An Overview of How OACC is Funded

OACC, founded in 2001, is a timely initiative in research and education. OACC is the only school/research facility of its kind in Canada. Our vision is to strengthen the science and practice of organic agriculture in Canada and our mission is to facilitate research and education for organic producers and consumers to build sustainable communities. The team at OACC is vigorous with a high degree of enthusiasm for our mission and a strong commitment to academic rigour.

OACC is primarily funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) through the Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) program, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) with additional funds from NSAC and the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the Canadian Wheat Board, Home Hardware and EJLB foundation.

OACC coordinates and collaboratively develops research and web-based courses on organic agriculture in affiliation with agricultural schools at the universities of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Guelph, McGill, Laval and NSAC. We have developed 9 courses in English and 4 courses in French. All courses are accredited for university students and are also available on a non-credit basis for farmers.

We also collaborate in research with AAFC researchers across Canada. OACC staff participate in on-farm research and report to conferences and field days of Canadian Organic Growers, Certified Organic Associations of BC, Alberta Organic Associations, Saskatchewan Organic Directorate, Organic Producers Association of Manitoba, Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario and the Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network.

We regularly publish research results and information geared to help farmers and other practitioners of organic agriculture, in farm papers across Canada, including the Western Producer and Ontario Farmer.

The OACC website provides research summaries, extension bulletins, files of all OACC newspaper articles, links to Canadian organic organizations, Virtual Farm Tours and many other features. Our hits exceed 4 million each year.

OACC provided leadership for the National Organic Strategic Plan and has recently developed the second phase to this plan. We have initiated a National Expert Committee on Organic Agriculture and we actively participate in National Organic Standard revisions.

 

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