Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada said October 5 that the C$1 billion Food-Link Fund will open its application intake on October 14. The program is part of the National Food Security Strategy, announced in June with $3.2 billion in planned investment over ten years. The federal government describes Food-Link as infrastructure funding intended to improve how food moves from producers to consumers, strengthen competition and widen access to locally produced food.

The fund has two components. The Food Terminal Fund is intended to support the creation or expansion of wholesale food terminals and distribution centres. Such facilities can connect farmers and food businesses with independent retailers and other buyers, offering another route to market alongside supply systems dominated by large retail chains. The second component, the Food Hub Program, is designed for regional networks that address gaps in aggregation, storage, processing and distribution, especially in underserved communities.

The department says eligible proposals may include cold storage, transport, processing and packaging equipment, digital systems, logistics capacity or facility upgrades. These examples are possible project types; the announcement does not identify funded recipients or promise that any specific proposal will receive support. The intake will run for eight weeks, closing December 11. Applicants must first submit an expression of interest. Proposals that align with the fund’s objectives may then be invited to provide a full application.

The government presents the fund as one part of a broader food-security strategy aimed at lowering costs and strengthening supply chains. Its stated rationale is that better infrastructure and more connections between producers, distributors and retailers can improve efficiency and competition. The October 5 release sets out the program design and application window, while leaving project selections and the geographic distribution of awards to a later stage. It also does not quantify a price reduction for consumers or specify how many terminals or hubs will be supported.

For producers, regional food hubs could offer shared access to facilities and market links that may be difficult for an individual farm or small processor to build alone. Wholesale terminals could similarly increase the number of buyers and sellers able to trade through common infrastructure. Those are the intended channels described by the program, rather than guaranteed results. The first step is the expression-of-interest process; final proposals will be considered only after the initial screening and under the fund’s eventual eligibility rules.