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 runs on $759 million committed over 10 years and accepts applications on a rolling basis until March 31, 2030. It is not a competition. If you hold qualifying quota, funding is reserved up to a maximum set by your quota share.
Updated July 17, 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.
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
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.
| 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 |
What PEFIP actually funds
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 buildings not tied to the eligible project |
| ✓ 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 |
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.
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 buildings that are not tied to the eligible project. 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 an unrelated 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
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.
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.
You qualify for the enhanced 85% rate if you majority-own the farm (more than 50%) or lead it with demonstrated management experience and 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.
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.
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.
How much you can actually get
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.
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.
Timeline, deadlines, and retroactive costs
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 typical review runs roughly four to eight weeks per project application once your registration is complete.
| 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 |
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 four-to-eight-week claim clock.
How to apply for PEFIP
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.
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
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.
Stacking PEFIP with other programs
You cannot claim the same cost under PEFIP and any other government program. 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 there is no overlap on the same dollar.
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. The same cost cannot be funded twice. Costs already covered by AgriInvest, a provincial capital program, or any other government source are ineligible for PEFIP.
| 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. |
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.
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.
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PEFIP FAQ
What is PEFIP?
Who qualifies for the higher 85% cost-share?
How is my maximum funding amount determined?
Can I claim costs I already incurred before applying?
Are my regular farm salaries and maintenance costs covered?
Is PEFIP a grant or a loan?
Sources and official references
- Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program (PEFIP), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
- PEFIPOS application portal, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
- 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, [email protected], Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
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