Hurricane Fiona
Support
Hello everyone,
I want to provide some updated information about programs to
support Nova Scotians who have been impacted by hurricane Fiona. Hopefully, you
don’t need them! Those programs cover support for individuals, small businesses
and non-profits, and agriculture and forestry.
Please visit this link to get the information: https://novascotia.ca/hurricane-fiona-support/.
Programs to highlight:
1. Farm Emergency Response Grant
Program
A one-time grant of $2,500 is
being sent to registered farms in Central, Northern and Eastern Nova Scotia
that experienced financial losses due to infrastructure or crop damage, livestock
loss or extended power outages due to the hurricane. Funding from the
$4-million Farm Emergency Response Grant Program is also available to
registered farmers who experienced storm damage outside the most impacted
regions. For more information, please contact the Nova Scotia Department of
Agriculture’s Programs Branch at 1-866-844-4276.
If you are a producer outside of
the designated impacted regions of Hants, Halifax, Pictou, Cumberland,
Colchester, Guysborough, Antigonish and Cape Breton, and suffered direct damage
from Hurricane Fiona, please contact Robin Mahoney with Programs at
1-866-844-4276.
If you are an unregistered farm
in the impacted areas, please contact Robin Mahoney at 1-866-844-4276.
2. On-Farm Electrical
Interruption Program
https://novascotia.ca/programs/on-farm-electrical-interruption-assistance/
This program is providing
$500,000 in federal and provincial funding through the Canadian Agricultural
Partnership to offset costs to farm owners who installed a backup generator
immediately before hurricane Fiona or during the extended power outages the
storm caused. The program can over up to 100 per cent of the cost of purchasing
and installing a generator for on-farm use. The Canadian Agricultural
Partnership is a $3 billion, five-yar (2018-2023) investment by federal,
provincial, and territorial governments to strengthen and grow Canada’s
agriculture and agri-food sector.
Additionally, there was the following announcement related
to additional funding whose details have not yet been finalized:
Provincial Fiona Agricultural
Program
Government is providing $6 million
through the Provincial Fiona Agricultural Program to cover extraordinary
operational costs experienced because of the storm. A simplified application
process will be announced soon to ensure funding is dispersed quickly.
Additional funding will also be available in the weeks and months ahead to help
farmers with rebuilding costs that are not covered by other programs. An email
will be sent out regarding this program once guidelines have been finalized, if
you are interested in learning more about this program, please contact your
local regional office to indicate as such.
Also, the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture (NSFA) has a
new website page just for Fiona, please visit this link to search for useful
information for your purposes: https://nsfa-fane.ca/fiona/.
If I have more updates, I will communicate with you.
Take care,
Hugh