Environmental Farm Plan
What opportunities exist on your farm?
The Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) Program is a complimentary program that provides eligible agri-food sector producers access to consultants (known as EFP Advisors) to assist in completing Environmental Farm Plans. The EFP program enhances the capacity of producers to identify opportunities to adapt and respond to emerging environmental, regenerative agriculture, and climate challenges and changing environmental conditions.
See the BMP Program for funding opportunities for addressing EFP-identified risks.
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About EFP
Program Objective
An EFP is an on-farm agri-environmental risk assessment. Its purpose is to identify potential environmental, regenerative agriculture and climate risks within farmers and ranchers (producers) operations and educate them about how these risks can be mitigated.
Program Goal
The purpose of the EFP is to raise environmental awareness amongst farmers and ranchers and to improve or enhance their environmental stewardship practices and the sustainability of their operations.
The benefits of this program will include:
- Assist producers in completing a new Environmental Farm Plan
- Assist producers in renewing an existing Environmental Farm Plan
- Supporting producers to identify opportunities for funding through the Beneficial Management Practices program for implementing their Environmental Farm Plan
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible Applicants
- Farm and ranch operations in BC, including First Nations agricultural operations.
- Licensed Aquaculture producer or Federally licensed Cannabis or Hemp Producers.
One Environmental Farm Plan is available to each farm or ranch unit in British Columbia.
- Generally encompasses all the farming or ranching activities associated with a single Federal Business Number (formally known as the GST number);
- Encompasses all the agricultural activities usually associated with the farm unit;
- Normally includes all contiguous farm parcels but might also include remote parcels;
- May include land leased for a term equal to or exceeding five years;
- May include Crown lease land but not Crown license land;
- May include more than one agricultural enterprise; and,
- May consist of more than one owner.
Eligible Activities
- Environmental Farm Plan development
- Environmental Farm Plan renewal
- Riparian Health Assessments
Note: The EFP Advisor must verify whether a farm or ranch is eligible. What constitutes a “unit” is generally evident and determined by the Advisor during the producer’s farm visit. If an Advisor is uncertain of what constitutes a “unit,” they may seek assistance from IAF staff. If you have more than one “unit,” additional EFPs may be required.
Request an EFP
1 | Sign Up & Register your organization
Create an IAF Client Portal account and register your organization by navigating to the IAF Client Portal and selecting “Create an account now.” If you have applied to IAF-delivered programs in the past few years, you’re likely already signed up and registered and can skip this step.
Primary Contact Information
- Name
- Job Title
- Phone Number
Organization Information
- Legal Organization Name (either Federal or BC)
- Operating Name (if different from legal)
- Organization Type (select from set options)
- Organization Address, Email, Phone number, and website
- Organization Registration Date (either Federal or BC)
- Head Office Location
- BC Registration ID (not required) (to look up your BC ID, click here)
- CRA Business Number (not required)
- NAICS Code 6-digit (select from set options – click here for guide)
- Primary Purpose of Operation (select from set options)
- Sector Group (select from set options)
- Region (select from set options)
IAF Client Portal emails are sent from do-not-reply.grants@fluxx.io. Please save this as a contact in your email.
The IAF staff need to validate your organization (confirm legal business name, BC registration etc.) It can take up to two business days to validate your organization. If you haven’t received an email in three business days, check your spam folder, then contact IAF.
Note on BC Business ID & CRA Business Number: Neither of these are required to participate in the EFP program but are required to participate in the Beneficial Management Practices Program and many others delivered by IAF. If you have a BC ID and/or CRA we recommend providing them when you first register, rather than adding later or risk having a future application declined due to missing information.
2 | Request an EFP
To make a request, navigate to the ‘Opportunities’ tab in the IAF Client Portal and select the Environmental Farm Plan Program. When filling out your request, you will complete four sections:
Organization Information
This section is where you will provide program-relevant organization information that was not collected when you registered your organization with IAF.
- Select your Organization (this is important for producers with more than one farm/business)
- Primary and Secondary Contact Information
- Business Type
- Farm Status
- Premises ID (if applicable)
- Opportunity to confirm Organization information (listed above)
Demographic Information
As this program is funded under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, you are required to provide additional demographic information. The demographic information is collected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and must be collected before submitting your application. To provide your demographic information:
- Start drafting your request in the IAF Client Portal.
- Copy your EFP ID (it will be provided to you at the Demographic data section of the application, or see the top of your application form). You will need to put this ID into the Ministry’s form.
- Visit the Ministry’s webpage through the link on the application and complete the form. (Note: this will open a new browser tab.)
- Once the form is complete, copy the Ministry’s confirmation number and enter it in the application form. It should look something like this AB123456
Note: Demographic information will not be used to assess eligibility for the program.
Request Overview
This section will require:
- Whether you have previously completed an EFP
- Your previous EFP Workbook number
- Information about your farm (closest city, region, primary commodity, size)
- Whether you are requesting a new or renewed EFP
- If you are within 2 years of your EFP expiring it is considered a Renewed EFP
- Whether there is a specific EFP Advisor that you would like to request
Declaration and Consent
This section is where you will review and sign the terms and conditions for applying to an IAF Program.
IAF recommends clicking ‘Save’ frequently as you work on your request in case of an unexpected disconnection. Once you are finished editing, click ‘Save and Close’ to minimize the editing panel and take you back to looking over your request.
Submit: Click ‘Save and Close’ when you are finished editing your request. Then click ‘Submit’. You will receive an email confirming that your request has been received and confirming the next steps.
Please note: IAF Client Portal emails are sent from do-not-reply.grants@fluxx.io and may be diverted to junk or spam folders.
Reach out anytime if you need some help!
Complete your Environmental Farm Plan
Once IAF has confirmed your EFP Request, we will get you in touch with an EFP Advisor. Your advisor will visit the farm to complete the environmental farm assessment.
They will provide you with an EFP workbook during your on-farm appointment. This workbook is confidential and yours to keep. Your advisor will work through the workbook with you to identify any environmental risks on your farm using the colour-coded checklist.
Once all questions have been answered, an action plan has been developed to address/prioritize red/yellow box questions, and a statement of completion has been signed by both you (the producer) and your advisor. Congratulations! You now have a completed EFP!
Your Advisor will provide a Statement of Completion (SOC). Hang on to this! This SOC is used to apply for funding opportunities and as proof of assessments in other programs, such as the Beneficial Management Practices Program, BC Dairy’s ProAction Environment module, or the AgriInvest program delivered by the Government of Canada.
Renew Your EFP
Request an EFP Renewal
EFPs are valid for five years. After that, you must renew your EFP. Additionally, an EFP renewal may be needed if your EFP no longer reflects your current farming operation.
Three primary reasons for producers to update their EFP include:
- Their EFP is more than five years old.
- Changes to the farming operation – A 20% or more change to acreage or animal numbers requires a renewal.
- Changes to legislation or program priorities – Legislation and program policies and priorities are continually updated, which may require a producer to renew their EFP.
To renew your EFP, follow the steps above for starting a new EFP request
Once your request for an EFP renewal is confirmed, we’ll connect you to the Advisor you previously worked with, or an Advisor of your choosing if available. Please ensure you have your previous EFP Workbook on hand for your farm visit – if you still have it. Let the Advisor know if any changes in operation are impacting your environmental risk profile.
Reminder: If your EFP expired less than 2 years ago it’s a renewal. More than 2 years is a new EFP (if you’ve been without a valid EFP for more than 2 years please select New when requesting an EFP).
Funding Opportunities
Funding, outside of the Environmental Farm Plan, is available to help reduce the environmental risks identified within your EFP workbook (i.e. red box answers).
Projects that can be funded through the Beneficial Management Practices (BMP) program include waste management, air quality control, emissions control, soil and riparian integrity, water quality and on-farm materials storage.
Reminder: A CRA Business Number and/or BC Business ID may be required for the program you are interested in applying to (i.e. BMP). IAF encourages you to provide that information when you register your organization to simplify future funding applications.
Get an EFP Sign / Implement your EFP
To qualify for implementation of your EFP and get your EFP sign, you must complete your workbook (reviewed by an Advisor), with no outstanding items requiring attention (red box answers).
There are funding opportunities to support your implementation, namely through the Beneficial Management Practices program.
Request an EFP sign
Once implemented, request a sign below, then display your new Environmental Farm Plan sign to proudly show your farm’s environmental sustainability and to help us spread the word about this great program! Don’t forget to contact your advisor to renew your farm plan every 5 years.
Implementation signs were redesigned in 2018 and do not include frames or hardware. Implementation signs are mailed quarterly from the IAF office.
Notifications and Obligations
Review
Requests will be accepted throughout the year, subject to available program funding. Upon submission of a request, it will be screened and reviewed by IAF. This review involves:
- Ensuring completeness.
- Organization/Applicant eligibility check.
- EFP program alignment and eligibility check.
IAF staff will return incomplete requests to applicants via the IAF Client Portal for resubmission with missing information/clarifications requested.
EFP Advisor Assignment & Notifications
IAF will assign an EFP request to an advisor within 2-3 weeks of submitting a request (typically faster!). The Advisor will be in contact within 2 weeks of receiving the request to arrange a visit to the farm or ranch. IAF will reach out to advise of any delays if these timelines cannot be met.
Delays & Withdrawing Request
Once an EFP request is submitted, it must be actively underway or completed within 4 months. If this timeline cannot be met due to delays on the producer side, the request will be withdrawn, and the producer will be invited to make another request when they are ready to proceed.
Please notify IAF immediately if you no longer wish to proceed with an EFP by contacting efp@iafbc.ca or withdrawing your request in the IAF Client Portal.
From time to time, Advisors may be unable to visit a farm within the four-month time frame. This can occur when there have been periods of poor weather, a farm is particularly remote, there are limited advisors in an area, or similar. In these cases, the request will not be withdrawn, and IAF is available to support completing the EFP.
Funding Acknowledgements
This program is funded by the Governments of Canada and British Columbia through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership. As such, acknowledgement of funding is required when publicly communicating about a project and/or funding. To ensure appropriate acknowledgement, all communications and marketing materials, including public announcements or social media posts, must be pre-approved by the IAF Communications Team. Materials can be submitted via the IAF Client Portal.
Want to know the status of your EFP Request?
Visit the IAF Client Portal anytime to see your status.
Resources
FAQ
Funding for this program has been provided by the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a 3.5-billion, 5-year agreement between the federal, provincial and territorial governments to strengthen the competitiveness, innovation, and resiliency of the agriculture, agri‐food and agri‐based products sector. The program is delivered by IAF.