The second online Community of Practice for Ontario’s downtown revitalization community was held in late March. The participants learned about a range of ways in which physical improvements made to downtown areas have contributed to business success.
Here’s a quick summary:
Click here to download the introductory presentation. Continue reading Recap: Downtown Revitalization Community of Practice
The Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence program recognizes outstanding agriculture and agri-food related innovators including producers, processors, and agri-food organizations.
The objectives of the Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence Program are to:
Continue reading Apply Now for The Premier’s Award For Agri-Food Innovation Excellence Program
OMAFRA 
is partnering with Rural Oxford Economic Development Corporation to deliver a one-day training session focusing on stages one and two of the BR+E process. This training will take place in Embro, Ontario on Thursday April 26, 2018.
This training session is geared towards:
The objectives of the session are to provide attendees with:
Building on the success of the first online Downtown Revitalization Community of Practice (DRCOP) held in November 2017, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) is pleased to launch the second session in the series, to be held on March 29th, 2018, from 10:30am-12:00pm.
What is a Community of Practice? It is an informally structured group that allows practitioners with an interest in economic development or downtown development to promote leading practices, share success stories, and build capabilities for supporting downtown revitalization across the province. Membership is open and attendance at any individual event is optional, as the topics will vary based on interest expressed by the group. Continue reading March Downtown Revitalization Online Community of Practice
The Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) is a federal-provincial-territorial initiative that assists with the advancement of Ontario’s agri-food and agri-products sectors, while focusing on key achievements related to economic development, environmental stewardship, and protection and insurance. CAP will be building on the success of Growing Forward 2 (GF2) to create further growth for Ontario’s agri-food and agri-products sectors.
All cost-share funding assistance is merit-based and will support targeted projects in three priority areas, with research and innovation Continue reading Cost-Share Funding Assistance For Organizations
Strong leaders positively impact their community; sparking innovation and inspiring others along the way. The inaugural Rural Ontario Leaders Awards (ROLA) celebrated the 2017 winners in February 2018. Among the winners were Dr. Gezahgn Wordofa and Grant Sparling, who won in their respective categories. They were nominated by their community peers for the leadership they demonstrate which helps to strengthen rural Ontario. Continue reading Individuals Impacting Their Community – ROLA Winners
Are you interested in developing a strong business and growing your success? Sign up for free agri-food online courses and — for a limited time — free in-person workshops.
Take advantage of the courses to sharpen your competitive edge by gaining skills and knowledge in farm business practices, food safety and traceability. These courses will provide you with foundational information to:
Continue reading Free Agri-food Courses to Grow Your Business
Due to the dramatic increase in requests to use Analyst, OMAFRA is changing the way clients access the tool. In the past clients have been able to rollover their licence; sometimes making it difficult to fulfill new requests for access. In addition, the rollover practice limited the client feedback we were able to collect.
Action A: Licence Access Hard Cap
Beginning on March 1 2018, Analyst clients will have a maximum of five months to access the tool for each individual project. Once the five month period has ended, clients will have the opportunity to justify why they need a further extension by completing a short survey. The survey will also ask that the client provide project completion timelines. Continue reading Important Policy Changes to Analyst
Innovation is vital to improving existing products, creating jobs, and growing Ontario’s economy. The Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence recognizes and celebrates the innovation of Ontario producers, processors, agri-food organizations, and rural communities. Greenbelt Microgreens is the recipient of the 2017 Premier’s Award, for their work in growing microgreens year round in the Ontario greenbelt. Continue reading Premier’s Award 2017 Winner – Greenbelt Microgreens
The results for the July 2016 – December 2017 roll up report are here! Over 1,100 businesses were surveyed across Ontario, and the key findings have been aggregated in an infographic. For clients with ongoing BR+E Projects, the roll up offers a benchmark to measure the success of their own BR+E Project against the Provincial average. In comparison, clients who are interested in starting a project can use the roll up report to help identify an area of focus for their project.
