B.C. farmers who suffered extraordinary damages during November’s devastating floods will have access to up to $228 million in federal-provincial government support to help their farms return to production and support British Columbia’s food security and agricultural communities in the years ahead.
Marie-Claude Bibeau, federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, and Lana Popham, B.C.’s Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, on Monday announced the Canada-BC Flood Recovery for Food Security Program, which will be delivered by the Government of British Columbia and will leverage the federal government’s AgriRecovery Framework and Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA).
“The B.C. agricultural community has pulled together and demonstrated its strength and determination in the face of devastating floods,” said Bibeau. “There is still a long way to go, but the Government of Canada will continue to work with the Government of British Columbia to support our farmers. We are here to help them rebuild so they can quickly get back to doing what they do best: producing high-quality food for Canadians.”
Bill Blair, President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, said: “Our government will continue to be there for families, farmers and communities in British Columbia as they recover from the devastating floods and extreme weather events that hit the province last November. We know that building back in the aftermath of a disaster is a long and difficult road, which is why we’re here to support all of those who need help – every step of the way. Together, we will get through this.”
Popham said: “The November flooding was the most impactful agricultural disaster ever in our province, resulting in profound losses for many B.C. farmers and food producers, and we’re responding with a program that delivers the greatest amount of support of its kind in B.C.’s history. We’ve worked closely with farmers and farming organizations to make sure we have a comprehensive response that will support their recovery, help them get their farms back in production, and continue our collective efforts to build a resilient food system and food economy in B.C.”
The Canada-BC Flood Recovery Program for Food Security will help farmers who have incurred extraordinary expenses from uninsurable damages, such as:
* cleanup, repair and restoration of land, barns and animal shelters, water and waste systems; returning flood-impacted land and buildings to a safe environment for agricultural production;
* repair of uninsurable essential farm infrastructure, reasonable repair of on-farm structures such as livestock containment fences, and the rental of temporary production facilities drainage ditches and riprap;
* animal welfare; replacement feed as well as livestock transportation, veterinary care and mortality disposal; and
* loss of perennial plants not raised for resale.
The response was designed following extensive consultation with agricultural organizations and individual farmers in the different disaster areas.
The governments of Canada and British Columbia have also established a committee of ministers who are working together and with Indigenous leadership to guide immediate and ongoing support to British Columbia families, businesses and communities affected by the extreme weather events.
Farmers who have already undertaken any work are advised to keep their receipts, track the hours of work involved, and take pictures documenting the damage and repairs to support their application.
Stan Vander Waal, President, BC Agriculture Council (BCAC), said: “As the organization representing British Columbia’s farmers and ranchers, BC Agriculture Council wishes to thank ministers Bibeau and Popham, government staff, first responders and British Columbians for your incredible demonstration of support to the agriculture sector since the weather events in November. Today’s announcement will bring a sense of relief to many impacted farmers and ranchers, and we know it will offer support that is urgently needed. By combining AgriRecovery with the Disaster Financial Assistance program for producers, the provincial and federal governments have reduced eligibility barriers, provided higher compensation rates, and alleviated much of the administrative burden we would have otherwise seen. BCAC looks forward to industry and government working together during this next stage of recovery.”
Learn More:
Program criteria and application forms are available online:Â gov.bc.ca/agrifloodrecovery
One-on-one assistance in English and Punjabi is available to farmers requiring assistance completing the applications through: agrirecovery@gov.bc.ca or toll-free: 1 888 332-3352.
Application forms are available online:Â gov.bc.ca/agrifloodrecovery
Income protection programs for BC farmers:Â https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/
Emergency management for agriculture:Â https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/
BACKGROUNDER 1
Facts about the 2021 flood disaster
* More than 1,100 farms, 15,000 hectares and 2.5 million livestock from the Sumas Prairie in Abbotsford to Merritt and Princeton were affected by the floods.
* AgriRecovery is a federal-provincial-territorial disaster relief framework to help agricultural producers with the extraordinary costs associated with recovering from natural disasters. Initiatives under the framework are cost-shared 60/40 between the federal government (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) and provinces/territories, as outlined under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
* This response provides support with extraordinary recovery costs not covered by existing programs or private insurance (see Backgrounder 2 for details).
* The Government of British Columbia will leverage the federal Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA), administered by Public Safety Canada, which provides financial assistance to provincial and territorial governments, at their request, when response and recovery costs following an extreme weather event exceed what individual provinces or territories can reasonably be expected to bear on their own.
* The federal government has provisioned for $5 billion in 2021-22 for its share of recovery costs under the DFAA as well as other costs related to the recent extreme weather events in British Columbia.
* Other income and insurance programs are in place to provide support for lost income (see Backgrounder 3). AgriRecovery and DFAA focus on the disaster costs not covered by other programs or insurance.
BACKGROUNDER 2
Facts about the Canada-BC Flood Recovery Program for Food Security
The Canada-BC Flood Recovery Program for Food Security response will cover extraordinary costs including:
* support for flood cleanup that includes cleanup on lands and essential farm infrastructure that have been damaged due to floods
* support for the removal, repair or replacement of uninsurable farm structures and farm production equipment that have been damaged due to floods
* rental of essential alternate facilities or pasture required due to flooding
* transportation costs for relocating livestock, feed available, water, stored crop and crop inputs due to floods
* replacement of lost feed for breeding livestock feed due to floods
* extraordinary costs for livestock feeding due to marketing delays caused by floods
* veterinary costs to treat livestock injured by floods
* support for uninsurable breeding livestock mortality losses caused by floods
* land preparation and replanting costs for perennial crop plants that have been killed by flooding and crop land damaged by flooding
* support for destroyed beehives and associated colonies
The Government of British Columbia is disbursing recovery funding in two categories. Farms with less than $2 million in annual revenue will be eligible to receive up to 90% compensation, which the Province will seek reimbursement for through the federal government’s Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA):
https://www.publicsafety.gc.
Larger farms with annual sales over $2 million will be eligible to receive up to 70% compensation through the federal-provincial AgriRecovery initiative, which is cost-shared 60/40 respectively between governments.
A suite of Business Risk Management programs is available through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership to assist farmers in managing disaster events, including flooding. These include AgriStability, AgriInvest and AgriInsurance.
