PEFIP explained: the Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program
The Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program (PEFIP) reimburses licensed supply-managed chicken, turkey, egg, and broiler hatching egg producers up to 70% of eligible on-farm investments, and up to 85% for producers who were 35 or younger on January 1, 2021. It is not a competition.
Applications roll in until March 31, 2030, and your share of the $759 million, 10-year fund is reserved up to a maximum set by your quota.
Opens your plan sheet with your rate, next steps and documents.
Updated October 28, 2026. Every figure on this page is checked against our own catalog record for PEFIP or a named government source. Program facts last verified July 4, 2026.
Your cost-share, estimated
Enter an eligible project cost and pick your rate. PEFIP reimburses that share after the work is done. This is an estimate, not an approval; your real ceiling is set by your quota.
$
PEFIP reimburses$70,000
Your contribution$30,000
Read this before you plan a budget. PEFIP pays by reimbursement only, with no advances, so you carry the full cost until AAFC pays the claim. Your total funding is also capped by your January 1, 2021 quota share, and you cannot see that ceiling until you register in PEFIPOS. Sales taxes (GST and HST) are never reimbursed.
What PEFIP is, in one read
Quick answer
PEFIP is a federal cost-share program run by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada that helps supply-managed poultry and egg producers pay for on-farm capital upgrades. It was created to help producers adapt to the market access granted under trade agreements like CUSMA and CPTPP, funding investments in efficiency, biosecurity, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare.
PEFIP reimburses eligible producers a share of what they spend on barn upgrades and equipment, rather than handing out a fixed cheque. The standard rate is up to 70% of eligible costs, rising to up to 85% for young producers. Because it is entitlement-based, you are not competing against other farms: if you hold qualifying quota and submit eligible projects, funding is reserved for you up to a maximum determined by your quota share.
What's actually in our catalog
We track 121 agriculture programs across Canada. 83 are active right now, 37 of those are federal, and 21 are run by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. PEFIP is one of the largest single-sector envelopes among them, with $759 million committed over 10 years. If you produce under supply management, this is one of the highest cost-share rates in the entire agriculture catalog.
Field
PEFIP detail
Run by
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)
Funding type
Non-repayable cost-share (reimbursement)
Rate
Up to 70% (up to 85% for young producers)
Total envelope
$759 million over 10 years
Who
Licensed chicken, turkey, egg, and broiler hatching egg producers
Deadline
Rolling to March 31, 2030
Status
Active
Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program; program facts verified against GrantCompass catalog record, last verified July 4, 2026.
Is PEFIP still open in 2026?
Yes. As of October 28, 2026, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada lists the Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program (PEFIP) intake as open. Applications are accepted until March 31, 2030, and the program ends March 31, 2031, so every project has to be finished and claimed by then. Each farm's share of the money is set by its quota on January 1, 2021.
OpenPEFIP intake status, read at AAFC on October 28, 2026. Apply by March 31, 2030; finish and claim by March 31, 2031.
Why some producers think it closed. The closure they heard about belongs to a different fund. The Supply Management Processing Investment Fund stopped taking poultry and egg applications on July 22, 2025, when that sector's money was fully allocated, and only its dairy processor stream is still open. That fund is for processing plants. PEFIP, the on-farm program, is separate and still taking applications.
The PEFIP money is split by commodity before any farm applies. Here is how the almost $759 million divides:
Commodity
Allocation
Share
Chicken
$357.3 million
47%
Table eggs
$219 million
29%
Turkey
$91.9 million
12%
Broiler hatching eggs
$90.6 million
12%
Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, PEFIP "What this program offers" and SMPIF program pages. Read October 28, 2026. Shares are our arithmetic on the four allocations ($758.8 million combined).
PEFIP, PIFVO and PEFIPOS: one program, three names
PEFIP in English; PIFVO in French (Programme d'investissement à la ferme pour la volaille et les œufs); and PEFIPOS, the online system you register and apply in. For how PEFIP fits next to the rest of federal business funding this year, see Canadian funding in 2026.
What PEFIP actually funds
Quick answer
PEFIP funds on-farm capital investments in four categories: efficiency and productivity, food safety and biosecurity, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare or consumer-preference responses. It pays for new equipment, barn construction and retrofits, production software, and eligible professional services. It does not pay for quota, animals, general farm vehicles, routine maintenance, or sales taxes.
The line between eligible and ineligible is where most producers slip. The program funds the assets and upgrades that improve how you produce, not the everyday cost of running the farm. Here is the split, drawn directly from the program's own eligible and ineligible expense lists.
Eligible
Ineligible
✓ New or refurbished equipment from a commercial retailer
× Used equipment bought through a private sale
✓ Barn construction, renovation, and retrofitting
× Land, and the purchase of existing buildings
✓ Installation, shipping, and transport of eligible assets
× Quota or production-rights purchases
✓ Production-management software and eligible consulting
× Animal or flock purchases
✓ Incremental project-specific salaries
× Routine maintenance, spare parts, and repairs
✓ Training tied to another eligible activity
× General farm vehicles, trucks, and trailers
Source: PEFIP eligible and ineligible expense lists, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
The verdict
The best-value PEFIP projects are the capital upgrades you were already planning: barn ventilation and climate control, biosecurity systems, and animal-welfare housing such as enriched colony cages or barn-roaming systems. That is where recorded recipients have put the money, and where the eligible-expense list is widest.
Expert deep-dive: how AAFC groups projects into the four categories
Before you submit through PEFIPOS, you group planned investments into one of four eligible activity categories, and the category shapes how the project is reviewed. Efficiency and productivity covers automation and equipment that lifts output per bird or per hour, such as automated feeding, egg-grading, or climate-control systems. Food safety and biosecurity covers investments that reduce disease risk and contamination, such as controlled-access entries, ventilation upgrades, and cleaning and disinfection infrastructure.
Environmental sustainability covers manure handling, water treatment, and energy-management systems that lower the farm's footprint. The fourth category, consumer-preference response, covers the housing transitions many producers are making, moving to enriched colony caging, barn-roaming, free-run, or organic systems that meet evolving retail and welfare standards. A single barn project can touch more than one category, but you assign each project to its primary activity so AAFC can confirm the costs against that category's eligibility rules. Prepare cost estimates per project before you enter the system, because the maximum you can draw is fixed by your quota and you will want to prioritize the projects with the highest return before you hit that ceiling.
Common question
Can PEFIP pay for a full new barn, or only equipment?
It can pay for both. Construction, renovation, and retrofitting of on-farm infrastructure, including barns and processing facilities, is on the eligible-expense list alongside equipment. What it will not cover is land, or the purchase of an existing building. So a new laying barn built to move your flock into enriched colony housing is eligible on its construction and equipment costs, but buying the field it sits on, or buying an existing storage building, is not. The practical test AAFC applies is whether the structure directly delivers one of the four eligible activities: efficiency, biosecurity, environmental sustainability, or animal welfare. If the barn's purpose is a housing transition to meet consumer-preference standards, that is squarely inside the program's mandate. Keep the invoices and contracts, because reimbursement runs on documented eligible costs, not on a flat per-project amount.
Who qualifies for PEFIP
Quick answer
You qualify if you hold a valid provincial supply-management license or quota as a chicken, turkey, egg (table or organic), or broiler hatching egg producer, and you held that quota on January 1, 2021. You must be a for-profit producer able to enter binding contracts. Government entities and non-profit organizations are not eligible.
PEFIP is tightly scoped to one group: licensed supply-managed poultry and egg producers. Two gates decide eligibility, and both are hard. First, you need a valid provincial or territorial license or quota in one of the four commodities. Second, you must have held that quota on January 1, 2021, which is the fixed date the whole program is built around. Producers who entered supply management after that date are not eligible on new quota, though there are named exceptions.
Honest gate
If you did not hold qualifying supply-management quota on January 1, 2021, you are not eligible, and acquiring quota after that date does not change it. This is the single most common reason a producer turns out not to qualify. Atlantic Canada hatching egg producers, and new entrants operating on loaned quota or whole-farm leases, are named exceptions worth checking directly with the program.
If you are an established quota-holding producer
You are the core audience. As long as you held quota on January 1, 2021 and your projects fall in the eligible categories, funding up to your quota-based maximum is reserved for you. Register in PEFIPOS to see that maximum, then plan your projects against it.
If you are a young producer (35 or under on January 1, 2021)
You qualify for the enhanced 85% rate if you majority-own the farm (more than 50%) or lead it as a child, child's spouse or grandchild of the majority owners who has managed it for more than two years and has a succession plan. That drops your out-of-pocket contribution from 30% to 15% on the same project, so on a $200,000 barn upgrade you keep $30,000 instead of paying $60,000.
If you run a non-profit or a government-linked operation
You are not eligible. PEFIP is restricted to for-profit producers who can enter binding contracts. Government entities and not-for-profit organizations are explicitly excluded, as are sole proprietors who do not hold a valid supply-management license.
The verdict
If you hold qualifying quota from before January 1, 2021, treat PEFIP as money already set aside for your farm, not a grant you might win. The only real question is which eligible projects give you the best return before you reach your quota-based ceiling.
Source: PEFIP eligibility criteria and ineligible organizations list, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
Your PEFIP plan sheet: what to do next
As of October 28, 2026, the Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program is open, and for most quota holders the order is the same: register in PEFIPOS, read your maximum, then submit projects by March 31, 2030. Tap your answers below and the sheet writes your rate, next steps and documents.
What you produce
Your quota on January 1, 2021
35 or younger on January 1, 2021?
Where you are
PEFIP plan sheet
Example: Table eggs, held quota on January 1, 2021, not registered yet
PEFIP is reserved for you at up to 70% of each project, up to your quota-based maximum.
Your next two steps
Register in PEFIPOS: create a user profile and a participant profile, and enter your marketing-board licence number.
Read the maximum PEFIPOS shows you, then rank your barn projects against it before you spend.
Documents for your case
Your provincial marketing-board licence number
Articles of Incorporation, if you apply as a company, co-op or trust
Quotes, estimates or contracts for each planned cost
The mistake at this stage: spending before approval. Costs back to March 19, 2019 can count, but you carry the risk if the project or a cost is not approved.
Quota bought after January 1, 2021 carries no allocation. A transfer from a parent or grandparent, loaned quota, a whole-farm lease and Atlantic hatching egg producers are cases to confirm with AAFC first: see the section on quota below.
Sources: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, PEFIP steps 1, 2 and 5 (eligibility, young-producer cost share, supporting documents, claims). Read October 28, 2026.
How much you can actually get
Quick answer
PEFIP reimburses up to 70% of eligible costs, or up to 85% for young producers, but your total is capped by a maximum tied to your share of provincial quota on January 1, 2021. Realistically, a mid-sized quota holder might access somewhere between $20,000 and $300,000 in total program funding across their projects. You cannot see your exact maximum until you register in PEFIPOS.
Two numbers govern how much you get. The rate, up to 70% or up to 85%, sets how much of each eligible project PEFIP pays. The maximum, fixed by your 2021 quota share, sets the ceiling on your total draw across all projects. The rate is the same for every eligible producer at your age band; the maximum is unique to your farm.
Eligible project cost
PEFIP at 70%
PEFIP at 85% (young)
$50,000
$35,000
$42,500
$100,000
$70,000
$85,000
$250,000
$175,000
$212,500
The figures above are the raw cost-share math, and the calculator at the top of this page runs the same arithmetic for any amount you enter. Whether you can actually draw the full reimbursement depends on your quota ceiling. A large egg operation may have a maximum well into the six figures; a smaller quota holder may hit its ceiling on a single major barn project.
How a real producer used it. A chicken quota holder in Ontario accessed $180,000 in PEFIP funding to install an automated ventilation and climate control system across two barns, improving feed conversion and biosecurity. A young egg producer in Quebec used the 85% rate to transition from conventional to enriched colony caging, upgrading to meet CUSMA and CPTPP standards.
Source: recorded PEFIP recipient examples, GrantCompass catalog record.
Common question
Why can't I just see my maximum funding amount online?
Because it is calculated from your specific quota holdings, which the public program pages do not have. Your maximum is your share of provincial production as it stood on January 1, 2021, converted into a dollar ceiling by AAFC's allocation formula. When you register in PEFIPOS and enter your provincial marketing-board license number, the system looks up your quota share and displays your maximum automatically. That is why the program's own guidance says to register first: you cannot sensibly plan projects until you know your ceiling, and there is no way to derive it from outside the system. The maximum is also fixed. It reflects your 2021 quota and does not rise if you buy more quota afterward, so there is no advantage to waiting.
What the 85% young-producer rate changes, and what it does not
The 85% young-producer rate in the Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program lowers your share of each project from 30% to 15%. It does not raise your maximum. As of October 28, 2026, AAFC states that the extra cost share does not result in young producers receiving more funding. What changes is how much you spend to reach the same ceiling.
Projects needed at 70%$142,857
Projects needed at 85%$117,647
You pay at 70%$42,857
You pay at 85%$17,647
Example ceiling of $100,000; yours appears in PEFIPOS when you register. Our arithmetic on AAFC's 70% and 85% rates. AAFC: "the additional cost share does not result in young producers receiving more funding ... It may, however, reduce the amount that a young producer must invest themselves to access their maximum funding amount." Read October 28, 2026.
Read the bars this way. With an example ceiling of $100,000, a producer at 70% reaches it after $142,857 of eligible projects and pays $42,857 of that. At 85%, the same ceiling is reached after $117,647, with $17,647 out of pocket. The money from AAFC is identical in both cases.
What it means for your plan. The calculator at the top answers "how much of this project", not "how much in total". At 85% you reach your ceiling sooner, so put the projects that matter most first: the last barn on your list may not fit under it.
Who counts as a young producer. You were 35 or younger on January 1, 2021 (born on or after January 2, 1985) and actively farm in Canada. The farm also has to be owned more than half by young producers, or led by one who has managed it for more than two years, is a child, child's spouse or grandchild of the majority owners, and is building a succession plan.
Timeline, deadlines, and retroactive costs
Quick answer
PEFIP accepts applications on a rolling basis until March 31, 2030, with the program concluding March 31, 2031 for final project completion and claims. There are no competitive rounds or fixed intake windows. Costs dating back to March 19, 2019 can be eligible, but claiming retroactively carries real risk if the work was not pre-approved.
PEFIP does not run in rounds. Applications open continuously through the program's PEFIPOS system, and each project is reviewed on its own merits against the eligibility rules rather than ranked against other applicants. AAFC's service standard is to process each project application within 100 business days once your registration is complete, and to pay a completed claim within 30 business days.
Date
What it means
March 19, 2019
Earliest date eligible costs can go back to (retroactive, with risk)
January 1, 2021
The quota-holding date that decides eligibility and your maximum
March 31, 2030
Applications accepted until this date
March 31, 2031
Program concludes; projects must be completed and claimed
The retroactive trap
Costs incurred on or after March 19, 2019 can be eligible, but the program's own guidance is blunt: unapproved retroactive costs risk non-reimbursement. Register first, get project approval, then incur significant new costs. Retroactive claiming is a fallback for already-completed work, not a strategy to plan around.
The verdict
There is no deadline pressure that forces a rushed application, but there is a strong reason to register early: the review is per-project and reimbursement-based, so the sooner you register and get approval, the sooner you can safely start spending and start the 30-business-day claim clock.
How to apply for PEFIP
Quick answer
You apply entirely through PEFIPOS, the program's online system. Register first to unlock your maximum, group your investments into eligible categories, submit each project for approval, execute the work, then submit reimbursement claims with full documentation. It is a self-serve, entitlement-based process, not a competitive grant application.
Here is the sequence the program itself lays out, in order. The single most important step is the first one, because registering is what reveals your maximum and everything else is planned against it.
Register in PEFIPOS. Create a user profile and participant profile in the online system and enter your provincial marketing-board license number to confirm your maximum funding allocation. Multiple licenses from the same producer can be registered together under one participant profile.
Review your maximum funding. PEFIPOS calculates your ceiling from your January 1, 2021 quota share. Review it before you commit to any project, because it caps your total draw.
Identify eligible projects. Group planned investments into the four eligible categories, efficiency, biosecurity, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare, and prepare cost estimates for each.
Submit each project application. Complete and submit through PEFIPOS with a project description, activity category, budget, and supporting documentation. Each project is reviewed against the eligibility criteria.
Receive approval and execute. Once AAFC approves, do the work. Incur costs and keep every invoice, receipt, and contract for the claim.
Submit your reimbursement claim. File the claim through PEFIPOS with complete documentation and proof of payment. AAFC reviews and reimburses up to the approved percentage.
Documents to have ready: your provincial license or quota documentation, PEFIPOS profile, a project application per eligible activity, invoices and contracts for eligible expenses, and, if you are claiming the 85% young-producer rate, proof of majority ownership or leadership plus a succession plan. Questions go to AAFC at 1-877-246-4682 or aafc.pefip-pifvo.aac@agr.gc.ca.
Common question
How hard is the PEFIP application compared with a competitive grant?
It is meaningfully easier, because there is no head-to-head competition to win. PEFIP is entitlement-based and self-serve: AAFC reviews each project only to confirm you hold qualifying quota, your activities fall in the eligible categories, your costs are eligible and not claimed elsewhere, and your documentation is complete. There is no scoring against other farms, no narrative pitch to write, and no approval-rate lottery. The work sits in getting the details right, choosing the correct activity category, keeping clean invoices, and not tripping the ineligible-cost rules, rather than in persuading a panel. That is why the program is marked first-time-applicant friendly. The main discipline is documentation, because reimbursement runs entirely on proof of eligible, paid costs.
Common mistakes that cost producers money
Quick answer
The costliest PEFIP mistakes are spending before approval on retroactive costs, claiming ineligible items like quota, animals, or general vehicles, double-claiming a cost already funded by another program, and buying eligible equipment through a private sale instead of a commercial retailer. Each one turns a reimbursable project into an out-of-pocket one.
PEFIP rejections are almost never about competition, because there is none. They are about eligibility slips. These are the errors drawn directly from the program's own rejection-reason list.
Spending significant money before approval. Retroactive costs back to March 19, 2019 can qualify, but unapproved retroactive spending risks non-reimbursement. Register and get project approval first.
Claiming ineligible purchases. Quota, animals and flocks, general farm vehicles, land, and routine maintenance are all outside the program. So are spare parts and like-for-like replacements.
Buying eligible equipment through a private sale. Used equipment bought privately is ineligible; the same equipment from a commercial retailer or authorized reseller is eligible. Where you buy changes whether the cost counts.
Double-claiming a cost. A cost already reimbursed under another federal, provincial, or municipal program cannot also be submitted to PEFIP. No double-dipping on the same dollar.
Submitting operating costs. Regular salaries, routine maintenance, and ongoing operations are ineligible. Only incremental, project-specific salaries tied to an eligible activity qualify.
Not budgeting for the cash-flow gap. PEFIP reimburses; it does not advance. You pay first and wait for the claim, so plan the working capital to carry the project until AAFC pays.
Source: PEFIP rejection reasons and ineligible expense list, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
Stacking PEFIP with other programs
Quick answer
Other government funding can help cover your own share, but total government funding on a project cannot exceed 85% of its eligible costs. PEFIP covers only the AAFC share. But you can use separate programs to fund distinct costs, and you can use other financing to cover your own 30% or 15% matching contribution, as long as total government funding on the project stays within 85%.
PEFIP is a matching program: you contribute 30% of eligible costs, or 15% as a young producer, and PEFIP reimburses the rest up to your ceiling. The rule that trips producers is simple but strict. Total government funding on a project cannot pass 85% of its eligible costs. Money from a provincial capital program or any other government source counts toward that limit, so at the 85% young-producer rate there is no room left for it.
Program
Can it stack with PEFIP?
AgriInvest
Not on the same cost. Costs funded by AgriInvest cannot be submitted to PEFIP.
Provincial capital programs
Not on the same cost. May fund your matching portion on separate, non-overlapping costs.
Financing for your matching share
Yes. A loan can cover your 30% or 15% contribution.
Source: PEFIP stacking notes and stacking partners, GrantCompass catalog record.
The verdict
Treat PEFIP as the AAFC share of a stacked plan, not a standalone deal. Use a separate provincial program or a farm loan for your matching contribution, keep the costs cleanly separated so no dollar is claimed twice, and you can fund a larger project than PEFIP alone would cover.
Common question
Can a young farmer combine PEFIP's 85% rate with a young-farmer loan?
Yes, as long as the loan funds your own contribution rather than a cost PEFIP is already reimbursing. As a young producer you pay just 15% of an eligible project out of pocket, and there is nothing stopping you from financing that 15% with a farm loan such as the Farm Credit Canada Young Farmer Loan. What you cannot do is have both PEFIP and another government grant reimburse the same invoice. The clean structure is: PEFIP reimburses up to 85% of the eligible cost, and your remaining 15% is paid with your own cash or borrowed money. Keep the paperwork tidy, because at claim time AAFC checks that no submitted cost has been funded by another government program. Talk to an agricultural accountant about the interaction, since PEFIP reimbursements are taxable income and reduce the capital cost of the asset for depreciation purposes. For a wider look at FCC loans, CALA, and the Advance Payments Program beyond the Young Farmer Loan, see our farm financing guide.
No quota, small-flock exemption, or quota bought after 2021?
In most cases, no. The Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program funds producers who held quota or shares of provincial production on January 1, 2021, and that quota sets the maximum. As of October 28, 2026, a small-flock producer farming under a marketing board's quota exemption holds no quota, and quota bought after that date carries no PEFIP allocation.
You farm under a board's small-flock exemptionNot eligible: you held no quota on January 1, 2021. Use the provincial doors below.
You bought quota after January 1, 2021Not on that quota. An allocation does not move with quota sold after that date.
A parent or grandparent passed you quotaAsk AAFC: an intergenerational transfer is the one sale case where an allocation can move.
You are an Atlantic Canada hatching egg producerNamed on the eligibility list. Confirm your allocation with AAFC.
You are a new entrant on loaned quota or a whole-farm leaseNamed on the eligibility list. Confirm with AAFC before you plan.
Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, PEFIP "2. Eligibility" (eligible producer types, transfers of a funding allocation). Read October 28, 2026.
Exemption limits differ by board. Each provincial marketing board, Egg Farmers of Ontario included, sets its own small-flock rules, so we do not quote a bird count here. Check your board's numbers before you buy quota or birds.
Where to go instead. Provincial cost-share programs run under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership fund on-farm equipment and biosecurity work, each with its own rules. Start with your province:
The map just below narrows the whole farm catalogue to your province and operation in a few questions, quota or not. See your farm's matches
See every program your farm qualifies for
PEFIP is one program. Supply-managed producers often qualify for provincial agri-food programs, clean-technology and biosecurity funding, and financing on top. Answer a few quick questions and watch the full Canadian catalog narrow to what your operation can actually get, free, no account needed.
Canada · Farm funding · 2026
Farm funding in Canada: see what you qualify for
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PEFIP FAQ
What is PEFIP?
PEFIP is the Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program, run by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. It reimburses licensed supply-managed chicken, turkey, egg, and broiler hatching egg producers up to 70% of eligible on-farm capital investments, and up to 85% for producers who were 35 or younger on January 1, 2021. It carries $759 million committed over 10 years and accepts applications on a rolling basis until March 31, 2030.
Who qualifies for the higher 85% cost-share?
Producers who were 35 years old or younger on January 1, 2021, and who either majority-own the farm (more than 50%) or lead it as a child, child's spouse or grandchild of the majority owners who has managed it for more than two years and has a succession plan, qualify for the enhanced 85% AAFC contribution rate. Everyone else eligible receives up to 70%.
How is my maximum funding amount determined?
Your maximum is calculated from your share of provincial quota or production holdings as of January 1, 2021. After you register in PEFIPOS with your license number, the system displays your maximum funding allocation. The maximum is fixed and does not increase if you acquire more quota after 2021.
Can I claim costs I already incurred before applying?
Costs incurred on or after March 19, 2019 may be retroactively eligible, but there is risk. Unapproved retroactive costs may not be reimbursed. Register in PEFIPOS and receive project approval before incurring significant new costs to make sure they are reimbursed.
Are my regular farm salaries and maintenance costs covered?
No. Regular farm operating costs, salaries, and ongoing maintenance are ineligible. Only incremental project-specific salaries directly tied to an eligible activity qualify. Spare parts, routine repairs, quota purchases, animal purchases, and general farm vehicles are all ineligible.
Is PEFIP a grant or a loan?
PEFIP is a non-repayable cost-share program, not a loan. It works by reimbursement: you pay for the eligible work first, then submit invoices through PEFIPOS and AAFC reimburses up to the approved percentage. There are no advances, so you carry the cost until the claim is paid.
What is PIFVO?
PIFVO is the French name for PEFIP: Programme d'investissement à la ferme pour la volaille et les œufs. It is the same Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada program, with the same rates, dates and online system, PEFIPOS. You will see PIFVO on French pages and in the program's email address.
Is PEFIP still accepting applications in 2026?
Yes. As of October 28, 2026, AAFC lists the PEFIP intake as open, with applications accepted until March 31, 2030 and the program ending March 31, 2031. What closed in July 2025 was the poultry and egg side of a different fund, the Supply Management Processing Investment Fund, which is for processors.
Does PEFIP pay for a new barn?
Yes. Barn construction, renovation and retrofitting are eligible, and AAFC's own application guide uses a barn extension as an example of an eligible activity. Land is not eligible. Your total is capped by your quota-based maximum, so price the barn against that maximum before you start.
Does the 85% rate raise my maximum?
No. The young-producer rate lowers your own share of each project from 30% to 15%, but every producer is capped by the same quota-based maximum. AAFC says the extra cost share does not result in young producers receiving more funding. You reach your ceiling on less total spending.
I bought quota after 2021 or farm under the small-flock exemption: can I apply?
Not on that basis. PEFIP funds quota or production held on January 1, 2021, and the exemption means you hold no quota. The cases to ask AAFC about are intergenerational transfers, Atlantic Canada hatching egg producers and new entrants on loaned quota or whole-farm leases.
PEFIP eligibility, eligible and ineligible expenses, rejection reasons, and recipient examples, GrantCompass catalog record (last verified July 4, 2026)
PEFIP contact: 1-877-246-4682, aafc.pefip-pifvo.aac@agr.gc.ca, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
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