All applicants, regardless of whether or not they have applied for and received funding from IAF in the past, need to confirm their eligibility for the program through IAF’s online portal.

No. “Step 1” of the online Portal replaces the Part A application. The eligibility of your company will be assessed during this stage of the application, including the maximum amount of funding you are eligible to apply for.

Once you have uploaded a draft application form and budget to the online Portal, please email marketdevelopment@iafbc.ca to request a booking link. Consultation calls will review your funding application and budget for eligibility.

Complete applications will be reviewed by IAF Program Staff after November 30 with funding decisions being made by the Technical Review Committee in February 2021. All applicants will be notified via email of funding decisions.

Program funding is limited. All applications will be assessed on a competitive basis and only those that score highly against the evaluation matrix will go forward for funding.

Approved project activities (expenses) cannot take place before the contracted start date: April 1, 2021. Project competition dates are unique to activity/workplans. All activities must be completed, paid, with final project reports submitted to IAF by March 15, 2022.

Information provided should match receipts/invoiced expenses you would be including in a project expense claim for this activity.

For example: “Activity #1, Marketing Campaign” Expense Details should include name of service provider or contractor, # adverts/months/hours, cost per ad, name of magazine or social media platforms etc.

In “Step 5 – Review” of a new application, you will be able to upload your application form and budget. Note, each attachment that you would like to submit with your application must be loaded as a separate note/attachment under the section “Supporting Documents”. 

All cost shared expenditures must satisfy the eligibility criteria outlined in the Program Guide. Eligible project activities/expenses are grouped by cost category: 1) Market Research/Information; 2) Market Development Planning; 3) Export Development; 4) Market Skill Training.

Please review the list of eligible/ineligible expenses, including those expenses deemed as “in-excess”.

No. The $20,000 cap per applicant for tradeshow attendance includes registration fees, booth costs, set-up fees etc. to a maximum of two (2) tradeshows. The $5,000 cap per applicant is for all travel-related costs (airfare, transportation, accommodation etc.).

No. Only those consultants that have been pre-qualified by the BC Ministry of Agriculture to conduct Market Research/Information and/or Market Development Planning activities will be eligible for cost-sharing.

Please refer to the Program Guide for complete details.

All Export Development activities must target markets outside of British Columbia (interprovincial/international).

Market Research and Planning activities, however, may focus on or include the B.C. (domestic) market.

If your project is approved, project payments will be released upon receipt and validation of all invoiced expenses for activities completed.
Only eligible, approved costs will be considered for funding reimbursement; a percentage of the claimed expense will be cost-shared according to your project’s funding ratio.

The application form and budget template are available for download through the online Portal.

Once an applicant has successfully completed program eligibility screening, the Application Form and Budget Template are available for download through “Step 3 – Program” of a new application. Documents are linked in the text listed as “Program Application Form” and “Program Budget Template”– simply click these links and download.

Yes. Whether you will be attending a tradeshow in person or virtually, the $20,000 cap applies to attendance at a maximum of two (2) tradeshows during the 2021-22 program cycle.