CertalotFor food hubs, distributors and processors
Applying to the Food Link Fund? Traceability software is on the list.
The Food Hub Program, part of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's new $1 billion Food Link Fund, helps food hubs and distributors expand and modernize. Its list of eligible activities includes food safety and traceability improvements and digital supply chain tools. If you're planning a project, Certalot Food can be part of it.
- Intake closes
- December 11, 2026, 11:59 pm Pacific
- Program pays
- Up to 50% of eligible costs (up to 60% for organizations led mostly by underrepresented groups)
- Maximum
- Up to $25 million per organization over the life of the program
- First step
- A short expression of interest
Who can apply
Organizations involved, or placed to become involved, in bringing local food together: food hubs, co-operatives, small and medium-sized processors and distributors, logistics firms, independent grocers, Indigenous organizations, and not-for-profits with a commercial operating model. For-profit applicants must be incorporated in Canada. Certalot is a software supplier, so we don't apply; you do, and Certalot can be one of the costs in your project.
Where Certalot Food fits
Food safety and traceability improvements
Listed as an eligible activity.
Certalot Food keeps lot-level traceability records for FSMA 204 (US), EUDR (EU) and CFIA SFCR (Canada), and builds the reports an inspector or buyer asks for.
Digital infrastructure
Including “supply chain management, e-commerce, and point-of-sale (POS) platforms.”
Receiving, shipping and transformation records in one place, with a supplier portal so the farms you aggregate from can send their own lot details.
Quality control
Listed as an eligible use of equipment.
Photograph a delivery slip, harvest log or spreadsheet and AI reads it into a record. Your team reviews every field before it is saved.
Worth knowing before you apply
- The program does not pay for costs it considers part of normal business practice. Software set up as part of a bigger upgrade, like a new receiving, storage or packing operation with traceability built in, is a stronger fit than a subscription on its own. Ask the program how it would treat your plan.
- Funding to a for-profit business may be repayable when the benefit mainly goes to that business. Repayable contributions carry no interest.
- The program decides what it funds. This page explains where traceability software appears in its guidelines; it is not advice on your eligibility or a promise of approval.
Planning an application?
Tell us about your project and we'll send what you need to include Certalot Food: a description of what it does and a cost estimate for your budget. Certalot Food is opening to a first group of Canadian food businesses now.
Or email hello@certalot.com.
Program details from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, checked October 27, 2026: Food Link Fund, Food Hub Program eligibility, what the program offers, how to apply. Programs change, so check those pages before you apply. Certalot is not affiliated with the Government of Canada.
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