Research Investment

The Government of Ontario, the University of Guelph, and Agricultural Research and Innovation Ontario are part of a collaboration known as the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance that contributes nearly $207 million to the province’s growing agri-food economy, growing businesses and helping the sector thrive.

In 2023, OMAFA, University of Guelph and ARIO renewed the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance Agreement. The agreement aims to ensure Ontarians have access to healthy, safe food and that farmers and businesses have the information needed to be competitive and sustainable.
In the first year of the agreement, $72 million was invested by OMAFA with $135 million in leveraged funding from the University of Guelph committed over the four years of the agreement.

In the final three years, the government portion of the agreement drops to $66 million despite their desired outcome of ‘competitiveness and productivity of the agri-food sector’.

The agreement is renegotiated in 2028 and Ontario Sheep Farmers feels strongly that supporting an effective agri-food research and innovation system that ‘sustains core capacity and may generate new capacity to undertake world-class research’ requires a sustained government
investment.