The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has announced details regarding two programs through the $75 million Wine and Grape Strategy. The Wine and Grape Strategy is a five year funding and program commitment originally announced in 2013, and that begins in 2015/16.
According to the province, the two programs are:
- The new Marketing and Vineyard Improvement Program will help to increase the sale of Ontario wines in and out-of-province and enhance the marketing of Ontario’s wine regions as tourist destinations. The program will also support vineyard production improvements, the government says. Also noted, the program will focus on key research and innovation development projects such as viticulture research related to grape diseases and pests, and will combine a number of supports previously provided through the Vineyard Improvement Program (OVIP) and the VQA Wine Marketing program
- The renewed VQA Wine Support Program will help increase LCBO sales of Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) wines, encourage innovation and improve exports and tourism, by providing incentives for wineries to increase investment in productivity, innovation, tourism and export development. The province says the program will also build on feedback provided by the sector to the previous program, established in 2006
More information on both programs can be found here.