Mr. Speaker, the current tobacco diversification program in Ontario is a joint federal-provincial initiative. It totals about $5.7 million and has been in place since 1994.
As of March of this year, 88 projects submissions had been received; 44 had been approved for total of $2.5 million. The majority of these projects have been associated with commodity pioneering and value added activities. They have created in excess of 200 jobs and leveraged $15 million in new investment.
The government is obviously committed to assisting tobacco growing regions in diversifying through initiatives like the tobacco diversification program.