Table Agroalimentaire de l'Outaouais launches their annual call for Bio-food project proposals

Sophie Demers

Outaouais Agricultural-Food businesses and partners can now submit their project proposals to Table Agroalimentaire de l’Outaouais. TAO provides support for bio-food development projects in the Outaouais under the Outaouais Bio-food Development Sector Agreement (ESBO) through non-repayable grants. Application submission opened May 11 and ends May 28.

Non-profit organizations, municipal organizations, Indigenous communities, cooperatives and social economy enterprises, and bio-food businesses are all eligible to submit projects.

Every year, depending on the amount of funds available, the ESBO implementation committee launches a call for projects, defines the criteria, and analyzes the applications submitted to make recommendations to the steering committee. The steering committee will then evaluate eligible projects based on the scoring grid.

Projects may receive up to $100,000 per year, with a maximum of $200,000 per project. Some projects deemed significant by the steering committee for the bio-food sector may receive an exception with a limit up to $500,000.

In previous years, the agreement has supported a variety of projects, such as an opportunity study for the development of a regional cereal chain for human consumption, and an analysis of slaughter and meat processing services. The grants also helped support the relaunch of Circuits Croquez l'Outaouais! to help consumers discover local products and promote regional producers.

The ESBO’s purpose is to support the development of the bio-food industry through projects that meet the objectives of the Outaouais Bio-food Development Plan 2020-2025, as well as the Agricultural Zone Development Plan.

TAO is a non-profit organization with the mission to coordinate the development of the bio-food sector at the regional level.

For more information about project submission and criteria, those interested can visit the TAO website: https://www.agro-outaouais.com/appel-de-projets