March 26th, 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.
“Given the costs facing farmers are only expected to increase, we hope this change can set a new permanent baseline for interest-free advances and that the APP will continue to make adjustments that keep pace with rising farm expenses in the coming years.” Currie added.