About Us

The BC Hydro Peace Agricultural Compensation Fund (Agricultural Fund) is a $20 million fund that was established by BC Hydro as part of the Site C Agricultural Mitigation and Compensation Plan.

Since the Agricultural Fund’s inception in 2018, Northern Development Initiative Trust has served as the fund’s administrator. 

Vision statement and Principles:

Support the Peace Region’s opportunity for agricultural production and agrifoods economic activity.

The Agricultural Fund supports agriculture in the Peace Region by providing grant funding to those involved in growing and producing. There are two grant intake cycles per year. Information about this year’s intake cycles can be found here (hyperlink).

Learn about the three funding streams available through the Agricultural Fund by visiting the Our Programs page.

Fund principles:

• fairness and transparency
  • The agricultural fund will be governed in a fair and transparent manner so that all applications are reviewed on merit and given equitable consideration.
• regional decision-making
  • Funding allocation decisions will be made in the region benefiting from the best information available and knowledge on the Peace Region’s agricultural strengths, needs, challenges and opportunities.
• professional and cost effective
  • The governance structure should facilitate timely funding allocation decisions, ensure diligence in document management, record keeping and reporting and have strong communication capabilities to interact with and support agricultural fund applicants. The structure must be cost effective as administrative costs must be covered internally by the agricultural fund budget.
• accountable
  • The governance structure must ensure that the agricultural fund meets the regulatory requirements set out by the EAC Condition 30, that funding recipients and projects meet the eligibility and reporting requirements of the agricultural fund and that financial and other reporting is completed to acceptable standards.
• inclusive
  • The agricultural fund must be administered in a manner that recognizes the diversity of agricultural sectors, interests and opportunities in the Peace Region.

The Agricultural Fund is governed by a 10-member board of directors. Of the 10 directors, six are regional appointees of regional agricultural associations or the Peace River Regional District  (PRRD). One member is a Peace River Valley agricultural producer and the other three are members-at-large.

Northern Development’s role as the fund administrator is to sustainably manage the $20 million fund and provide administrative support and expertise to BC Hydro and the board to effectively manage the fund during the construction of Site C. When the Trust was appointed administrator in 2018, the Agricultural Fund board and Northern Development staff worked together to develop a financial management plan for the fund, with a goal of preserving the $20 million capital investment and using investment returns for grants for the first five years.