Northern Isolated Community Initiatives (NICI) Fund

About NICI

Canada's northern food sector has significant economic growth potential that offers opportunities for increased local production, job creation, and sustainable development that benefits northern and Indigenous communities.

The Northern Isolated Community Initiatives (NICI) Fund supports food and agriculture businesses, as well as other public and private organizations. Investments from NICI support new and existing food initiatives aimed at strengthening and diversifying economic activity in the North. Projects that address food security in Indigenous communities or with other vulnerable people will be given priority.

Delivered by three of Canada's Regional Development Agencies (RDAs); the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor), the Canadian Economic Development for Quebec regions (CED) and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), NICI provides nearly $15 million over three years for community-led projects that benefit local and Indigenous food production systems, with an emphasis on innovative and practical solutions to increase food security across the North. In the territories, the NICI Fund has a budget of $9 million in financial assistance to support a variety of projects through the following streams:

1. Support to Businesses and Entrepreneurs
   This stream provides funding to businesses seeking to start or expand production, processing and distribution of food using practical approaches.
2. Support to Northern Food Systems and Ecosystems
   This stream supports initiatives that strengthen local and regional food supply chains.
3. Support for Northern Food Innovation
   This stream provides funding for Indigenous projects, community-led initiatives and other projects that deploy innovative technologies, techniques, or approaches to food systems to improve local or regional food security and/or sovereignty.

Who should apply?

NICI supports food and agriculture-related businesses, as well as other public or private organizations, with an emphasis on ensuring fair access to funding for Inuit Nunangat, which includes the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (northern Northwest Territories), Nunavut, Nunavik (northern Quebec), and Nunatsiavut (northern Labrador). It also services all regions in the territories. Investments strengthen new and existing food-related initiatives with the goal of improving and diversifying economic activity in the territories.

Eligibility

NICI is open to a wide-variety of organizations, including not-for-profit groups, academic institutions, industry associations, local or Indigenous governments, and for-profit businesses. It is also open to provincial and territorial governments.

Eligible activities should focus on ideas that strengthen northern food systems, improve local food production, reduce barriers to food access, provide skills training and capacity building for local and Indigenous food producers, or that focus on innovation.

For more information

If you have a project or an idea you would like to discuss, contact your CanNor regional office to explore possible funding options.

Find out more on the Northern Food Innovation Challenge funded through an earlier version of the NICI program.