi-Annual Payments; one for the First Payment
Period and one for the Second Payment Period. Each Semi-Annual Payment will be based on the eligible cider sales that occurred in the corresponding Payment Period.
- The payment made for the First Payment Period sales will not include the sales made
by Direct Delivery to Licensees. Sales made by Direct Delivery to Licensees for the full year (both Payment Periods) will be included in the Second Payment Period calculation.
- If an Applicant sells more than 3 million litres of Alcoholic Cider in Ontario, or if
Worldwide Alcoholic Cider Sales exceed 4.5 million litres, each as the combined total for the Payment Periods, the Applicant is no longer eligible to receive any Grant Payments in the Program Year. The Grant Payment will be $0 and any payment received in the First Payment Period must be returned; and
- If total potential payments to all eligible Recipient under the Program exceed the
annual Cidery Program Cap, a proration rate will apply. The proration rate will reduce proportionally each Recipient’s Grant Payments until the total payments to all eligible Recipients are within the annual Cidery Program Cap.
For greater clarity, this would result in each Recipient’s payments being reduced below the amount that the eligible Recipient was originally calculated to receive, and therefore below the maximum $0.74/litre rate. The formula for the proration rate is:
Proration rate = Cidery Program Cap Ă· total payments to all eligible Recipients The formula for the Grant Payment in this scenario would be:
Grant Payment = Original grant payment – (original grant payment x proration rate) The payment calculation method is illustrated in the graph below:
Determination of Semi-Annual Grant Payments and Holdbacks The Grant Payment will be split into two Semi-Annual Grant Payments; one for the First Payment Period and one for the Second Payment Period. Each Semi-Annual Grant Payment will be based on the eligible cider sales that occurred in the corresponding Payment Period and in accordance with the payment rates and calculations used to determine Payments.
The total Grant Payment will be based on the sales of the two Payment Periods of eligible cider sales.
LCBO sales data used for the purpose of calculating the Semi-Annual Grant Payments will align with the reporting dates described by the LCBO’s Financial Reporting Period Calendar, and may therefore differ from the dates of the Payment Period.
A minimum 25% holdback will be applied to the payment made in the First Payment Period to all eligible recipients under the Program and the maximum any Cidery may receive in the First Payment Period will be 50% of the Maximum Available Payment, $110,000. At Agricorp’s discretion, the holdback may be increased if Agricorp determines that a 25% holdback does not sufficiently protect from the risk that the Cidery Program Cap will be surpassed. Agricorp may also apply an additional holdback on an Applicant if there is a risk that an Applicant’s total Eligible Sales Volume for the Program Year will exceed 1.5 million litres and be subject to the phase-out calculation.
This holdback will be fully or partially released with payment for the Second Payment Period subject to the annual Cidery Program Cap (potential proration) and the volume of eligible Alcoholic Cider sold not exceeding 1.5 million litres (in which case the phase-out rate will be applied). If the volume of Alcoholic Cider sold exceeds 3 million litres in Ontario, the Grant Payment will be $0 and any payment received in the First Payment Period must be returned.
The payment made for the First Payment Period sales will not include sales made by Direct Delivery to Licensees. Sales made by Direct Delivery to Licensees for the full year (both Payment Periods) will be included in the Second Payment Period payment calculation.
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