A federal program to help ease farming regions of southern Ontario out of tobacco production will provide up to $15 million for community development efforts in five counties.
The Sand Plains Community Development Fund, announced Friday for the counties of Oxford, Elgin, Brant, Middlesex and Norfolk, is earmarked for “projects designed to explore and develop new and sustainable community development opportunities,” the government said in a release Friday.
The fund will include two components: Community Development Support, which will back projects designed to develop “new and sustainable opportunities,” and Access to Capital, meant to “increase the availability of capital” for small businesses by providing longer-term loans with flexible repayment terms.
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The fund will be administered by the Ontario Association of Community Futures Development Corporations and is part of the Tobacco Transition Program the federal government announced last year.
“Tobacco producers have already benefited from $285 million to transition from the industry when they retired 99.8 per cent of their quota through the program this spring,” the government noted Friday.
“Our government is delivering support for community-based initiatives that will enhance regional development and achieve an innovative, sustainable and vibrant economy beyond the tobacco-based industry,” local MP Joe Preston said in the government’s release.
